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Not at Home, part III - “Come on... Light my Fire”

sador
Half-elven

Jun 16 2009, 8:28am

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Not at Home, part III - “Come on... Light my Fire”	Can't Post

There he lay face downwards on the floor and did not dare to get up, or hardly even to breath. But nothing moved. There was not a gleam of light – unless, as it had seemed to him, when at last he slowly raised his head, there was a pale white glint, above him and far off in the gloom. But certainly it was not a spark of dragon-fire...
At length, Mr. Baggins could bear it no longer. “Confound you, Smaug, you worm!” he squeaked aloud. “Stop playing hide-and-seek! Give me a light, and then eat me, if you can catch me!”
1. What is this white light? Yes, I know Tolkien will answer this riddle in a couple of pages – but is it something you would get immediately? Or remember and connect on re-reading?
2. How does this light affect Bilbo? It does not seem to fascinate him yet, or draw him on – in fact he should go towards it, as this is clearly the way ahead, and it also is the way towards the light. Does it repel him? Induce him to reveal himself?
3. In the goblins’ tunnels, we have noted three sources of light: Gandalf’s wand, the elvish blades, and Gollum’s eyes. How does this light compare to them?
4. Does Bilbo really think Smaug is playing a game – or is he just dizzy?
So Bilbo asks for light.

The dwarves, of course, were very alarmed when Bilbo fell forward down the step with a bump into the hall, and they sat huddled just where he had left them at the end of the tunnel.
“Sh! sh!” they hissed, when they heard his voice... In the end, when Bilbo actually began to stamp on the floor, and screamed out ‘light’ at the top of his shrill voice, Thorin gave way...
5. O! So there was a step! Couldn’t Bilbo notice it? Why didn’t he? Did the darkness dull his other senses – or perhaps the stench?
6. Why do the dwarves sit and wait for developements? What would you do in their stead?
7. Did the dwarves hear Bilbo’s challange to Smaug before? If not, why not?
8. Can’t Bilbo convince them of the need for light? Might he have done so if he had gone to speak to them? Or is he simply having a fit? In fact, does his behaviour here justify Gloin’s harsh judgement of him in the first chapter?

Well, at last Gloin himself goes with Oin to bring a light, and I suppose it doesn’t mean anything that he didn’t light a torch himself. Bilbo trots to the door an takes the torch, but still goes alone.
As Thorin carefully explained, Mr. Baggins was still officially their expert burglar and investigator. If he liked to risk a light, that was his own affair. They would sit in the tunnel for his report.
9. Has Thorin recovered his old pompousness, or is he simply afraid? Or maybe there is a point in this keeping with the rules of ceremony?
10. Don’t you find the “officially” amusing? Would a kid? What does it serve – as an excuse for Thorin’s letting Bilbo have a light, or for the dwarves not to join him?
11. One would think that the light would enhearten the dwarves, and make them bolder. Why doesn’t it?

So they sat near the door and watched.
12. Um... could they? When did Bilbo take off the ring?
Next time we will investigate the light inside Smaug’s bedroom.

"When they came to Bill Ferny's house they saw that the hedge there was tattered and unkempt, and the windows were all boarded up.
'Do you think you killed him with that apple, Sam?' said Pippin.
'I'm not so hopeful, Mr. Pippin,' said Sam."

Ferny is a small fish; a delinquette, and part-time ruffian.
But this week in the Reading Room - a real dragon is NOT AT HOME.
Join us!

(This post was edited by sador on Jun 16 2009, 8:30am)

