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The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Movie Discussion: The Hobbit:
How long was Bilbo's journey in the book?

Paulo Gabriel
Lorien

Jul 2 2017, 8:44pm

Post #1 of 10 (7236 views)
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How long was Bilbo's journey in the book? Can't Post

This question came to my mind after viewing BOTFA for the Xth time, and the line, ''more than 13 months have passed since your disappearance'', or something like that. Which reminded me of the line in LOTR where Frodo said ''And 13 months after our long journey, the Fellowship of the Ring [...] was ended''.

So the question is this: does Bilbo's journey really takes more than 13 months in the book, or is this yet another reference of PJ to the original trilogy? Smile


(This post was edited by Paulo Gabriel on Jul 2 2017, 8:46pm)


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Jul 2 2017, 9:49pm

Post #2 of 10 (7204 views)
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The Timeline of Bilbo's Adventure (book) [In reply to] Can't Post

Year 1341 (Shire Reckoning; TA 2941)

March 15 - Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf the Grey meet in Bree.
April 25 - Gandalf introduces himself to Bilbo Baggins.
April 26 - The Unexpected Party
April 27 - Bilbo sets out from Hobbiton with Thorin and Company.
Late in May - The company encounters the three Trolls.
1 Lithe (Midsummer's Eve) - Elrond examines Thorin's map.
Midsummer's Day - The company leaves Rivendell.
July 16 - The company is captured by goblins during the night.
July 19 - The company escapes the goblins. Bilbo finds the Ring, meets Gollum and escapes.
July 20 - The company reaches Beorn's house.
July 25 - Gandalf leaves the company at the eaves of Mirkwood.

Around mid to late August the company is captured by Wood-elves and imprisoned in the Woodland Realm. Around the same time, the White Council meets and decides to act against the Necromancer.

September 21 - The company escapes from the Woodland Elves.
September 22 - Thorin and Company reach Lake-town.
October 9 - About this time, the company departs from Lake-town by boat.

In late October Bilbo enters the Mountain on Durin's Day. Smaug attacks Lake-town the evening of the following day and is slain by Bard.

The Mountain is besieged around mid November and the Battle of Five Armies is fought about a week later. Gandalf, Bilbo and Beorn depart from Erebor with the Elvenking's army at the end of the month and arrive at Beorn's in time for Yuletide (the six days from December 29 to January 2).

Year 1342 (Shire Reckoning; TA 2942)

Bilbo and Gandalf spend the winter with Beorn, leaving for Rivendell in the spring (around the beginning of April?).

May 1 - Gandalf and Bilbo reach Rivendell.
May 8 - The pair depart from Rivendell for the Shire.
June 22 - Bilbo and Gandalf arrive at Hobbiton.

April 27, 1341 to June 22, 1342, or just under fourteen months.

"He who lies artistically, treads closer to the truth than ever he knows." -- Favorite proverb of the wizard Ningauble of the Seven Eyes

(This post was edited by Otaku-sempai on Jul 2 2017, 9:50pm)


Paulo Gabriel
Lorien

Jul 4 2017, 6:31am

Post #3 of 10 (7061 views)
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Thanks, Otaku! [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
April 27, 1341 to June 22, 1342, or just under fourteen months.




So that means PJ/whoever wrote the movies wasn't wrong when he/she wrote ''MORE than 13 months, right? That shows how much attention and care PJ and co. give to details, and therefore to the trilogy in general. Smile


(This post was edited by Paulo Gabriel on Jul 4 2017, 6:32am)


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Jul 4 2017, 6:42am

Post #4 of 10 (7059 views)
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In general. [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
So that means PJ/whoever wrote the movies wasn't wrong when he/she wrote ''MORE than 13 months, right? That shows how much attention and care PJ and co. give to details, and therefore to the trilogy in general. Smile


In broad terms, that is largely true. It is in the specifics where I often find myself having a beef with Mr. Jackson's interpretations, alterations and additions. Wink

"Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall.” -- The Doctor


Paulo Gabriel
Lorien

Jul 4 2017, 8:23pm

Post #5 of 10 (7008 views)
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Cool to know! [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To

In Reply To
So that means PJ/whoever wrote the movies wasn't wrong when he/she wrote ''MORE than 13 months, right? That shows how much attention and care PJ and co. give to details, and therefore to the trilogy in general. Smile


In broad terms, that is largely true. It is in the specifics where I often find myself having a beef with Mr. Jackson's interpretations, alterations and additions. Wink


Could you tell me 3 major beefs that you have with ''The Hobbit'' trilogy? Wink I am just curious...


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Jul 4 2017, 11:47pm

Post #6 of 10 (6984 views)
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Ch-ch-ch-changes [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
Could you tell me 3 major beefs that you have with ''The Hobbit'' trilogy? Wink I am just curious...


Since you asked (I'll limit myself to comments about the Hobbit movies)...

- Jackson's changes to Tolkien's history of the Third Age. Not all of them, that would be petty. However, I take issue with having the Nine imprisoned in tombs for several hundred years instead of ruling over territories in other parts of Middle-earth. Remember, it was the Nazgűl who took Minas Ithil (renamed Minas Morgul) and captured the palantír that was kept there, bringing the Ithil-stone to Barad-dűr. it was also the Witch-king who slew the last King of Gondor (or possibly turned him into a Wraith?).

- The Tauriel/Kili relationship. I like the idea of Tauriel, but the whole thing with Kili never worked for me. It was never developed convincingly and just felt awkward.

