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
-----------------------------------------
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.
The one I downloaded was about 25 MB. At 3:30 in the morning, I didn't notice the size of the 5 hour file. :)
Yeah...I can laugh about it now, but I was mortified at the time. They were so nasty about it! I'm such an evil big sister...trying to get Bill all boozed up!
I can't wait to watch the trailer! Come on, five o'clock!
Even Gollum was not wholly ruined. He had proved tougher than even one of the Wise would have guessed – as a hobbit might. There was a little corner of his mind that was still his own, and light came through it, as through a chink in the dark: light out of the past. It was actually pleasant, I think, to hear a kindly voice again, bringing up memories of wind, and trees, and sun on the grass, and such forgotten things.
That passage is so poignant....
I love that part...little Frodo, not afraid to speak up to the elves. Fiesty little hobbit, isn't he?
What on earth were you doing up at 4:00 a.m.? Never mind, we already know.
Dang! I'll have to wait until after rehearsal tonite to see it...
my mom says she can't download a PC program using her Mac...is that true?
I have no idea. Don't have any experience with macs.
I was sooo tempted to...but I was hungry! That proved stronger than my anger, but I'm seriously thinking of writing a letter to management about the whole deal. It's not like we were a gang of rowdy college kids!
What REALLY annoyed me was that my other brother (not the "trouble maker" who was under-age) tried to lecture me on why the store was right and I was wrong to be offended! Like it's any of the store's business what I do with their products after I leave! I could buy a spatula (pancake turner for those of you who think of a spatula as a rubber thing) and peg someone with it...do I need a license to buy one of THOSE there?
"Nanny" policies really tick me off.
Now where's the smelly dwarf?
I love that too. You could say the same thing about the democrats...
Okay. But it was a rough day for him. He ended up skipping football practice and going with Mom to an inner-city Bible study she works with (it's a great ministry, but another story). Did that so they could go by Penney's on the way home. They were having a sale and he only had one pair of long pants that still fit.
When they pulled in the driveway he noticed his light on. I had already moved the tv out. He went upstairs and when he came back down it was evident he'd been crying. I don't think he'd realized that the Playstation and Nintendo were part of the deal. But, I told him he could earn those back (although he wants to sell the Nintendo 64). He has a list of things he has to do this week and I'll set the Playstation up downstairs. (There's a selfish motive there, it's the only thing we've got to play DVDs!). But the television is out until the end of the school year. I think he got the message that his actions caused this.
It was a bad day all around for him though. He saw some paperwork from school about his 504 plan. Being ADHD he still has one (although I put my foot down and stopped the meds about two years ago). But the form says something like "the meeting will determine if the child should still be considered to have a disability." He'd never seen that before and it disturbed him greatly. My wife had to spend about an hour explaining all the terminology to him.
I've had to fight an uphill battle there against the school, his pediatrician and in a lot of cases the Mrs., but she's seeing things differently now.
It helped this morning that on the way in, I caught an episode of "Focus on the Family" which had "kids" sharing how "Dare to Discipline" had been a good thing in their lives...
Hungrier that you were angry?
Elves are leftist democrats
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.