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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Oct 13 2017, 10:37am
Post #1 of 34
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TIME - October 13
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Today in Middle-earth
October 13, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Bilbo, Fili, Kili and Balin scout up to River Running and go part way toward the Front Gate.
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."Before setting out to search the western spurs of the Mountain for the hidden door, on which all their hopes rested, Thorin sent out a scouting expedition to spy out the land to the South where the Front Gate stood. For this purpose he chose Balin and Fili and Kili, and with them went Bilbo. They marched under the grey and silent cliffs to the feet of Ravenhill. There the river, after winding a wide loop over the valley of Dale, turned from the Mountain on its road to the Lake, flowing swift and noisily.... ...they could see in the wide valley shadowed by the Mountain's arms the grey ruins of ancient houses, towers, and walls.
..."There lies all that is left of Dale," said Balin. "The mountain's sides were green with woods and all the sheltered valley rich and pleasant in the days when the bells rang in that town." He looked... ...grim as he said this: he had been one of Thorin's companions on the day the Dragon came.
...They did not dare to follow the river much further towards the Gate; but they went on beyond the end of the southern spur, until lying hidden behind a rock they could look out and see the dark cavernous opening in a great cliff wall between the arms of the Mountain. Out of it the waters of the Running River sprang; and out of it too there came a stream and a dark smoke. Nothing moved in the waste, save vapour and the water.... ...The only sound was the sound of the stony water, and every now and again the harsh croak of a bird. Balin shuddered.
..."Let us return!" he said. "We can do no good here! And I don't like these dark birds, they look like spies of evil."
..."The dragon is still alive and in the halls under the Mountain then---or I imagine so from the smoke," said the hobbit.
..."That does not prove it," said Balin, "though I don't doubt you are right. But he might be gone away some time, or he might be lying out on the mountain-side keeping watch, and still I expect smokes and steams would come out of the gates... ...the halls within must be filled with his foul reek."
...With such gloomy thoughts, followed ever by croaking crows above them, they made their weary way back to the camp."
October 13, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Frodo crosses the bridge.
(from the appendices)
..."...Next day, early in the morning, they came down again to the borders of the Road. Sam and Strider went forward, but they found no sign of any travellers or riders. Here under the shadow of the hills there had been some rain. Strider judged that it had fallen two days before, and had washed away all footprints. No horseman had passed since then...
......They hurried along with all the speed they could make, and after a mile or two they saw the Last Bridge ahead, at the bottom of a short steep slope. They dreaded to see black figures waiting there, but they saw none. Strider made them take cover in a thicket at the side of the Road, while he went forward to explore.
...Before long he came hurrying back. 'I can see no sign of the enemy... ...and I wonder very much what that means. But I have found something very strange.'
...He held out his hand, and showed a single pale-green jewel. 'I found it in the mud in the middle of the Bridge,' he said. 'It is a beryl, an elf-stone. Whether it was set there, or let fall by chance... ...it brings hope to me. I will take it as a sign that we may pass the Bridge; but beyond that I dare not keep to the Road, without some clearer token.'
...At once they went on again... ...Strider turned aside, and soon they were lost in a sombre country of dark trees winding among the feet of sullen hills... ...As they went forward the hills about them steadily rose... ...they caught glimpses of ancient walls of stone, and the ruins of towers: they had an ominous look. Frodo, who was not walking, had time to gaze ahead and to think. He recalled Bilbo's account of his journey and the threatening towers on the hills north of the Road, in the country near the Troll's wood where his first serious adventure had happened. Frodo guessed that they were now in the same region...."
2. Glorfindel backtracks from his pursuit of the Black Riders searching for the Company.
(not from the appendices-no text)
3. Gandalf makes his way to Rivendell.
(not from the appendices-no text)
October 13, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Gandalf and the hobbits make their way to Bree after passing Weathertop.
(not from the appendices-no text)
... Gandalf was enjoying his time with the hobbits. He sat quietly in the evening's camp and delighted in the humorous banter between Merry and Pippin as they debated whatever topic seemed to arise. He marvelled at Sam's intuitive care for preparing the camp and meal while keeping a subtle eye on Frodo who sat wrapped in a blanket quietly watching the campfire. Softly blown smoke rings rode the night air as he pondered Sam's devotion to Frodo. He shook his head to himself.
