Posted on 03/14/2002 5:07:26 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
This is a continuation of the infamous thread New Zealander Builds Hobbit Hole originally posted on January 26, 2001 by John Farson, who at the time undoubtedly thought he had found a rather obscure article that would elicit a few replies and die out. Without knowing it, he became the founder of the Hobbit Hole. For reasons incomprehensible to some, the thread grew to over 4100 replies. It became the place for hobbits and friends of hobbits to chit chat and share LoTR news and views, hang out, and talk amongst ourselves in the comfort of familiar surroundings.
In keeping with the new posting guidelines, the thread idea is continuing here, as will the Green Dragon Inn, our more structured spin-off thread, as soon as we figure out how to move all the good discussion that has been had there. As for the Hobbit Hole, we will just start fresh, bringing only a few mathoms such as the picture above with us to make it feel like home, and perhaps a walk down memory lane:
Our discussion has been light:
It very well may be that a thread named "New Zealander builds Hobbit hole" will end up being the longest Tolkien thread of them all, with some of the best heartfelt content... Sorry John, but I would have rather it had been one with a more distinguished title!… post 252 - HairOfTheDog
However, I can still celebrate, with quiet dignity, the fact that what started as a laugh about some wacko in New Zealand has mutated and grown into a multifaceted discussion of the art, literature, and philosophy that is Tolkien. And now that I've managed to write the most pompous sentence of my entire life, I agree, Rosie… post 506 - JenB
Hah! I was number 1000!! (Elvish victory dance... wait, no; that would be too flitty) … post 1001 - BibChr
Real men don't have to be afraid of being flitty! Go for it. – post 1011 – HairOfTheDog
Seventeen years to research one mystical object seems a bit excessive… post 1007 - JenB
Okay...who's the wise guy who didn't renew Gandalf's research grant?… post 1024 – Overtaxed
To the very philosophical:
…Judas Iscariot obviously was a good man, or he wouldn't have been chosen to be one of the Apostles. He loved Jesus, like all of the Apostles, but he betrayed him. Yet without his betrayal, the Passion and Crucifixion would never have occurred, and mankind would not have been redeemed. So without his self-destruction infinite good would not have been accomplished. I certainly do not mean this to be irreverant but it seems to me that this describes the character of Gollum, in the scenes so movingly portrayed above… Lucius Cornelius Sulla
To fun but heartfelt debates about the integrity and worth of some of the characters…
…Anyone else notice how Boromir treats the hobbits? He's very fond of them but he seems to think of them as children - ruffling Frodo's hair, calls them all 'little ones'. He likes them, but I don't think he really respects them… post 1536 - JenB
Yes... Tolkien told us not to trust Boromir right off the bat when he began to laugh at Bilbo, until he realized that the Council obviously held this hobbit in high esteem. What a pompous dolt… post 1538 - HairOfTheDog
…I think almost every fault of his can be traced directly back to his blindness to anything spiritual or unseen. He considers the halflings as children, because that is what they look like. He considers the only hope of the ring to be in taking it and using it for a victory in the physical realm. He cannot see what the hobbits are truly made of, he cannot see the unseen hope of what the destruction of the ring might mean--the destruction of Sauron himself, and he cannot see the unseen danger that lies in the use of the ring itself… I just feel sorry for Boromir--he is like a blind but honorable man, trying to take the right path on the road but missing the right path entirely because he simply cannot see it… post 1548 - Penny1
Boromir isn't a jerk, he's a jock… post 2401 – Overtaxed
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Oh, I think by the time Frodo reaches the Cracks, he's not even himself anymore! I think he's not only on the brink of a dangerous place physically, he's on the brink of losing himself completely during the exchange with Gollum. But for some reason, the take-over isn't complete till he actually has to throw the Ring in. The person speaking to Gollum is not Frodo, but the "Wheel of Fire" that Sam sees. After the Ring is destroyed, Frodo not only comes back to himself, but comes back with the unbearable (to him) knowledge of what it's like to be completely without compassion. I think that's why it's so important to him to be compassionate in the Shire… post 2506 - 2Jedismom
…Regarding Frodo's compassion... it's a little too much at the end. Even Merry tells him that he's going to have to quit being so darn nice. But you're right. He's learned a lesson about evil that very few ever learn since it wasn't an external lesson but an internal one. (Those kinds of lessons have the greatest impact) Not only did he totally succumb to it, but he was rather ruthless to my little Smeagol… post 2516 - carton253
Well that Frodo was a big mean bully! (to Smeagol)… post 2519 – Overtaxed
So as you can see, everything JRR Tolkien (and Peter Jackson) is welcome here in our New Row, our soon-to-be familiar New Hobbit Hole…; philosophy, opinion, good talk and frequent silliness.
I had recently received an A on my dream job essay -- I want to be Secretary of State. The Professor (entirely cool) said that we could role play. I asked her if I could be Secretary of State one more week. She said, "oh, please!".
