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The New Hobbit Hole

Posted on 03/14/2002 5:07:26 AM PST by HairOfTheDog

Welcome to The New Hobbit Hole

Concerning Hobbits

The New Hobbit Chronicles

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.


TOPICS: Books/Literature; Chit/Chat; Poetry; TV/Movies; The Hobbit Hole
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To: Corin Stormhands
It'll probably wait until tomorrow morning, when I'm off running errands... < /whine >
29,521 posted on 10/02/2002 1:39:26 PM PDT by Bear_in_RoseBear
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To: Corin Stormhands
Oh! Now I'm crying! Gonna get my medicine, er...tea!
29,522 posted on 10/02/2002 1:39:34 PM PDT by 2Jedismom
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To: Bear_in_RoseBear
Or while I'm standing out in the field!
29,523 posted on 10/02/2002 1:40:06 PM PDT by Corin Stormhands
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To: Corin Stormhands
Yeah, I get choked up there every time. He is SUCH a sweetheart!

Sigh!

29,524 posted on 10/02/2002 1:40:37 PM PDT by RosieCotton
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To: 2Jedismom
Yeah, that line always makes me tear up!
29,525 posted on 10/02/2002 1:40:40 PM PDT by Corin Stormhands
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To: Corin Stormhands
Well, and it's the whole point of Tolkien's story. So many give all they have.
29,526 posted on 10/02/2002 1:41:23 PM PDT by 2Jedismom
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To: 2Jedismom
Not many of us could measure up.
29,527 posted on 10/02/2002 1:42:25 PM PDT by Corin Stormhands
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To: Corin Stormhands
But like Hair says...we want to hope we could...
29,528 posted on 10/02/2002 1:42:48 PM PDT by 2Jedismom
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To: 2Jedismom
I'm drinking chamomile...hope that helps!
29,529 posted on 10/02/2002 1:42:56 PM PDT by RosieCotton
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To: RosieCotton
My water is heating up...
29,530 posted on 10/02/2002 1:43:24 PM PDT by 2Jedismom
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To: RosieCotton; 2Jedismom; carton253
I agree with you about Sam. Sam is the closest thing to perfect in the whole story, I think. He is ultimately the real hero that bridges the darkest chasm (when Frodo is thought dead, then carried off by the orcs, etc.). But it is the wonderful genius of Tolkien that his characters work together in a complex synergy, with all of the characters, especially Frodo, Sam, and Gollum necessarily playing their various crucial parts (as touching the Ring) at different times....

I guess what I'm trying to say is, without Frodo, Sam, and Gollum, acting in exactly the way they did (with all the complex interplay), there wouldn't have been produced the desired result of the destruction of the Ring....

29,531 posted on 10/02/2002 1:43:41 PM PDT by rightwingreligiousfanatic
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To: 2Jedismom
we want to hope we could...

Yes, and I think that's why the story is so inspiring. We want to be like these people. We want to have their characteristics.

Well, except for some of them...

29,532 posted on 10/02/2002 1:45:42 PM PDT by Corin Stormhands
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To: rightwingreligiousfanatic
Yes...I agree. Sam is the closest to perfect. His heart is pure, his brain is sharp (although he has been told so frequently that it isn't that he doesn't realize it) and he's physically strong and emotionally grounded. There's black and white in Sam's world.
29,533 posted on 10/02/2002 1:45:45 PM PDT by 2Jedismom
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To: RosieCotton
Actually, I find these discussions very relaxing. It's soothing to "talk about it" and nerve-wracking to have all this enthusiasm pent up with no one to discuss it with.
29,534 posted on 10/02/2002 1:47:44 PM PDT by 2Jedismom
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To: rightwingreligiousfanatic; carton253; ksen; 2Jedismom; RosieCotton
I guess what I'm trying to say is, without Frodo, Sam, and Gollum, acting in exactly the way they did (with all the complex interplay), there wouldn't have been produced the desired result of the destruction of the Ring....

And that show's Tolkien's genius to craft that story.

In another "story" we find the despised characters of Pilate and Judas, and yet we know they had their parts to play for the story to be complete.

29,535 posted on 10/02/2002 1:48:18 PM PDT by Corin Stormhands
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To: 2Jedismom
Actually, I find these discussions very relaxing.

You're making me think I should be drinking tea in the evenings...

29,536 posted on 10/02/2002 1:49:05 PM PDT by Corin Stormhands
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To: Corin Stormhands
We want to be the good actors on this stage of life, the ones who by faithful persistence in doing good, come to the end knowing we did our best... Just like Sam and Frodo, and Merry and Pippin, and all the rest for that matter... Everyone had their part to play....
29,537 posted on 10/02/2002 1:49:11 PM PDT by rightwingreligiousfanatic
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To: rightwingreligiousfanatic
talk amongst yourselves for awhile....I'm feeling fehklempt....
29,538 posted on 10/02/2002 1:51:00 PM PDT by rightwingreligiousfanatic
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To: 2Jedismom; Corin Stormhands; rightwingreligiousfanatic
All this stuff about Sam....I definitely need my medicine. Is he wonderful or WHAT?
29,539 posted on 10/02/2002 1:51:09 PM PDT by RosieCotton
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To: Corin Stormhands
That chamomile did a good job. I really slept soundly last night, after 2 cups of it.
29,540 posted on 10/02/2002 1:51:26 PM PDT by 2Jedismom
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