..."Their return to the Shire will decide much. Who can know what will follow?"
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
Oct 14 2017, 8:21am
Post #2 of 34
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Today in Middle-earth
October 14, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. The camp is moved to the western valley.
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."Now strange to say Mr. Baggins had more [spirit] than the others. He would often borrow Thorin's map and gaze at it, pondering over the runes and the message of the moon-letters Elrond had read. It was he that made the dwarves begin the dangerous search on the western slopes for the secret door. They moved their camp then to a long valley... ...and walled with lower spurs of the Mountain. Two of these here thrust forward west from the main mass in long steep-sided ridges that fell ever downwards towards the plain. On this western side there were fewer signs of the dragon's marauding feet, and there was some grass for their ponies."
October 14, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Strider and the hobbits continue through the wild of the Trollshaws Forest.
(not from the appendices)
..."'Who lives in this land?' Frodo asked. 'And who built these towers? Is this troll-country?'
...'No!' said Strider. 'Trolls do not build. No one lives in this land. Men once dwelt here, ages ago; but none remain now. They became an evil people, as legends tell, for they fell under the shadow of Angmar. But all were destroyed in the war that brought the North Kingdom to its end... ...though a shadow still lies on the land.'
...'Where did you learn such tales, if all the land is empty and forgetful?' asked Peregrin. 'The birds and beasts do not tell tales of that sort.'
...'The heirs of Elendil do not forget all things past,' said Strider; 'and many more things than I can tell are remembered in Rivendell.'
...'Have you often been to Rivendell?' asked Frodo.
...'I have,' said Strider. 'I dwelt there once, and still I return when I may. There my heart is; but it is not my fate to sit in peace, even in the fair house of Elrond.'"
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
Oct 15 2017, 1:37pm
Post #3 of 34
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Today in Middle-earth
October 15, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Strider and the Hobbits struggle on through the Wild.
(not from the appendices)
..."They had been two days in this country (near the Troll's woods) when the weather turned wet. The wind began to blow steadily out of the West and pour the water of the distant seas on the dark heads of the hills in fine drenching rain. By nightfall they were all soaked, and their camp was cheerless, for they could not get any fire to burn."
October 15, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Gandalf and the hobbits make their way to Bree.
(not from the appendices-no text)
...After passing Weathertop, and the closer they got to the Shire, the more excited Sam became. He would watch for a hint of anything familiar from their previous trip with Strider a full year before. With each hopeful exclamation regarding a huge tree or curiously-shaped boulder, Merry would remind him that this trail was far from the path Strider had led them on, as Frodo shook his head and smiled. Nonetheless, Sam anticipated each step leading home; which made every day seem like ten.
October 15, 2010
... The Hobbit finally gets green light & Peter Jackson is directing (2-pts) - out Dec 2012 & 2013
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 Oct 15 2017, 1:46pm)
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Oct 16 2017, 11:28am
Post #4 of 34
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Today in Middle-earth
October 16, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Strider and the hobbits make their way through the wild.
(not from the appendices)
..."...the hills rose still higher and steeper before them, and they were forced to turn away northwards out of their course. Strider seemed to be getting anxious: they were nearly ten days out from Weathertop, and their stock of provisions was beginning to run low. It went on raining.
...That night they camped on a stony shelf with a rockwall behind them, in which there was a shallow cave... ...Frodo was restless. The cold and wet had made his wound more painful than ever, and the ache and sense of deadly chill took away all sleep. He lay tossing and turning and listening fearfully to the stealthy night-noises... ...He felt that black shapes were advancing to smother him; but when he sat up he saw nothing but the back of Strider sitting hunched up, smoking his pipe, and watching. He lay down again and passed into an uneasy dream, in which he walked on the grass in his garden in the Shire, but it seemed faint and dim, less clear than the tall black shadows that stood looking over the hedge."
2. Glorfindel marks where Strider and the hobbits returned to the road and made for the bridge.
(not from the appendices)
..."...I have searched for your trail. Two days ago I found it, and followed it over the Bridge..."
October 16, 3019 (S.R. 1419)
1. Gandalf and the hobbits are nearing the end of their journey to Bree.
(not from the appendices-no text)
...'I much prefer travelling to Bree this way than the last time we passed through here.' Pippin yawned and stretched his arms high above his head. 'Thank goodness we're well away from that marsh and those bugs! What'd you call them, Sam?'