So, as Secretary of State, I agreed with the Netanyahu position of exiling Arafat. Here's the delicious irony... I exiled him to Entebbe Aiport in Uganda. She loved that!
So, I just have to finish up my portfolio. If I get an An on that... I get an A in the class. Yeah!
I am most discouraged with mine. I'm up to about 15,000 words, and I could finish the plot line in about 20,000. I told myself I would let it go, I just don't have time. I have nine days and I need almost 4,000 words a day. Who am I kidding?
Filler, I need filler...unlike Elrond who needs fiber...
case in point... I put four rounds of NATO 9MM FMJ through the center of a man's chest... went clean thru him with no immediate effect... (9mm FMJ I equate to a bodkin, cuz it's small, fast, and doesn't expand i.e. cut)... the 5th round was a Hydra-shock, (made to expand and do max damage) It dropped him like 5th period math...no exit wound...
but comparing wound ballistics between arrows and bullets is like the old apple/orange analysis...
not questioning the greater stamina of a deer and other animals... I'm sure a recurve hunter will tell yuh, a deer can go a lot further with an arrow from a recurve in him...
I'm not tryin' to discredit the movie, just somethin' that kinda bothered me...
Grumble, grumble, grumble. Stupid software won't let me access the methods, doesn't accept my sequence files, keeps jumping back to old data, no tutorials, help files are a waste of disk space.
Fine, and how are you? :D
Carton - glad to hear your class went so well! ;)
Breakfast is on. Scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage with buttered toast. Can't get any mushrooms today. Too busy to get to Farmer Maggot's this morning! Got plenty of coffee though!
Becky loved the gymnastics class last night. I'm going to comparison shop today and make sure their prices are reasonable as compared with other places before signing her up. She was so tired that she passed out at 8:30 last night with no argument over bedtime (which is usually a nightly thing).
I stayed up and watched a program on PBS (gag channel, I know) about the Titanic and the DNA identification of the unknown child. He finally has a name and it was terribly sad to hear the story behind it. :(
I hugged and kissed both my daughters after watching it, even though they werer asleep.
,font size=1>Copy and paste the 15000 words over and over until you get 50,000. Can you tell I've been "fooling software" all morning? :)
My old marxist poli sci teacher gave us an assignment to write a speech by a U.N. Rep... I was given Belgium,much to my dismay...
I called the Belgian U.N. ambassador, and got his yearly speech, used that for a template, and included that in the biblio... first A I got from the shriveled, spiteful commie...
You could, but it has to be back in..umm....the previous working order before everyone gets back from Kansas City.
I think so. I like the plot enough to want it to evolve into a finished project. But it may be that it will have to take place over the winter rather than in the next nine days.
I'm gonna try, but I'm not gonna sweat the deadline thing.
That's a thought. I've thought about just writing stream of consciousness garbage just to hit the 50,000. I quoted about 1,000 words from "War of the Worlds" the other day...I made it fit...honest...and I threw in the words to a Patsy Cline song. Maybe my characters should sing more...
Quoting is legit...right? Then again maybe not.
Such was the cunning of his [Sauron] mind and mouth, and the strength of his hidden will, that ere three years had passed he had become closest to the secret counsels of the King; for flattery sweet as honey was ever on his tounge, and knowledge he had of many things yet unrevealed to Men... Then slowly a change came over the land, and the hearts of the Elf-friends were sorely troubled...
For now, having the ears of men, Sauron with many arguments gainsaid all that the Valar had taught; and he bade men think that in the world, in the east and even in the west there lay yet many seas and many lands for their winning, wherein was wealth uncounted. And still, if they should at the last come to the end of those lands and seas, beyond all lay the Ancient Darkness. 'And out of it the world was made. For Darnkess alone is worshipful, and the Lord thereof may yet make other worlds to be gifts to those that serve him, so that the increase of their power shall find no end.'
And Ar-Parazon said: 'Who is the Lord of the Darkness?' Then behind locked doors Sauron spoke to the King and he lied saying: 'It is he whose name is not now spoken; for the Valar have deceived you concerning him...seeking to enchain Men in servitude to themselves.... his name is Melkor, Lord of All, Giver of Freedom, and he shall make you stronger than they.'
Then Ar-Pharazon the King turned back to the worship of the Dark, and of Melkor the Lord thereof, at first in secret, but ere long openly and in the face of his people; and they for the most part followed him.
Afterwards, the small portion that are faithful to the Valar are persecuted and sacraficed, the White Tree is chopped down and burned on an altar to Melkor, the King becomes a tyrant, and finally Sauron convinces the King to break the Ban. Numenor is swallowed by the sea and all perished except for a small group of the faithful that had made its way to the north-western shores of Middle-earth.
You have hit on an interesting theme that seems to be repeated throughout on different levels, that of 'seeking after hidden knowledge.' It corrupts on all levels, from Valar down to Man.
As long as you footnote and give credit... quote all you want.
I think the orcs were playing possum....note that one that raised his head when he thought no one was looking.
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