Epic Tolkien Bookclub: Week Seven

[sigridhr]

   Epic Tolkien Bookclub: Week Seven (The Hobbit)
Chapter XIII: Not at Home
Chapter XIV: Fire and Water

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 forcing you to mediate at Christmas dinner in the house of Finwë. 
  
• 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. 

Discussion on this post will officially run from Friday 22nd February 2013 to Friday 1st March 2013. However, the post will remain open after that point, so you're more than welcome to continue discussions on.

Comments

[gallifaerie.livejournal.com]

Just when the dwarves were most despairing, Bilbo felt a strange lightening of the heart

I just love this at the start of Chapter 13. To me, it just emphasises why Bilbo is there and why he is the perfect addition to the party. He is realistic and sensible when the dwarves are overly-excited, yet when they're despairing, he is optimistic and encourages them not to give up. He's like the yin to their yang, balancing out their group. They would just be lost without him.

And you see this again later in the chapter:

Bilbo kept his head more clear of the bewitchment of the hoard than the dwarves did

I feel that there are parallels between Bilbo finding the Arkenstone and him finding the ring - he's drawn to the Arkenstone and pockets it right away without telling the dwarves, even though he knows he should. I still don't understand why he didn’t he tell Thorin right away.

SO MUCH Balin love though:

"It is about our turn to help," said Balin, "and I am quite willing to go."

I never realised until this reread how sweet Balin is. He has such a soft spot for Bilbo. I feel like all the other dwarves are often like ‘let Bilbo do it whatevs’ but Balin actually cares about him and how much he’s doing to help them.

I wish we got more of a description of Thorin’s reaction to returning to Erebor – especially with it all being in ruin, and with "skulls and bones" in Thror's great chamber. I feel like that's kind of glossed over here, but I'm hoping we’ll get more of that in the movie.

When they reach the outlook post:

"Hear, hear!" cried Bilbo, and flung himself on the ground.

omg Bilbo I love you. That is the *proper* hero's reaction to a day of stressful events in my book.

I love the eerie image of Smaug’s carcass rotting on the bed of the lake. It's just so gruesome!

[j_quadrifrons]

I was so sick last week I completely forgot a whole week had passed and it was time for another discussion post!

While I am separated from my notes, I can bring up my Second Creeping Silmarillion Theory, which is actually glaringly obvious once you think of it: Suppose that the Arkenstone is a Silmaril.

It's not out of the question. Maedhros threw himself into a chasm and his silmaril came to rest "beneath the earth" and, some time later, the Dwarves dug it up. And, well, it goes back to rest beneath the earth - in point of fact it never really leaves, except for a short trip out to Thranduil and Bard.

The thing that really made me think of this - that makes me think that this was a thing that Tolkien actually did when he was writing The Hobbit, although he later stated that, in the grander scheme of things, the Arkenstone was *not* meant to be a silmaril - is the fact that when Tolkien translated some of his stories into Anglo-Saxon --

I'm sorry. I have to stop there. When TOLKIEN translated some of his OWN STORIES into FUCKING ANGLO-SAXON for NO REASON other than that he is a GIGANTIC NERD oh my GOD

he used the word "eorclanstánas," singular "eorclan-stan," ("precious stone") to refer to the silmarils, which is also pretty obviously the word that "Arkenstone" derives from.

I'm not sure this theory does anything in the long run except kind of explain some of the insanity that goes on around the Arkenstone (fairly minor, compared to some of the insanity that had gone on around the silmarils before), and make for some truly hilarious moments later on when Bilbo uses it as a pillow. But, well, hobbits.