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Athrabeth na Dorthonion Artaquetta Sondinóresse 'But
why dost thou say 'mere words'? Do not words overpass the gulf between
one life and another? Between thee and me surely more has passed than
empty sound?' ~Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth
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Findarįto Hewer of Web Sites
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Joined: 25 Apr 2008 Posts: 208 Location: Nargothrond
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 4:51 am Post subject: Chapter One - An Unexpected Party (12 May 2008) |
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Chapter Summary
Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, 'about fifty years old or so' meets Gandalf,
the wizard, one Tuesday morning in April ('just before May'). Gandalf
says that he is interested in finding 'someone to share in an
adventure.' As Hobbits are not big on adventure, Bilbo is against the
idea and wants Gandalf to go away. He eventually does, after setting up
to have tea with Bilbo the next day and scratching a mysterious symbol
on his door. The next day, instead of just Gandalf, 13 dwarves led by
Thorin Oakenshield arrive and through their songs of long-lost gold and
adventures in the mountains, capture the 'Tookish' part of Bilbo, who
agrees to go with them in order to retrieve their gold and vanquish
Smaug.
Characters (introduced and/or mentioned)
Bilbo Baggins - a Hobbit, about fifty.
Belladonna Took - Bilbo's
mother, 'one of the three remarkable daughters of the Old Took, head of
the hobbits who lived across the Water. No longer living.
Bungo Baggins - Bilbo's father. No longer living.
Old Took - the leader of the Took clan. No longer living.
Gandalf - a wizard
Dwalin - a dwarf 'with a bright blue beard tucked into a golden belt, and very bright eyes'
Balin - a 'very old-looking dwarf...with a white beard'
Kili - a dwarf
Fili - a dwarf
Dori - a dwarf
Nori - a dwarf
Ori - a dwarf
Oin - a dwarf
Gloin - a dwarf
Bifur - a dwarf
Bofur - a dwarf
Bombur - a dwarf
Thorin Oakenshield - an 'enormously important dwarf'
The Bullroarer - 'Old Took's great-grand-uncle...who was so huge (for a hobbit) that he could ride a horse.'
Thror - grandfather of Thorin Oakenshield (no longer living)
Thrain the Old - 'far ancestor' of Thorin Oakenshield, who discovered the Mountain.
Smaug - a dragon who attacked (and mostly destroyed) the Mountain and Dale.
Thrain - Thorin's father, went mad after being 'a prisoner in the dungeons of the Necromancer'
Azog - Goblin who killed Thror (Thorin's grandfather)
Comments
In general, not a bad chapter. The writing style still annoys me,
but that may be because I'm not a big fan of children's lit. Hobbits
also don't interest me a great deal.
*Hobbits about 'half our height' - 2 1/2 - 3 feet?
*Much said about 'Tookishness' in regards to desire for adventure,
but in Lord of the Rings that seems to be found more in the
Brandybucks.
*Gandalf seems much as he does in LotR, simply seen from a slightly more childish perspective.
*Interesting that the comment is made that Gandalf can 'look strange and sorcerous.' Possible foreshadowing.
*The dwarf song has some interesting lines, especially: "In places
deep, where dark things sleep,/In hollow halls beneath the fells" -
Balrog of Moria, perhaps?
and
"For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gleaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword."
-First age reference?
*I also find it quite interesting that it's the song that gets Bilbo into it.
Quote: | As
they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands
and by magic mvoing through him, a fierce and a jealous love, the
desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside
him, and he wished to go and see great mountains, and hear the pine
trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword
instead of a walking stick. |
Not a song of power, but still falls into the importance that Tolkien assigns to songs and ballads.
*Gandalf says much the same thing about Bilbo as he does about Frodo
later - "There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more
than he has any idea of himself."
Just some thoughts. Comments? _________________ 'But
why dost thou say 'mere words'? Do not words overpass the gulf between
one life and another? Between thee and me surely more has passed than
empty sound?'
