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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jul 23 2017, 12:42pm
Post #1 of 10
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TIME - July 23
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Today in Middle-earth
July 23, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. The Company rides through grasslands west of Mirkwood.
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."... morning dawned bright and fair again. There was an autumn-like mist white upon the ground and the air was chill, but soon the sun rose red in the East and the mists vanished, and while the shadows were still long they were off again... ...all the while they saw nothing save grass and flowers and birds and scattered trees, and occasionally small herds of red deer browsing or sitting at noon in the shade."
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observations List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observations List - May 15, 2014
5th draft of TH:BotFA Geeky Observations List - January 30, 2015
TORn's Geeky Observations Lists for LotR and The Hobbit
(This post was edited by grammaboodawg on Jul 23 2017, 12:44pm)
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jul 24 2017, 10:23am
Post #2 of 10
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Today in Middle-earth
July 24, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Bright, fair, chill fall-like mist. Bilbo sees Beorn.
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."...they were eager to press on, for Beorn had said that they should reach the forest-gate early on the fourth day, that they rode still forward after dusk and into the night beneath the moon. As the light faded Bilbo thought he saw away to the right, or to the left, the shadowy form of a great bear prowling along in the same direction. But if he dared to mention it to Gandalf, the wizard only said: "Hush! Take no notice!""
July 24th 1999: AICN announces that Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Ian Holm (Bilbo) have joined the cast, though this is not officially confirmed.
July 24th 2000: The cast and crew reconvene for the final stretch of shooting.
July 24th 2000: Soundtrack.net breaks the news that Howard Shore will be scoring all three Rings movies.
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observations List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observations List - May 15, 2014
5th draft of TH:BotFA Geeky Observations List - January 30, 2015
TORn's Geeky Observations Lists for LotR and The Hobbit
(This post was edited by grammaboodawg on Jul 24 2017, 10:24am)
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jul 25 2017, 12:06pm
Post #3 of 10
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Today in Middle-earth
July 25, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Gandalf and Company approach the west edge of Mirkwood.
(determined from text - referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
...Next day they started before dawn, though their night had been short. As soon as it was light they could see the forest coming as it were to meet them, or waiting for them like a black and frowning wall before them....
..."...Well, here is Mirkwood!" said Gandalf. "The greatest of the forests of the Northern world. I hope you like the look of it. Now you must send back these excellent ponies you have borrowed."
...The dwarves were inclined to grumble at this... ..."Beorn is not as far off as you seem to think, and you have better keep your promises anyway, for he is a bad enemy. Mr. Baggins' eyes are sharper than yours, if you have not seen each night after dark a great bear going along with us or... ...watching our camps. Not only to guard you and guide you, but to keep an eye on the ponies too. Beorn may be your friend, but he loves his animals as his children. You do not guess what kindness he has shown you in letting dwarves ride them so far and so fast, nor what would happen to you, if you tried to take them into the forest."
..."What about the horse, then?" said Thorin. "You don't mention sending that back."
..."I don't, because I am not sending it."
..."What about your promise then?"
..."I will look after that. I am not sending the horse back, I am riding it!"
...Then they knew that Gandalf was going to leave them... ...and they were in despair. But nothing they could say would change his mind.
..."Now we had this all out before, when we landed on the Carrock" he said. "It is no use arguing. I have, as I told you, some pressing business away south; and I am already late through bothering with you people. We may meet again before all is over, and then again of course we may not. That depends on your luck and on your courage and sense; and I am sending Mr. Baggins with you. I have told you before that he has more about him than you guess... ...So cheer up Bilbo and don't look so glum. Cheer up Thorin and Company! This is your expedition after all. Think of the treasure at the end, and forget the forest and the dragon, at any rate until tomorrow morning!""
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observations List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observations List - May 15, 2014
5th draft of TH:BotFA Geeky Observations List - January 30, 2015
TORn's Geeky Observations Lists for LotR and The Hobbit
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jul 26 2017, 3:12pm
Post #4 of 10
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Today in Middle-earth
July 26, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Gandalf departs at the west edge of Mirkwood.
(determined from text - referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."When tomorrow morning came... ...there was nothing left to do but to fill their water-skins at a clear spring they found close to the forest-gate, and unpack the ponies. They distributed the packages as fairly as they could, though Bilbo thought his lot was wearisomely heavy, and did not at all like the idea of trudging for miles and miles with all that on his back.
..."Don't you worry!" said Thorin. "It will get lighter all too soon. Before long I expect we shall all wish our packs heavier, when the food begins to run short."
...Then at last they said good-bye to their ponies and turned their heads for home... ...As they went away Bilbo could have sworn that a thing like a bear left the shadow of the trees and shambled off quickly after them.
...Now Gandalf too said farewell. Bilbo sat on the ground feeling very unhappy and wishing he was beside the wizard on his tall horse. He had gone just inside the forest... ...and it had seemed as dark in there in the morning as at night, and very secret; "a sort of watching and waiting feeling," he said to himself.