- The timeline involving the war between the Wood-elves and Angmar is very confusing. Tauriel is over 600 years old, far older than King Thror of Erebor (she would have been at least 200 years old before Thror was born). And this war must have been fought before she was born, Tauriel knew nothing about it until she want scouting with Legolas. So Thranduil's Queen must have been dead for hundreds of years before he commissioned the Necklace of Lasgalen.

- Jackson shows no respect for time or distance. I know perfectly well that we have to expect to see time-compression during these movies, but we should still get some sense of how much time has passed. If you were not aware of the timeline of the book, how much time would you estimate passed from the departure of the company from Hobbiton to their arrival at Lake-town? Would you guess anything even close to five months? According to the prop calendar in Bard's home, the company arrived in Lake-town on September 28; but we never get to see this and it might have been well into October. Durin's Day was close, so it had to be late-autumn. And then there is Legolas and Tauriel's scouting expedition to Gundabad which should have taken weeks even on horseback (they had to cover about 400 miles each way). And I won't even get started on how long it should have taken Gandalf and the White Council to reach Dol Guldur.

I could say more including going on about Peter Jackson's penchant for crude physical humor, but you only asked for three examples.

"Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall.” -- The Doctor

(This post was edited by Otaku-sempai on Jul 4 2017, 11:48pm)


Kilidoescartwheels
Valinor


Jul 5 2017, 3:46am

Post #7 of 10 (6960 views)
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3 major beefs [In reply to] Can't Post

Mind if I chime in? For the most part I love, Love LOVE "The Hobbit" trilogy - probably more than anyone else on this board. But even I have a few complaints.

1. I missed the story where Bilbo tells the Company about the ring and the contest of riddles. It was one scene in the book I would have liked to see in the film. I understand why it didn't fit in with PJ's script (where would Bilbo have had the time?), but still, it's a big regret.

2. Though I'm not as upset about the time/distance factor as Otaku-Sempei is, there is a glaring error in Laketown where they seem to lose an entire day. While they are in Bard's house, Balin specifically says "Durin's Day falls the day after," yet when they get ready to leave Balin says "we have to, if we are to make it by nightfall," implying that they MUST reach the hidden door in 12 hrs or less. And yet in BOT5A Bilbo tells the Laketown 4 that Thorin "has been down there for days." Yeah, time is not very consistent here.

3. And then there's the Laketown 4 scene to begin with. I get that James Nesbitt had a tv show to work on, and I understand how helpful it was that some members of the company were present in Laketown to witness Smaug's destruction first hand - that was a good move on PJ's part. What I DON'T like is how Thorin so callously leaves Kili behind - and then we get that bravado speech from Fili, but Bombur? His bro also gets left behind, but not a word from him. Of course in the book Bombur was too fat to climb the mountain, so Bofur stayed behind with him. So while it's fitting that we had a similar sentiment in the movie, I just don't like the way it was handled.

And of course there are a few minor gripes about the number of times Gandalf yelled "RUUUUUUUUN!!!!!", and maybe a few too many chase scenes, but it is a Peter Jackson movie after all, so some degree of that is to be expected. And about your original question, Otaku and I have discussed this before. Something I've always found curious though, is that Frodo was gone for so long, yet we didn't have anyone auctioning off stuff in Bag End. Having re-read FoTR recently I discovered that Frodo sold Bag End before he left, but that wasn't mentioned in the movie.

I'd say I've entered my second childhood, but I never left the first!


Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Jul 5 2017, 1:37pm

Post #8 of 10 (6914 views)
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The Lost Day in Lake-town [In reply to] Can't Post

Yes, that bugs me too, though I think that part of kili's post got dropped. This is the dialog we here while Bard is retrieving his make-shift weapons for the Dwarves:

THORIN Tomorrow begins the last days of autumn.

BALIN: Durin's Day falls the morn after next. We must reach the mountain before then.

The company attempts to raid the armory of Esgaroth that same night, only to get caught. They seemingly depart from Lake-town the very next morning (leaving behind Fili, Kili, Bofur and Oin). As Bilbo and the others head for the docks, we hear Balin say: "If we're to find the door before nightfall, we can risk no more delays." This seems to indicate that this is the morning of Durin's Day.

It's also a bit incredible that the company reaches the Lonely Mountain on the same day they set out from Lake-town. This journey alone took them four days in the book, with more days just to locate the Secret Door; and even then they had to wait for Durin's Day (about two weeks after leaving Lake-town, give or take a day or so).

"Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall.” -- The Doctor


Paulo Gabriel
Lorien

Jul 6 2017, 9:29pm

Post #9 of 10 (6852 views)
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No, I don't! [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
Mind if I chime in?


Absolutely not! Anyone is welcomed to this conversation. Smile


In Reply To
For the most part I love, Love LOVE "The Hobbit" trilogy - probably more than anyone else on this board.



Respectfully, I think I love it even more than you do. I have bought the Middle earth Ultimate Collection! :D (not the $800 set, the cheaper/smaller/more compact one)


In Reply To
But even I have a few complaints.


So do I, although they are very minor and do not in any way affect my enjoyment of the movies.


L. Ron Halfelven
Grey Havens


Jul 6 2017, 11:16pm

Post #10 of 10 (6838 views)
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What happens in Lake-town stays in Lake-town./ [In reply to] Can't Post


 
 

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