Subject	User	Time
Not at Home, part III - “Come on... Light my Fire”	sador	Jun 16 2009, 8:28am
Thoughts.	Curious	Jun 16 2009, 5:12pm
Bilbo fails to step down.	FarFromHome	Jun 16 2009, 9:04pm
Bilbo may be impulsive now, but was he originally?	Curious	Jun 16 2009, 9:11pm
Yes and no.	FarFromHome	Jun 16 2009, 9:43pm
Sure, the poetic "Took" side was always there.	Curious	Jun 17 2009, 12:43am
Yes but	FarFromHome	Jun 17 2009, 12:31pm
When we first met him, we learned that people considered Bilbo	Curious	Jun 17 2009, 2:12pm
Ah but...	FarFromHome	Jun 17 2009, 3:11pm
Bilbo did not have any previous adventures, did he?	Curious	Jun 17 2009, 4:01pm
That may be your point.	FarFromHome	Jun 17 2009, 4:11pm
Your original remark,	Curious	Jun 17 2009, 4:37pm
Then we agreed all along!	FarFromHome	Jun 17 2009, 8:50pm
I always like reaching agreement.//	Curious	Jun 17 2009, 9:04pm
The re-Quest of Erebor	squire	Jun 17 2009, 10:11pm
I wouldn't go that far.	Curious	Jun 17 2009, 10:25pm
Quite right	Dreamdeer	Jun 18 2009, 2:58am
I just wish	Curious	Jun 18 2009, 12:07pm
Interesting.	Dreamdeer	Jun 18 2009, 3:26pm
Nice definition.	FarFromHome	Jun 18 2009, 3:52pm
I don't buy it.	Curious	Jun 18 2009, 4:36pm
Letter #29	Darkstone	Jun 18 2009, 4:46pm
Tolkien's fantasies are all about racial tolerance.	Curious	Jun 18 2009, 6:20pm
Are orcs a race?	Darkstone	Jun 18 2009, 6:40pm
Tolkien struggled with that.	Curious	Jun 18 2009, 6:56pm
But...	Darkstone	Jun 18 2009, 7:26pm
Not in Tolkien's world they can't.	Curious	Jun 19 2009, 1:50am
The half elven must make a choice	squire	Jun 19 2009, 2:15am
I don't think that is correct.	Curious	Jun 19 2009, 4:54am
Well	Darkstone	Jun 19 2009, 3:05am
Adam implied	Dreamdeer	Jun 19 2009, 3:10am
Morgoth's orcs were corrupted by Morgoth.	Curious	Jun 19 2009, 5:00am
And the Edain before Númenor	Beren IV	Jun 19 2009, 6:11pm
Did they?	Curious	Jun 19 2009, 6:25pm
Unless I misremember my dates, yes	Beren IV	Jun 19 2009, 11:01pm
Uh...extremely late?	Dreamdeer	Jun 19 2009, 11:24pm
That's late (by the standards of most human societies)	Beren IV	Jun 20 2009, 12:15am
Good points. However...	Dreamdeer	Jun 20 2009, 2:03pm
That still happens.	Curious	Jun 20 2009, 3:13pm
Yes it does.	Dreamdeer	Jun 21 2009, 5:41am
Then why	Beren IV	Jun 20 2009, 8:05pm
Housewife?	Dreamdeer	Jun 21 2009, 5:51am
Well, I didn't mean work as a housewife	Beren IV	Jun 21 2009, 7:40am
It was a lot of work to run an estate	squire	Jun 21 2009, 4:00pm
True,	Beren IV	Jun 21 2009, 6:20pm
You've got me thinking	Dreamdeer	Jun 21 2009, 11:00pm
well	Twit	Jun 22 2009, 11:46am
Oh sure,	Curious	Jun 22 2009, 1:17pm
A medical career?	sador	Jun 23 2009, 6:21am
The precedent was set	Elizabeth	Jun 23 2009, 7:02am
Interesting perspective! //	Dreamdeer	Jun 23 2009, 3:55pm
In a devolutionary mythos,	Curious	Jun 20 2009, 12:41am
Nonetheless I strongly suspect	Beren IV	Jun 20 2009, 1:56am
Why?//	Curious	Jun 20 2009, 2:24am
Several reasons	Beren IV	Jun 20 2009, 2:46am
But some of the Easterlings were good,	Curious	Jun 20 2009, 3:43am
Nan Dungortheb	Beren IV	Jun 20 2009, 4:08am
Why do you say	Curious	Jun 20 2009, 7:20am
It's a racial thing	Beren IV	Jun 20 2009, 8:03pm
I attribute that to increased interaction	Curious	Jun 21 2009, 5:52am
You could be right	Beren IV	Jun 21 2009, 7:43am
That's easy.	Curious	Jun 21 2009, 12:11pm
Ah, now we're drilling down to presentism	squire	Jun 18 2009, 9:33pm
Sure.	Curious	Jun 18 2009, 11:24pm
Of course you're entitled to your feelings	squire	Jun 19 2009, 12:20am
Twain and Tolkien both	Curious	Jun 19 2009, 1:45am
Races are and aren't.	Dreamdeer	Jun 19 2009, 2:24am
Yes, of course	squire	Jun 19 2009, 3:05am
The genetic story of the British Isles	Elizabeth	Jun 19 2009, 3:19am
It's a question of scale	Beren IV	Jun 19 2009, 5:58pm
I'm with you, Curious	Dreamdeer	Jun 19 2009, 2:04am
I wouldn't go that far	sador	Jun 18 2009, 2:21am
Steal away	dernwyn	Jun 17 2009, 2:23am
here goes	Twit	Jun 17 2009, 11:09am
A few comments on your answers	sador	Jun 18 2009, 2:09am
A few thoughts	Dreamdeer	Jun 17 2009, 4:08pm
Light	GaladrielTX	Jun 18 2009, 12:34am

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