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.
Hope all of you hobbits,dwarves, elves, beornings and even orcs can contribute!
Help keep the lights on here at the Hobbit Hole... and keep the pints flowing at the Green Dragon!
Oh, your contribution will also help support those other threads where we can talk about the news!
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"a Luddite day today"
Since you mentioned "Luddite," I can't resist commenting again on the article (Lord of the Luddites meets Lord of the Rings) you guys had posted a couple weeks ago.
That writer called Tolkien a "tree hugger," I consider that a shot at both Tolkien and his fans, us. Because the folks that call themselves tree huggers don't really love trees, they are just out there using trees as a lever to push socialism. And they're also trying to feel important, like a few hobbits in the Scouring of the Shire.
Tolkien OTOH, (like us) really loved the trees for their own sake and their own beauty, he did not use them to further some questionable cause - big difference between him and the "tree huggers."
And I'm not really convinced that he was really a "Luddite." When he was growing up, neither washing machines nor automobiles were often seen, they were not at all a part of daily existence, as they are for us. I think, to him, their advent coincided with the loss of the pastoral beauty of the Oxfordshire countryside to industrialization and its ethics of individual freedom to socialism. All these things occurred during the course of his life, my feeling is that the writer's comparison of Tolkien to a "tree hugger" or a "Luddite" is, at best, disingenuous.
Forgive me for this exercise in pedantry, did I use disingenuous right?
I think he was kind of ticked with the hippies and leftists that kept misinterpreting him.
I sort of think the fact that Nader is associated with the greens proves that their agenda lies somewhere other than conservation of wilderness or whatever.
I went to my used curriculum fair last night and as usual, I didn't buy any curriculum, because I already have all that I need, but I did pick up some really neat supplies. I got a microscope, just a toy one, but good enough to see some small pond life, butterfly wings or leaves and such. I also got a 3-hole punch! For .50!! And I got a soprano baroque recorder for $3, it looks brand new. Now I don't know if I'm going to keep the recorder or give it to the boys to learn...
Click here to see a picture of one similar to the one I bought.
Good morning everyone... finally up and about on a lazy day here. Watching tennis and making breakfast. Not much planned for today beyond watching the horses run this afternoon.
Hope everyone enjoys their day!
The recorder looks nice. I've thought about getting an alto one. The fingering for one of those is different from the tin whistle, isn't it. I can see me getting it all mixed up!
I'll take care of the arithmatic... I have to do some accounting work sometime today. Goodness knows whether I'll get up the ambition to start it though!
We have a small home-based business. I need to catch the books up through the end of May, and get some bills paid.
I think it's the bill-paying part that is sapping my enthusiasm for starting... ;)
Hmm, good point... I'm not sure if I'd rather deal with Black Riders or creditors, though! :)
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