~Finrod, Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth
Avatar art by Alice i Angel Falto. |
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YayGollum Atani
Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 17 Location: Fort Myers, Florida, United States of North America, Earth, Sol system
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 6:58 am Post subject: |
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Comments on some of your comments:
Hobbits don't interest you a great deal? Nowadays, or were you not even
very interested the first time you read this book? Did you read the
description of them and think something along the lines of, "Okay, so
they are part rabbit, part human things. What's the point of that? Just
to have something different and endearing?" I don't think much of
hobbitses, either. Merely wondering.
More written about Tookishness in The Hobbit, of course, because
one is the main character. Pippin is plenty adventurous for a hobbit,
as well, though. He just got the smallest amount of opportunity to show
it off.
I hated the evil torturer Gandalf even from the first time I read
this book. I am not a large fan of annoyingly mysterious types. Sure,
he can be entertaining, and we are given his reasons for remaining
mysterious, but he seems to enjoy playing with people too much.
I loved the song of the Dwarves. One of my favorite Tolkien songs
of all time. I wish that he wrote more Dwarvish stuff than elfish. Ugh.
Those nasssty elveses. So popular. ![Rolling Eyes](Chapter%201%20-%20An%20Unexpected%20Party_files/icon_rolleyes.gif) _________________ Strength and stupidity in numbers.
You're either an Outcast, or you're in denial.
- Myself |
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Findarįto Hewer of Web Sites
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Joined: 25 Apr 2008 Posts: 208 Location: Nargothrond
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 7:22 am Post subject: |
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YayGollum wrote: | Comments on some of your comments:
Hobbits don't interest you a great deal? Nowadays, or were you not even
very interested the first time you read this book? Did you read the
description of them and think something along the lines of, "Okay, so
they are part rabbit, part human things. What's the point of that? Just
to have something different and endearing?" I don't think much of
hobbitses, either. Merely wondering. |
Don't really like hobbits at all, never have. I find them rather
tedious - they're just not my type of character. Actually didn't get
much into Tolkien at all until I read The Silmarillion and The Histories of Middle Earth. Yes, I'm an elf-person, as my name shows.
Quote: | More
written about Tookishness in The Hobbit, of course, because one is the
main character. Pippin is plenty adventurous for a hobbit, as well,
though. He just got the smallest amount of opportunity to show it off. |
That's true enough. I guess I always saw Merry as the most adventurous,
though, as he's the one familiar with the Forest and all.
Quote: | I
hated the evil torturer Gandalf even from the first time I read this
book. I am not a large fan of annoyingly mysterious types. Sure, he can
be entertaining, and we are given his reasons for remaining mysterious,
but he seems to enjoy playing with people too much. |
He does, and I've never been quite sure whether I liked or didn't like
Gandalf. I like him better as Galdalf the White than as Gandalf the
Grey, perhaps because as The White, he's more serious, and less teasing
and annoying.
Quote: | I
loved the song of the Dwarves. One of my favorite Tolkien songs of all
time. I wish that he wrote more Dwarvish stuff than elfish. Ugh. Those
nasssty elveses. So popular. ![Rolling Eyes](Chapter%201%20-%20An%20Unexpected%20Party_files/icon_rolleyes.gif) |
It's a pretty good song. I like The Tale of Eärendil and The Tale of Gil-Galad best in LotR, but I'm also quite fond of my's song of power in The Silmarillion. Yes, I like those nasssty elveses...of course, being one, I don't have a ot of choice. :p
Welcome, YayGollum! - (love your RP posting style, too...I tend to do that as well. ) _________________ 'But
why dost thou say 'mere words'? Do not words overpass the gulf between
one life and another? Between thee and me surely more has passed than
empty sound?'
~Finrod, Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth
Avatar art by Alice i Angel Falto. |
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Hamfast Gamgee Atani
Joined: 05 May 2008 Posts: 22
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 7:28 am Post subject: |
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I
don't quite agree with the description of Gandalf as an evil torturer,
but I possibly do in the case that he often sent people on tasks
sometimes without telling them what to expect! Some of the Dwarves are
a little suspicious of his motives and Thorin tells him that he thinks
Gandalf is only interested in their problems because they help him as
well.