...The gardener looked across the fields toward the treeline and scowled. 'Neekerbreekers,' he muttered. 'I still can hear 'em buzzing in my ears. I never thought there could be anything worse than those pests.'
...Frodo looked over at Sam's serious expression and couldn't help but chuckle, knowing that the pests Sam encountered over the past year could fill a chapter in Bilbo's book.
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
Oct 17 2017, 11:01am
Post #5 of 34
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Today in Middle-earth
October 17, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. The Company searches for the Hidden Door.
(determined from text – referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."...day by day they toiled in parties searching for paths of the mountain-side, if the map was true, somewhere high above the cliff at the valley's head must stand the secret door. Day by day they came back to their camp without success."
Tomorrow in Middle-earth
Pre-October 18, 3018 (S.R.1418)
1. From Flight to the Ford: is a precursor to October 18 extended post
...As quickly as they could they scrambled off the beaten way... ...until they peered out from among the bushes [and] they could see the Road... ...some thirty feet below them. The sound of hoofs drew nearer. They were going fast, with a light clippety-clippety-clip. Then faintly, as if it was blown away from them by the breeze, they seemed to catch a dim ringing, as of small bells tinkling.
...'That does not sound like a Black Rider's horse!' said Frodo, listening intently. The other hobbits agreed hopefully that it did not... ...They had been in fear of pursuit for so long that any sound from behind seemed ominous and unfriendly. But Strider was now leaning forward, stooped to the ground, with a hand to his ear, and a look of joy on his face.
...The light faded... ...Clearer and nearer now the bells jingled, and clippety-clip came the quick trotting feet. Suddenly into view below came a white horse, gleaming in the shadows, running swiftly. In the dusk its headstall flickered and flashed, as if it were studded with gems like living stars the rider's cloak streamed behind him, and his hood was thrown back; his golden hair flowed shimmering in the wind of his speed. To Frodo it appeared that a white light was shining through the form and raiment of the rider, as if through a thin veil.
...Strider sprang from hiding... ...leaping with a cry through the heather; but even before he had moved or called, the rider had reined his horse and halted, looking up towards the thicket where they stood. When he saw Strider, he dismounted and ran to meet him calling out: "Ai na vedui Dúnadan! Mae govannen!" His speech and clear ringing voice left no doubt in their hearts: the rider was of the Elven-folk... ...But there seemed to be a note of haste or fear in his call, and they saw that he was now speaking quickly and urgently to Strider.
...Soon Strider beckoned to them, and the hobbits left the bushes and hurried down to the road. 'This is Glorfindel, who dwells in the house of Elrond...'"
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
Oct 18 2017, 11:20am
Post #6 of 34
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Today in Middle-earth
October 18, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Bilbo, Fili and Kili find the Hidden Door
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."...at last unexpectedly they found what they were seeking. Fili and Kili and the hobbit went back one day down the valley and scrambled among the tumbled rocks at its southern corner. About midday, creeping behind a great stone that stood alone like a pillar, Bilbo came on what looked like rough steps going upwards. Following these excitedly, he and the dwarves found traces of a narrow track... ...that wandered on to the top of the southern ridge and brought them at last to a still narrower ledge, which turned north across the face of the Mountain. Looking down they saw that they were at the top of the cliff at the valley's head and were gazing down on to their own camp below. Silently, clinging to the rocky wall on their right, they went in single file along the ledge, till... ...they turned into a little steep-walled bay, grassy-floored, still and quiet. Its entrance which they had found could not be seen from below because of the overhang of the cliff, nor from further off because it was so small that it looked like a dark crack and no more. It was not a cave and was open to the sky above; but at its inner end a flat wall rose up that in the lower part, close to the ground, was as smooth and upright as mason's work, but without a joint or crevice to be seen. No sign was there of... ...threshold, nor any sign of bar or bolt or key-hole; yet they did not doubt that they had found the door at last.
...They beat on it, they thrust and pushed at it, they implored it to move, they spoke fragments of broken spells of opening, and nothing stirred. At last tired out they rested on the grass at its feet, and then at evening began their long climb down."
