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Epic Tolkien Bookclub: Week Two
Epic Tolkien Bookclub: Week Two (The Hobbit)
Chapter III: A Short Rest
Chapter IV: Over Hill and Under Hill
Rules
I very much doubt we'll require much in the way of formal rules, but just for the sake of formality and clarity:
Chapter III: A Short Rest
Chapter IV: Over Hill and Under Hill
Rules
I very much doubt we'll require much in the way of formal rules, but just for the sake of formality and clarity:
- Discussion is welcome and encouraged, as is disagreement. Name-calling and personal attacks will be punished by a blind date with Gollum at the Mordor Fried Warg Emporium. I highly recommend the Mildewed Troll Innards (a deep, earthy dish, with plenty of flavour), and Boiled Nazgul Backside (light and airy, what it lacks in substance it makes up for in its sharp, stabbing taste that will stay with you long after you've left).
- There is no spoiler policy in place. Although we're reading the Hobbit, please feel free to bring in things from other Tolkien works, any of the films, the History of Middle Earth, the Letters of JRR Tolkien, and, if you should like, other literary sources.
- There is no such thing as too much geekery. Or taking the text too seriously.
- If you have any concerns at any point, I'm the closest thing this gong show has to a mod, so feel free to get in touch. I can be reached either by PM through this site, or directly by email at sigridhr.lokidottir@gmail.com.
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When Tolkien wrote this, I assume he hadn't worked out the the history of the dwarf/elf relationship yet? Because it seemed like the only reason the dwarves didn't like the elves here is because the elves teased them and mocked their beards? And Thorin is basically civil and even polite to Elrond; he even says that he'll wield Orcrist with honour.
It was a hard path and a dangerous path, a crooked way and a lonely and a long.
This line just seems really strange to me. I don't really have anything to say about it, it's just odd.
Fili and Kili: they usually got these sorts of jobs (when everybody could see that it was absolutely no use sending Bilbo)
Poor Fili, Kili and Bilbo being the skivvies of the group!
It is not unlikely that they invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them
Given when this was written and Tolkien's experiences in WWI, this really seems to be setting out to paint the goblins in the worst light possible. Yes, they can make clever things, but they don't seem to have a shred of positive purpose for it. I suppose it gave the reader a way to associate them with evil/inhumanity in the present? That's one of the things I like about Tolkien's writing in this - when you're reading, there's often just little references or phrases that pull the story back to the present and strike a chord with you, so that it all feels relevant, instead of just sheer fantasy.
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(Anonymous) 2013-01-20 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)I do find it interesting that in the same paragraph, Tolkien talks about their hatred for "the orderly and prosperous". Goblins are Chaotic Evil and envy taken to the extreme.
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Also, anybody find it amusing that goblins have soft shoes for stealth? My friends all got the impression from the movies that they are dumb and attack everything, but clearly this shows that they are tacticians.
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Yeah, he makes a point of how they're clever, but, as Gallifaerie said, they're clever in ways that only do harm.
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They don't even seem to want an orderly kind of evil, like a regime or anything? A lot of evil forces have distinct plans for who they're going to kill and what they're going to do when they get power, but the goblins literally just seem to abhor anything that's not like them.
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Definitely seconding your thoughts on the goblins/WWI.
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