I actually quite like the style. I even quite enjoyed the I....you
method of writing, I thought it was rather cute in re-reading it. I
only wish one or two modern authors would have the courage to use the
style in some of their tales!
One interesting thing about Hobbits and in particular the
character Bilbo is that he's actually quite a coward at the start of
the tale! He doesn't seem to have the same sense of adventure as some
of the Hobbits in Lotr have for example. In fact, had Gandalf not
re-ignited it he would have probably quite happily just lived in Bag
End for ever! |
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Findarįto Hewer of Web Sites
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Joined: 25 Apr 2008 Posts: 208 Location: Nargothrond
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 7:32 am Post subject: |
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Hamfast Gamgee wrote: | I
don't quite agree with the description of Gandalf as an evil torturer,
but I possibly do in the case that he often sent people on tasks
sometimes without telling them what to expect! Some of the Dwarves are
a little suspicious of his motives and Thorin tells him that he thinks
Gandalf is only interested in their problems because they help him as
well. |
I think YayGollum was using a bit of an RP posting style, Hamfast, and to Gollum he certainly would be an evil torturer.
Quote: | I
actually quite like the style. I even quite enjoyed the I....you method
of writing, I thought it was rather cute in re-reading it. I only wish
one or two modern authors would have the courage to use the style in
some of their tales! |
I'm not very familiar with modern day kiddy-lit, but I would assume
that it's not unheard of in children's literature. It's just not my
taste. I prefer the style of The Silmarillion, or Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth.
Quote: | One
interesting thing about Hobbits and in particular the character Bilbo
is that he's actually quite a coward at the start of the tale! He
doesn't seem to have the same sense of adventure as some of the Hobbits
in Lotr have for example. In fact, had Gandalf not re-ignited it he
would have probably quite happily just lived in Bag End for ever! |
Yes, I think Merry, Pippin and Frodo are a little bit 'un-hobbit-like'
in that sense. Perhaps that's just because they've heard of Bilbo's
adventures all these years...? _________________ 'But
why dost thou say 'mere words'? Do not words overpass the gulf between
one life and another? Between thee and me surely more has passed than
empty sound?'
~Finrod, Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth
Avatar art by Alice i Angel Falto. |
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YayGollum Atani
Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 17 Location: Fort Myers, Florida, United States of North America, Earth, Sol system
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 7:11 am Post subject: |
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Yes,
I did mean that the evil torturer Gandalf would be seen that way by
Gollum. But then, he could also be seen as evil by many more, since he
had a bit of Saruman and Sauron-esque mind control about him. Via his
Ring Of Power, injecting unnatural hope into people's brains. Sure, it
was supposed to be for the greater good, but I could understand why
someone might be annoyed at having been magically influenced.
And towards something in the first post, yes, "In places deep,
where dark things sleep,/In hollow halls beneath the fells," could
refer to the Balrog. It seems likely, since these Dwarves would have
cared a lot about that, but it could also mean the nameless things said
to be older than Sauron that gnaw away under the earth. I forget the
exact quote, but it would be cool if Dwarves had had some adventures
with such things. And towards that second quote of the song, I figure
that the ancient kings and elvish lords mentioned could just be various
Kings Under The Mountain and elvish lords from Mirkwood. The Dwarves
seem to be a bit less diligent about history than the elves.
And all that makes me write ---> Hm! So many things written
about, so little really directly about the first chapter of The Hobbit.
![Rolling Eyes](Chapter%201%20-%20An%20Unexpected%20Party_files/icon_rolleyes.gif) _________________ Strength and stupidity in numbers.
You're either an Outcast, or you're in denial.
- Myself |
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Findarįto Hewer of Web Sites
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Joined: 25 Apr 2008 Posts: 208 Location: Nargothrond
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 7:26 am Post subject: |
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Quote: | The Dwarves seem to be a bit less diligent about history than the elves. |
You're probably right about that. Or at least they're dilligent in a different way. I suppose, being an elf, it's appropriate I"m working on a MA in history right now.