..."Good-bye!" said Gandalf to Thorin. "And good-bye to you all, good-bye! Straight through the forest is your way now. Don't stray off the track!---if you do, it is a thousand to one you will never find it again and never get out of Mirkwood...."
..."...Do we really have to go through?" groaned the hobbit.
..."Yes, you do!" said the wizard, "if you want to get to the other side. You must either go through or give up your quest. And I am not going to allow you to back out now, Mr. Baggins. I am ashamed of you for thinking of it. You have got to look after all these dwarves for me," he laughed....
......growled Thorin. "Good-bye! If you won't come with us, you had better get off without any more talk!"
..."Good-bye then, and really good-bye!" said Gandalf, and he turned his horse and rode down into the West. But he could not resist the temptation to have the last word. Before he had passed quite out of hearing he turned and put his hands to his mouth and called to them. They heard his voice come faintly: "Good-bye! Be good, take care of yourself—and DON'T LEAVE THE PATH!"
...Then he galloped away and was soon lost to sight. "O good-bye and go away!" grunted the dwarves... ...they were really filled with dismay at losing him. Now began the most dangerous part of all the journey. They each shouldered the heavy pack and the water-skin which was their share, and turned from the light that lay on the lands outside and plunged into the forest."
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observations List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observations List - May 15, 2014
5th draft of TH:BotFA Geeky Observations List - January 30, 2015
TORn's Geeky Observations Lists for LotR and The Hobbit
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jul 27 2017, 11:01am
Post #5 of 10
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Today in Middle-earth
July 27, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Welcome to Mirkwood!
(determined from text - referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."They walked in single file. The entrance to the path was like a sort of arch leading into a gloomy tunnel made by two great trees that leant together, too old and strangled with ivy... ...The path itself was narrow and wound in and out among the trunks. Soon the light at the gate was like a little bright hole far behind and the quiet was so deep that their feet seemed to thump along while all the trees leaned over them and listened.
...As their eyes became used to the dimness they could see a little way to either side in a sort of darkened green glimmer. Occasionally a slender beam of sun that the luck to slip in through some opening in the leaves far above, and still more luck in not being caught in the tangled boughs and matted twigs beneath... ...But this was seldom, and it soon ceased altogether.
...There were black squirrels in the wood. As Bilbo's sharp inquisitive eyes got used to seeing things he could catch glimpses of them whisking off the path and scuttling behind tree-trunks. There were queer noises too, grunts, scufflings, and hurryings in the undergrowth... ...but what made the noises he could not see. The nastiest things they saw were the cobwebs: dark dense cobwebs with threads extraordinarily thick, often stretched from tree to tree, or tangled in the lower branches on either side of them. There were none stretched across the path, but whether because some magic kept it clear, or for what other reason they could not guess."
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observations List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observations List - May 15, 2014
5th draft of TH:BotFA Geeky Observations List - January 30, 2015
TORn's Geeky Observations Lists for LotR and The Hobbit
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jul 28 2017, 10:16am
Post #6 of 10
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Today in Middle-earth
July 28, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Mirkwood.
(determined from text - referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."It was not long before they grew to hate the forest as heartily as they had hated the tunnels of the goblins, and it seemed to offer even less hope of any ending. But they had to go on... ...long after they were sick for a sight of the sun and of the sky, and longed for the feel of wind on their faces. There was no movement of air down under the forest-roof, and it was everlastingly still and dark and stuffy. Even the dwarves felt it, who were used to tunnelling, and lived at times for long whiles without the sight of the sun; but the hobbit, who liked holes to make a house in but not to spend summer days in, felt he was being slowly suffocated."
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observations List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observations List - May 15, 2014
5th draft of TH:BotFA Geeky Observations List - January 30, 2015
TORn's Geeky Observations Lists for LotR and The Hobbit
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jul 29 2017, 1:01pm
Post #7 of 10
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Today in Middle-earth
April 29, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Frodo begins plans for his departure.
(not from the appendices-no text)
...Now that the beginnings of a plan had been made, Frodo went to the chest and pulled out some old maps that Bilbo had left behind. He often pondered over these faded reminders of the old hobbit and wondered which direction he had gone the night he left. If he had found adventure during his travels; if he was contented in a safe place of rest or was never to be seen again. Frodo didn't dwell on the fear of Bilbo being lost. He'd always felt he would see him again, but how or when had seemed far off. Now he began to hope the maps would lead him to Bilbo and they would once again share stories over pipes and pints at ease in front of a warm hearth.
I'm including this drabbled response to this TIME post from dernwyn in 2006... just because it's (typically) brilliant and so thought-provoking!
...Meanwhile, while Frodo's thinking of Bilbo, certain ones of his friends are quietly thinking about him, and making their own plans to ensure his safe, secret, and accompanied getaway... Plans of their own.
...They had been scouring the edges of Buckland for weeks now, considering all possibilities, and this one seemed perfect. Down a less-used lane, surrounded by both hedge and trees, a house but hole-like enough; close to stabling, but more important, to the Hedge - perfect.
