Posted on 03/15/2002 6:54:33 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
Repost – Highlights from chapters 1-5 copied from the original forum to the new one. To reference the full version, click here: Original Green Dragon Inn Within the first five chapters... disregard the reply numbers... they wont work.
Thank you ecurbh, for copying and editing our old thread so that the highlights could be moved here! Highlights of the first five chapters from the old thread are pasted into the first 5 replies here. For those of you who are just joining you… as of this post we are beginning Chapter 6.
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Welcome to The Green Dragon Inn
Approaching The Green Dragon Inn
Hobbiton, in The Shire
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And wither then? I cannot say.
- JRR Tolkien
Politics also goes ever on and on.
This is a place for FReeper Tolkien fans to come and take a break from the impure reality of conservative activism and relax a little with a great story. We (the other co-conspirators and I) would like to study together the writings of Tolkien, beginning together, and discussing as we go through The Lord of the Rings together.
This is a chapter discussion, roughly one chapter per week, with the discussion mostly centered on the books, though of course the movie will be contrasted and compared, and perhaps used to illustrate another interpretation of the story.
Every week, someone from the group (maybe me) will ping The Green Dragon List to the new Chapter, but we will continue this one thread until it becomes too cumbersome…. Let me know if you would like to be on - or off - this list. I will for now serve as the Thain of the list.
If you are joining late, jump right in, but please stick to the chapter currently being discussed.
Some have loved this story a long time, and some are newly discovering it. If you fit either category, we invite you to join in, but we would like this thread to stay mostly focused on the chapter at hand and keep moving, but at a pace everyone can keep up with… No jumping ahead, and no lagging behind! If you have other news to report or wish to discuss something Tolkien in more general terms… May we recommend the equally homey Hobbit Hole where my co-conspirators and I frequently have plenty of good talk.
One other request…. This thread will get long. In recognition that images slow down the thread for many, let’s keep the posting of images to a minimum on this thread. If there is a great illustration you wish to share, let’s try to use links instead of images wherever possible.
So lets read, listen and become inspired by the many aspects of The Lord of the Rings that touch us deeply and reconnect us to the values we aspire to. Many great discussions have already been had, and I hope that this thread will produce even more. Many FReepers have wonderful things to say about LoTR, whether the fantasy reconnects them with their faith, with their relationships with friends and family, or simply illustrates the splendor of great acts of heroism and sacrifice in the constant battle of virtue versus corruption.
Though it is a work of fiction, we believe the inspiration to be gained can only help us in our larger political goals: to appreciate and defend our freedom, our culture and our political ideals. May the fellowship and insight gained from this discussion help us to work through the issues that are the basis for our many shared ideals.
Besides, we Tolkien fans* need something to keep us busy during the next two years of waiting for the next two films. If you do not enjoy this story, then please simply leave us be.
*Also known as Geeky Hobbity Weirdos, obsessive fanatics, you name it, we have heard it and we see these names as compliments. In other words: don’t act like a troll, or we will distract you with our endless babble until the morning sun turns you to stone.
Who's Old Man Willow? Is he a bad ent, or something else?
Tom's words laid bare the hearts of trees and their thoughts, which were often dark and strange, and filled with a hatred of things that go free upon the earth....But none were more dangerous than the Great Willow...It seems that Old Man Willow doesn't walk around like Ents do.
That is perhaps the irony in it. Tom was not concerned with the affairs of men and wizards and elves and hobbits beyond how they pertained to what went on within the boundaties of HIS world. For him to have become part of the quest would have required an interest of a kind which would have rendered him vulnerable to the ring and therefore the very qualities that make him seem to be the ideal candidate would be invalidated were he to become involved. That's just my theory.
-ksen
Yeah, exactly. I mean it would be a natural first thought when realizing that Tom wasn't effected by the ring, but then one has to think about the "why" of it.
As a Christian person, it's "overcoming" temptations that strengthen us, but also, as we mature, we are tempted less frequently because we understand evil.
Did that make sense?
In the Sillmarillion, there were a huge number of creatures who participated in "The Music of the Ainur," which foreshadowed the creation and history of Earth.
Many of these entered Arda and dwelt there when it was created. The 15 most powerful were the Valar, the single most powerful of whom was Melkor, the original Dark Lord, of whom Sauron was only a servant.
I would assume Tom B. was one of these Ainur, who were called the Maiar. They were mostly the followers and people of the Valar, but Tom was probably a free-lancer. If so, he was older than Middle Earth or Arda itself. Sauron, Saruman and Gandalf were other Maiar who were presumably older than Arda. Although some Maiar reproduced, so some of them might not be older than the Earth.
Treebeard was born(?) on Middle Earth and at the end of the Third Age might be the oldest "native" still alive.
I have some problems with it too, I suppose I found the statement as having been there from the beginning and all, an echo of Christ, but between him and Goldberry, I came to see them more like "Mother Nature"...???
For a guy in his own sphere, he seemed very knowledgeable of things going on outside it, and "the nature of things" people, plants, other creatures.
I don't really know, I'm a recent convert to LOTR
I thought that the Maiar were beings on the same "level" as Gandalf, Saruman, and Sauron all of whom were affected by the ring. Bombadil seems to have powers greater than these (or at least greater than Gandalf and Saruman.)
Tolkien's implication is that this is why the Host of the West is able to fairly easily defeat Melkor/Morgoth at the end of the First Age. He has sunk so much of his power into controlling Middle EArth that he has little left to fight the attacking Host.
Maybe Tom B has gone the other direction. His originally much lesser power is so highly concentrated that it is able to resist even the power of the Ring.
Also, I see his resistance to the Ring as not one of power so much as one of attitude. He just doesn't care about what the Ring can tempt him with.
I seem to remember Gandalf, in describing his unsuitability as an ally, saying that ultimately Bombadil would fall to Sauron as Sauron is able to torture even the earth. This seems to imply at least a connection with the earth itself.
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