One thing I'm interested in (just because I find it fascinating) is how
the song of the Dwarves affected Bilbo. Not the same as a song of
power, of course, but I like the way that Tolkien attributes power to
song and music...
As for tangents and the like, I don't really mind if this goes
outside of the first chapter of the Hobbit, as long as it stays
relevant and not just chatting about random things (as I've seen happen
quite often on other boards). _________________ 'But
why dost thou say 'mere words'? Do not words overpass the gulf between
one life and another? Between thee and me surely more has passed than
empty sound?'
~Finrod, Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth
Avatar art by Alice i Angel Falto. |
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YayGollum Atani
Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 17 Location: Fort Myers, Florida, United States of North America, Earth, Sol system
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 9:05 am Post subject: |
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Well,
Dwarves certainly knew a thing or two about magic, so I don't see why
there couldn't have been any magic in it. I doubt it, though. It was
just his Tookishness acting up that got him into it.
An edit, now that I've actually been able to read this first chapter:
Magic diamond studs that fasten themselves and won't come undone
until ordered, as well as, magical toys mostly sold in Dale, not to be
found much anymore: I should put more of that stuff into my character
profiles. Little bits of magic. Nothing terribly useful, just a bit to
show that such things were once a lot more natural.
Nasssty hobbitses reportedly being persuaded to join in such adventures as climbing trees,
visiting elves, and sailing to other shores: Hm! What other shores?
And, while the evil torturer Gandalf would be respected by elves, why
would they agree to bring any nasssty hobbitses anyplace? What use
would they have, since elves are supposed to be the best at everything?
*grumbles about sickening perfection*
What was the mark on the door? Gloin mentions that it was the usual one
for the trade, "Burgler wants a good job, plenty of Excitement and
reasonable Reward," but then he says, "You can say Expert
Treasure-hunter instead of Burglar if you like. Some of them do. It's
all the same to us." Did the evil torturer Gandalf write all or some of
that on his door? They only call it a mark, though, so was it some at
least halfway secret code sort of advertisement? A purely Dwarvish
thing or very common? I wouldn't think that it would be purely
Dwarvish, since they didn't like sharing their language, wouldn't want
it shown to every random hobbit or wizard. Yes, I doubt that there's
much other information on this. I just found it curious. _________________ Strength and stupidity in numbers.
You're either an Outcast, or you're in denial.
- Myself |
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The Dread Pirate Roberts Avari
Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 65 Location: Ithilien
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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Not
to stray too far afield, but I'd love to have time to write a fan-fic
from the perspective of the 'bad' guys. I love the little glimpses we
get of Gollum, the orcs, the Nazgul, the southrons and easterlings.
A story with Gollum or the Witch King as the main character would be fun.
Kind of like what Wicked is to The Wizard of Oz. ![Razz](Chapter%201%20-%20An%20Unexpected%20Party_files/icon_razz.gif) _________________ "Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning." ~The DPR |
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YayGollum Atani
Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 17 Location: Fort Myers, Florida, United States of North America, Earth, Sol system
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 3:53 am Post subject: |
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I've
never read Wicked, but I've heard that it is quite entertaining. I read
all of those other Wizard Of Oz books, so I suppose that I should get
around to reading that, too. Towards writing a fan fiction sort of
thing from the perspective of the bad guys, why not? Oh. No time for
it. oh well. I wouldn't think that Gollum or the Nazgul would write
anything, but mayhaps you merely meant a story that follows them as if
they are protagonists. I would think that any Nazgul would be boring,
since they pretty much have no personalities, as far as I can tell. I
wrote a story called The Warg And His Orc a while ago, though. Check
that out.
As well as, Ack! How could I forgotten to mention the superly cool
Were-worms of the Last Desert that the evil thief Bilbo Baggins
mentions? Are they humans that can turn into lizard men sort of things,
or are they giants that can turn into more normal-sized dragons?
Something else? Mayhaps merely a crazy hobbit legend? ![Confused](Chapter%201%20-%20An%20Unexpected%20Party_files/icon_confused.gif) _________________ Strength and stupidity in numbers.
You're either an Outcast, or you're in denial.
- Myself |
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