October 18, 3018 (S.R. 1418) [continued]
1. Glorfindel finds Frodo at dusk.
(from the appendices)
..."'Hail, and well met at last!' said the Elf-lord to Frodo. 'I was sent from Rivendell to look for you. We feared that you were in danger upon the road.'
...'Then Gandalf has reached Rivendell?' cried Frodo joyfully.
...'No. He had not when I departed; but that was nine days ago,' answered Glorfindel.... '...today I marked where you descended from the hills again. But come! There is no time for further news. Since you are here we must risk the peril of the Road and go. There are five behind us, and when they find your trail... ...they will ride after us like the wind. And they are not all. Where the other four may be, I do not know. I fear that we may find the Ford is already held against us.'
...While Glorfindel was speaking the shades of evening deepened. Frodo felt a great weariness come over him. Ever since the sun began to sink the mist before his eyes had darkened, and he felt that a shadow was coming between him and the faces of his friends. Now pain assailed him, and he felt cold. He swayed, clutching at Sam's arm.
...'My master is sick and wounded,' said Sam angrily. 'He can't go on riding after nightfall....'
...Glorfindel caught Frodo as he sank to the ground, and taking him gently in his arms he looked in his face with grave anxiety.
...Briefly Strider told of the attack on their camp under Weathertop, and of the deadly knife. He drew out the hilt... ...and handed it to the Elf. Glorfindel shuddered as he took it, but he looked intently at it.
...'There are evil things written on this hilt,' he said; 'though maybe your eyes cannot see them. Keep it, Aragorn, till we reach the house of Elrond! But be wary, and handle it as little as you may! Alas! the wounds of this weapon are beyond my skill to heal. I will do what I can—but all the more do I urge you now to go on without rest.'
...He searched the wound on Frodo's shoulder with his fingers, and his face grew graver, as if what he learned disquieted him. But Frodo felt the chill lessen in his side and arm; and a little warmth crept down from his shoulder to his hand, and the pain grew easier. The dusk of evening seemed to grow lighter about him, as if a cloud had been withdrawn. He saw his friends' faces more clearly again, and a measure of new hope and strength returned.
...'You shall ride my horse... ...I will shorten the stirrups up to the saddle-skirts, and you must sit as tight as you can. But you need not fear: my horse will not let any rider fall that I command him to bear.'"
2. Gandalf reaches Rivendell.
(from the appendices)
..."'I reached here at last by a long hard road, up the Hoarwell and through the Ettenmoors... ...It took me nearly fourteen days from Weathertop for I could not ride among the rocks of the troll-fells, and Shadowfax departed. I sent him back to his master; but a great friendship has grown between us, and if I have need he will come at my call. But so it was that I came to Rivendell only three days before the Ring, and news of its peril had already been brought here—which proved well indeed.'"
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
Oct 19 2017, 12:06pm
Post #7 of 34
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Today in Middle-earth
October 19, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. The camp is moved to the hidden bay.
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
... "...they made their third camp [in the evening], hauling up what they needed from below with their ropes. Down the same way they were able occasionally to lower one of the more active dwarves, such as Kili, to exchange such news as there was, or to take a share in the guard below... ...Bombur would not come up either the rope or the path.
..."I am too fat for such fly-walks... ...I should turn dizzy and tread on my beard, and then you would be thirteen again..."
... ...meanwhile some of them explored the ledge beyond the opening and found a path that led higher... ...but they did not dare to venture very far that way... ...up there a silence reigned, broken by no bird or sound except that of the wind... ...They spoke low and never called or sang, for danger brooded in every rock. The others who were busy with the secret of the door had no more success... ...too eager to trouble about the runes or the moon-letters... ...tried without resting to discover where exactly in the smooth face of the rock the door was hidden. They had brought picks and tools... ...from Lake-town, and at first they tried to use these. But when they struck the stone the handles splintered and jarred their arms cruelly, and the steel heads broke or bent like lead. Mining work, they saw clearly was no good against the magic that had shut this door; and they grew terrified, too, of the echoing noise."
October 19, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Glorfindel leads the Company towards the Ford of Bruinen.
