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.
Indeed!
Back to my reading! - I am searching for something else to post! or illustrate!
As soon as he [Frodo] set foot upon the far bank of Silverlode a strange feeling had come upon him, and it deepened as he walked on into the Naith: it seemed to him that he had stepped over a bridge of time into a corner of the Elder Days, and was -now walking in a world that was no more. In Rivendell there was memory of ancient things; in Lórien the ancient things still lived on in the waking world. Evil had been seen and heard there, sorrow had been known; the Elves feared and distrusted the world outside: wolves were howling on the wood's borders: but on the land of Lórien no shadow lay.
But - Legolas was a Mirkwood Elf! His father, Thranduil, is King of Mirkwood, who locked the Dwarves up all those years ago.
Well... I don't know, I like it pretty well. It sets the stage for the next part of the book, but also has an interesting otherworldly feeling. Sam described it as "more elvish than anything I ever heard tell of. I feel as if I was inside a song, if you take my meaning." What a nice concept.
It lets us (who haven't read Silmarillion) see more into the world of the elves.
I went to boarding school in my teens (long ago, of course) in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Friends and I, when we had an afternoon off, would walk for miles in wild and lonely forests, sometimes finding ancient and abandoned log cabins or other signs of long lost human habitation. When we reached a mountain top, we'd find 2 or 3 pines growing close to each other. Then, we'd climb to near their tops, carrying small timbers scavenged nearby and rope we had carried. The timbers would be lashed between the tree tops and more timbers lashed onto those until we had a platform in the sky atop a lonely mountain. The whole arrangement would rock and sway in the breeze as we lay there looking over the hollows, valleys and mountains and watching clouds rushing by over our heads. I have never forgotten the feeling of the wind brushing our bodies, the smell of the pines, the vista of the mountains, the feeling of independence.
Anyway, I identified with and enjoyed the "flets" and tree houses of Lorien right away. Although I think I'm not that convinced with Jackson's version of them.
"And taking Frodo's hand in his, he left the hill of Cerin Amroth and came there never again as living man."
There's definitely a dream quality mood to Lorien. If I remember right, even the passage of time changed there, what seemed a few days was in reality weeks or something.
Sorry again for rambling on, I guess age is getting to me.
Yes, those images look more like it _ did I miss them in the film, somehow? The tree house that Galadriel and Celeborn were portrayed in Tolkien described as being like the deck of a great ship...Actually, when the fellowship ascended the stairs and walked into "overexposed" lighting, it seemed very ethereal and "fit the mood."
Dan
That's nice that you did, also. Sad about the overgrown paths. I do think kids rely on much more passive entertainment these days. Aside from all the entertainment that society now provides for kids (and grownups), I think that the PC types want it that way. Passive kids and citizens who are not used to doing things for themselves (and making their own decisions) are easier to control.
Harry Stein, in his book, How I Joined the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy by Mistake spoke briefly about the modern trend to prohibit school kids from playing "violent" games like "cops and robbers," etc. He asked why do these people insist that when kids play with toy guns that they are playing with "instruments of death?" Why can't they understand that the children see themselves as playing with "instruments of justice?"
Not sure why I am so gregarious today...better get back to work though. Do you think this thread is having an effect on national productivity? Probably is today, at least...
I am not sure I can buy your vast conspiracy theory to keep kids from playing in the woods as we did... I would suspect laziness or fear are the reasons. Easier to have them watch a video than take them outside, and little ones are no longer allowed to roam the neighborhood any more for fear of creeps.
A friend who lives in the city brings her 9 year old daughter over sometimes, and I always make a point of letting her ride my horse, climb on the hay, poke ant-hills and get dirty. And I wave off her mother that would inadvertantly turn her into a wallflower. When we all went walking I told the girl about a cool clearing I have in my woods that I call the "witch's circle" (It is just a grassy clearing with a fire pit in the center that was there when I moved in) I told her to run down the path a ways and check it out. Her eyes got all big and she got all excited to go look! - Her mother would not let her run up ahead and explore it alone! Made her stay back with us! - Parents are so afraid these days that kids are missing out.
Well, if I ever have kids, they shall play in the woods!
Like you Sam, I love trees/forests/and all that they encompass, and have many fond memories of tree houses (platforms) and vine swinging. When I read the part about Lorien, I found it delightful and wished that there had been more written about it, and the elves.
I was surprised that PJ made the Lorien so dark and forbidding. When I read it, I read "Golden Woods" and was enchanted, not at all feeling the woods gloomy or scary. The visit to Lorien was one of the really enjoyable spots for me- much like the time spent with Goldenberry and Tom.
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