Posted on 01/27/2002 6:18:35 PM PST by John Farson
| New Zealander builds Hobbit hole A New Zealand man has built a Hobbit house. Carl Gifford, a stonemason from Wellington, says he used a 10-tonne digger to make the hole. He's put rocks either side of the front door and plans to install a chimney and lantern on top. He told the Evening Post he was embarrassed as he was constructing the home. He said: "I must admit I was hiding as the cars were driving past. I thought, 'These people think I'm an idiot'." The house is part of a series of stonework mounds, designs and sculptures dotted around his land. "I'm just having a bit of fun. Things that were built by those ancient people like caves have always fascinated me." |
Show me the way to go home.
I'm tired and I want to go to bed.
I had a little drink about an hour ago
And it's gone straight to my head.
Wherever I may roam
On land or sea or foam
You can always hear me singing this song
Show me the way to go home.
So...I have a question...
In RotK when Gollum attacks Frodo on the slopes of Mount Doom, and then Frodo (or the ring?) says to Gollum, "Down, you creeping thing, and out of my path! Your time is at an end....." there's an observation of Sam's that has me wondering. It says, "Then suddenly, as before under the eaves of the Emyn Muil, Sam saw these two rivals with other vision. A crouching shape, scarcely more than the shadow of a living thing, a creature now wholly ruined and defeated, yet filled with a hideous lust and rage; and before it stood stern, untouchable now by pity, a figure robed in white, but at its breast it held a wheel of fire."
Now, when it references an earlier "vision" of Sam's, is this what he's talking about? "For a moment it appeared to Sam that his master had grown and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog...." Or is it referring to something else?
BTW, I think that one brief description of the altercation on Mount Doom would be an amazing discussion topic--I know we already touched on it before, especially 2Jedismom, but it's a fascinating passage. For the record, 2JM, I agree with your take on it--that voice coming out of the Ring of Fire, combined with the "untouchable now by pity" points to the Ring being the one "doing the talking" so to speak.
Now, for the spoiler part, which has been bugging me all day long (this is from the report on TTT footage that I posted earlier):
Highlight below to read:
In the AICN report, they referenced a moment where Frodo has Gollum pinned to the ground underneath him and Gollum is biting at his neck (presumably for the ring. In that report, the person says that he thought it was outside of Minus Morgul, but I think it sounds much more like the moment on the slopes of Mount Doom that is referenced above. What do you guys think?
when Frodo and Sam first wrestle Gollum into submission, at the beginning of their journey to Mordor. You know, when they put the Elf-rope on him.
Does anyone agree with that?
I'm losing my patience with trolls this evening!
I mean, I just read both passages, the Mt. Doom sequence is about as close to word-for-word what the spoiler says as it could get. Whereas, in the Emyn Muil scene it's Sam and Gollum who are wrestling (with Sam in dire straits) and Frodo pulls Sting out and threatens Gollum with it.
It just seems odd to me that they would make the "Taming of Smeagol" moment differ in exactly that way from what's in the book.
Though, I will admit I did think the Taming of Smeagol was the likely scene--before I read the passages in question, that is. ;)
Someday, though, I would like to have an in-depth discussion about those descriptions of what Frodo looked like to Sam in those two scenes--seems like there's an awful lot being said just in the descriptions...
Thanks for coming back and humoring me!
IMHO, Tolkien is referencing the "vision" you mention.
I believe that Sam's "other vision" is akin to the "visions" other characters have of Glorfindel, Gandalf, etc. These visions reveal their true character and status "in the eyes of God" as it were.
In the movie, this would be how Frodo see Arwen gowned all in white when she is really wearing gray.
The towering figure Sam sees is Frodo as he has really become on "the other side." Their suffering and heroic self-sacrifice has made him (and Sam, although he doesn't realize it) truly great. The same is true of Merry and Pippin, to a lesser degree.
At the Field of Cormallen, there is no hint of parody when Aragorn bows low to Frodo and Sam and seats them on his own throne. As Gandalf says before leaving them just before their return to the Shire, they are now among the Great in Middle-Earth. In other words, close to being of equal status with Elrond, Galadriel, Aragorn, etc.
I would not put it past Mr. Jackson to throw in some little treat from RotK just for fun. ;) He has all of them filmed, he can do whatever he wants, lol....
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