(not from the appendices)
..."There was neither star nor moon. Not until the grey of dawn did he allow them to halt. Pippin, Merry, and Sam were by that time nearly asleep on their stumbling legs; and even Strider seemed by the sag of his shoulders to be weary. Frodo sat upon the horse in a dark dream.
...They cast themselves down in the heather a few yards from the road-side, and fell asleep immediately. They seemed hardly to have closed their eyes when Glorfindel, who had set himself to watch while they slept, awoke them again....
...'...Drink this!' said Glorfindel to them, pouring for each in turn a little liquor from his silver-studded flask of leather. It was clear as spring water and had no taste, and it did not feel either cool or warm in the mouth; but strength and vigour seemed to flow into all their limbs as they drank it. Eaten after that draught the stale bread and dried fruit (which was now all that they had left) seemed to satisfy their hunger better than many a good breakfast in the Shire had done.
......the Road bent right and ran down towards the bottom of the valley, now making straight for the Bruinen... ...there had been no sign or sound of pursuit that the hobbits could see or hear; but often Glorfindel would halt and listen for a moment, if they lagged behind, and a look of anxiety clouded his face. Once or twice he spoke to Strider in the elf-tongue.
...But however anxious their guides might be, it was plain that the hobbits could go no further that night. They were stumbling along dizzy with weariness... ...Frodo's pain had redoubled, and during the day things about him faded to shadows of ghostly grey. He almost welcomed the company of night, for then the world seemed less pale and empty."
2. Gandalf waits for word of the company in Rivendell.
(not from the appendices-no text)
...In all his long years the wizard has never felt so helpless. He knew time was running out and the delays that separated him from Frodo while Black Riders hunted him in the wild could spell doom for the hobbit and all of Middle-earth. His only hope rested on his faith in Aragorn. Fear was ever in his heart as he brooded over the fate of the travellers.
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
Oct 19 2017, 2:33pm
Post #8 of 34
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If I remember correctly, this is the date that Tolkien at one point favored for Durin's Day in The Hobbit. I'll admit that it seems a little too early to work for me.
"Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he."
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Oct 19 2017, 8:58pm
Post #10 of 34
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Last year we figured a few days down the road is a better choice :)
Yes, though there is quite a bit of leeway depending on the details. We can consider when the Dwarves account the beginning of winter, whether Thorin and Balin were referring to the beginning of the week in Shire-reckoning or using a different system, and what would have been the date of the last new moon of autumn.
"Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he."
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Oct 20 2017, 10:24am
Post #11 of 34
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Today in Middle-earth
October 20, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Bilbo and the Dwarves think of what to do next at the Hidden Door.
(determined from text – referencing Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
..."Bilbo found sitting on the doorstep lonesome and wearisome—there was not a doorstep, of course, really, but they used to call the little grassy space between the wall and the opening the "doorstep" in fun, remembering Bilbo's words long ago at the unexpected party in his hobbit-hole, when he said they could sit on the doorstep till they thought of something...
......Their spirits had risen a little at the discovery of the path, but now they sank into their boots; and yet they would not give it up and go away. The hobbit was no longer much brighter than the dwarves. He would do nothing but sit with his back to the rock-face and stare away west through the opening... ...If the dwarves asked him what he was doing he answered:
..."You said sitting on the doorstep and thinking would be my job, not to mention getting inside, so I am sitting and thinking." But I am afraid he was not thinking much of the job, but of what lay beyond the blue distance, the quiet Western Land and the Hill and his hobbit-hole under it.
...A large grey stone lay in the centre of the grass and [Bilbo] stared moodily at it or watched the great snails. They seemed to love the little shut-in bay with its walls of cool rock, and there were many of them of huge size crawling slowly and stickily along its sides."
October 20, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Escape across the Ford of Bruinen.
(from the appendices)
..."'Our peril will be greatest just ere we reach the river,' said Glorfindel; 'for my heart warns me that the pursuit is now swift behind us, and other danger may be waiting by the Ford....'
......In the late afternoon, they came to a place where the Road went suddenly under the dark shadow of tall pine-trees, and then plunged into a deep cutting with steep moist walls of red stone.... ...here at the bottom of a sharp incline they saw before them a long flat mile, and behind that the Ford of Rivendell...
......There was still an echo as of following feet in the cutting behind them; a rushing noise as if a wind were rising and pouring through the branches of the pines. One moment Glorfindel turned and listened, then he sprang forward with a loud cry.