...Now, to convince his cousin that he should move there: nothing outright, of course, just little hints dropped here and there, enough to plant the seed in his mind and make him think it was his own idea to "find" this house...
..."Yes, that ought to work out quite well," thought Merry.
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observations List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observations List - May 15, 2014
5th draft of TH:BotFA Geeky Observations List - January 30, 2015
TORn's Geeky Observations Lists for LotR and The Hobbit
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jul 30 2017, 12:18pm
Post #8 of 10
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Here's a Book Spoiler of how it could have been worse before they even reached Mirkwood! Bilbo, I'm sure, recalled another warning that Beorn had given them before they left (see if you notice something familiar in his strategy)... for a moment of Tolkien-zen. From Queer Lodgings: The Hobbit
..."The goblins," Beorn had said, "will not dare to cross the Great River for a hundred miles north of the Carrock nor to come near my house... ...but I should ride fast; for if they make their raid soon they will cross the river to the south and scour all the edge of the forest so as to cut you off, and Wargs run swifter than ponies. Still you are safer going north, even though you seem to be going back nearer to their strongholds; for that is what they will least expect, and they will have the longer ride to catch you...!"......That is why they were now riding in silence, galloping wherever the ground was grassy and smooth, with the mountains dark on their left, and in the distance the line of the river with its trees drawing ever closer. The sun had only just turned west when they started, and till evening it lay golden on the land... ...It was difficult to think of pursuing goblins behind, and when they had put many miles between them and Beorn's house they began to talk and to sing again and to forget the dark forest-path that lay in front. But in the evening when the dusk came on and the peaks of the mountains glowered against the sunset they made a camp and set a guard... ...most of them slept uneasily with dreams in which there came the howl of hunting wolves and the cries of goblins."
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observations List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observations List - May 15, 2014
5th draft of TH:BotFA Geeky Observations List - January 30, 2015
TORn's Geeky Observations Lists for LotR and The Hobbit
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Jul 30 2017, 2:32pm
Post #9 of 10
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"Still you are safer going north, even though you seem to be going back nearer to their strongholds; for that is what they will least expect, and they will have the longer ride to catch you...!"
And the company's original plan to use the Old Forest Road would have likely ended in disaster because, unknown even (apparently) to Gandalf, the east end of the long disused road had been overtaken by marshland and become impassable.
"Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand is where I fall.” -- The Doctor
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jul 31 2017, 12:40pm
Post #10 of 10
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Here's a Book Spoiler that follows what happened after Bilbo escaped Gollum in Esgaroth...for a moment of Tolkien-zen. From The Shadow of the Past: The Fellowship of the Ring
...[Gollum] hated Bilbo and cursed his name. What is more, he knew where he came from... ...Bilbo very foolishly told Gollum himself; and after that it would not be difficult to discover his country, once Gollum came out. Oh yes, he came out. His longing for the Ring proved stronger than his fear of the Orcs, or even of the light. After a year or two he left the mountains. You see, though still bound by desire of it, the Ring was no longer devouring him; he began to revive a little. He felt old, terribly old, yet less timid, and he was mortally hungry.
... 'Light, light of Sun and Moon, he still feared and hated, and he always will, I think; but he was cunning. He found he could hide from daylight and moonshine, and make his way swiftly and softly by dead of night with his pale cold eyes, and catch small frightened or unwary things. He grew stronger and bolder with new food and new air. He found his way into Mirkwood... ...but before that he had wandered far, following Bilbo's trail... ..."What had it got in its pocketses... ...It wouldn't say, no precious. Little cheat. Not a fair question. It cheated first, it did. It broke the rules. We ought to have squeezed it, yes precious. And we will, precious...!"
......his padding feet had taken him at last to Esgaroth, and even to the streets of Dale, listening secretly and peering. Well, the news of the great events went far and wide in Wilderland, and many had heard Bilbo's name and knew where he came from. We had made no secret of our return journey to his home in the West. Gollum's sharp ears would soon learn what he wanted.... ...He set out and came back westward, as far as the Great River. But then he turned aside. He was not daunted by the distance... ...something else drew him away...
......The Wood-elves tracked him first... ...Through Mirkwood and back again... ...at the western edge of Mirkwood the trail turned away. It wandered off southwards... ...he had made his slow, sneaking way, step by step, mile by mile, south, down at last to the land of Mordor... ...as he lurked and pried on the borders he would be caught, and taken—for examination... ...he had already been there long, and was on his way back. On some errand of mischief... ...through him the Enemy has learned that the One has been found again.... ...And he has at last heard, I think, of hobbits and the Shire....
......we did not kill him: he is very old and very wretched. The Wood-elves have him in prison, but they treat him with such kindness as they can find in their wise hearts.'"
We have been there and back again.
TIME Google Calendar
6th draft of TH:AUJ Geeky Observations List - November 28, 2013
4th draft of TH:DOS Geeky Observations List - May 15, 2014
5th draft of TH:BotFA Geeky Observations List - January 30, 2015
TORn's Geeky Observations Lists for LotR and The Hobbit
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