...'Fly!' he called. 'Fly! The enemy is upon us!'
...The white horse leaped forward. The hobbits ran down the slope. Glorfindel and Strider followed as rearguard. They were only half way across the flat, when suddenly there was a noise of horses galloping. Out of the gate in the trees that they had just left rode a Black Rider. He reined his horse in, and halted, swaying in his saddle. Another followed him, and then another; then again two more.
...'Ride forward! Ride!' cried Glorfindel to Frodo.
...He did not obey at once, for a strange reluctance seized him. Checking the horse to a walk, he turned and looked back. The Riders seemed... ...dark and solid while all the woods and land about them receded as if into a mist. Suddenly he knew in his heart that they were silently commanding him to wait. Then at once fear and hatred awoke in him. His hand left the bridle and gripped the hilt of his sword, and with a red flash he drew it.
...'Ride on! Ride on!' cried Glorfindel, and then loud and clear he called to the horse in the elf-tongue: 'noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth!'
...At once the white horse sprang away and sped like the wind along the last lap of the Road... ...the black horses leaped down the hill in pursuit, and from the Riders came a terrible cry, such as Frodo had heard filling the woods... ...It was answered; and to the dismay of Frodo and his friends out from the trees and rock away on the left four other Riders came flying. Two rode towards Frodo: two galloped madly towards the Ford to cut off his escape. They seemed to him to run like the wind and to grow swiftly larger and darker, as their courses converged with his.
...Frodo looked back for a moment over his shoulder. He could no longer see his friends. The Riders behind were falling back: even their great steeds were no match in speed for the white elf-horse of Glorfindel. He looked forward again, and hope faded. There seemed no chance of reaching the Ford before he was cut off... ...He could see them clearly now; they appeared to have cast aside their hoods and black cloaks, and they were robed in white and grey. Swords were naked in their pale hands; helms were on their heads. Their cold eyes glittered, and they called to him with fell voices.
...Fear now filled all Frodo's mind... ...No cry came from him. He shut his eyes and clung to the horse's mane. The wind whistled in his ears and the bells upon the harness rang wild and shrill. A breath of deadly cold pierced him like a spear, as with a last spurt, like a flash of white fire, the elf-horse speeding as if on wings, passed right before the face of the foremost Rider.
...Frodo heard the splash of water. It foamed about his feet. He felt the quick heave and surge as the horse left the river and struggled up the stony path... ...He was across the Ford.
...But the pursuers were close behind. At the top of the bank the horse halted and turned about neighing fiercely. There were Nine Riders at the water's edge below, and Frodo's spirit quailed before the threat of their uplifted faces. He knew of nothing that would prevent them from crossing as easily as he had done; and he felt that is was useless to try to escape... ...he felt that he was commanded urgently to halt. Hatred again stirred in him, but he had no longer the strength to refuse.
...Suddenly the foremost Rider spurred his horse forward. It checked at the water and reared up. With a great effort Frodo sat upright and brandished his sword.'
...'Go back!' he cried. 'Go back to the Land of Mordor, and follow me no more!' His voice sounded thin and shrill in his own ears. The Riders halted, but Frodo had not the power of Bombadil. His enemies laughed at him with a harsh and chilling laughter. 'Come back! Come back!' they called. 'To Mordor we will take you!'
...'Go back!' he whispered.
...'The Ring! The Ring!' they cried with deadly voices; and immediately their leader urged his horse forward into the water... .
...'...By Elbereth and Lúthien the Fair,' said Frodo with a last effort, lifting up his sword, 'you shall have neither the Ring nor me!'
...Then the leader, who was now half across the Ford, stood up menacing in his stirrups, and raised up his hand. Frodo was stricken dumb. He felt his tongue cleave to his mouth, and his heart labouring. His sword broke and fell out of his shaking hand. The elf-horse reared and snorted. The foremost of the black horses had almost set foot upon the shore.
...At that moment there came a roar and a rushing... ...Dimly Frodo saw the river below him rise, and down along its course there came a plumed cavalry of waves. White flames seemed to Frodo to flicker on their crests and he half fancied that he saw amid the waters white riders upon white horses with frothing manes. The three Riders that were still in the midst of the Ford were overwhelmed: they disappeared... ...Those that were behind drew back in dismay.
...With his last failing senses Frodo heard cries, and it seemed to him that he saw, beyond the Riders that hesitated on the shore, a shining figure of white light; and behind it ran small shadowy forms waving flames, that flared red in the grey mist that was falling over the world.
...The black horses were filled with madness, and leaping forward in terror they bore their riders into the rushing flood. Their piercing cries were drowned in the roaring of the river as it carried them away. Then Frodo felt himself falling, and the roaring and confusion seemed to rise and engulf him together with his enemies. He heard and saw no more."
2. Gandalf and Elrond perceive the Black Riders at the Ford of Bruinen.
(not from the appendices-no text & text)
...Sitting in the great hall before the fire still gripping the arms of the great chair, Gandalf sighed and relaxed, returning to his pipe and gazing into the flames.
[Later, he described to Frodo:]"'The river of this valley is under [Elrond's] power, and it will rise in anger when he has great need to bar the Ford. As soon as the captain of the Ringwraiths rode into the water the flood was released. If I may say so, I added a few touches of my own; you may have noticed, but some of the waves took the form of great white horses with shining white riders... ...For a moment I was afraid that we had let loose too fierce a wrath, and the flood would get out of hand and wash you all away.'"
3. Frodo is brought to Rivendell.
(not from the appendices)
..."'The Elves brought you from the Ford on the night of the twentieth, and that is where you lost count. We have been very anxious, and Sam has hardly left your side, day or night, except to run messages. Elrond is a master of healing, but the weapons of our Enemy are deadly. To tell you the truth, I had very little hope; for I suspected that there was some fragment of the blade still in the closed wound...'"
October 20, 1955
1. The Return of the King published.
...The third of 3 volumes of The Lord of the Rings was published in the United Kingdom. This volume contains the final 2 of Tolkien's 6 "books" of his epic tale and an extensive appendices. It introduces us to a history of Middle-earth, the main characters, the tale of the Ring of Sauron, the creation of the Fellowship, and the launch of the Quest to destroy the Ring.
October 20, 1958
1. Viggo Mortensen born in New York City.
...Danish-American Viggo Mortensen's birthday falls on the Anniversary of The Return of the King's publication. How poetic is that? :)
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
Oct 20 2017, 3:20pm
Post #12 of 34
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Today, October 20, is the first day of the last moon of autumn (by the reckoning of Durin's Folk) for the year 2014 C.E. in the Gregorian calendar.
Sun and Moon Times for Buffalo, NY[/u[
Sunrise: 7:35 a.m.
Sunset: 6:24 p.m.
Moonrise: 8:11 a.m.
Moonset: 7:18 p.m.
So, by my reckoning today is also Durin's Day!
"Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he."
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Oct 20 2017, 4:32pm
Post #13 of 34
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Oct 20-29, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Bilbo and the Dwarves think of what to do next at the Hidden Door.
(from Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Atlas of Middle-earth)
I think some old, obsolete data got stuck in your entry on the homepage, gramma. Unfortunately, Karen Wynn Fonstad neglected to take the lunar phases into account in her reckoning and the date of October 30 for Durin's Day is not viable.
A waning crescent moon on 1 Lithe (Midsummer's Eve) would place Durin's day in early November as the new moon of October would have fallen when the Company of Thorin was still in Lake-town.
A waxing crescent moon on 1 Lithe places Durin's Day between October 22 and 25. I chose October 22 because it also represents the first day of that week in the Shire Reckoning. A conversation between Thorin and Balin that Bilbo overhears places the Durin's Day of T.A. 2941 on the first day of the last week of autumn.
"Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he."
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Murlo
Rivendell
Oct 21 2017, 1:50am
Post #15 of 34
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I tried looking for the crescent moon today, but it was just a bit too cloudy for me to see it where I live.
According to the UK's Nautical Almanac Office Moon Watch site, the crescent moon should have been visible in my area of the southwestern United States, but it wouldn't have been visible with the naked eye to most of Europe.
I thought one of the requirements of Durin's Day was that the moon and sun had to be visible in the sky together, and tomorrow (the 21st) the new crescent moon will be visible to the rest of the world, so maybe that will count as Durin's Day in those locations :)
(This post was edited by Murlo on Oct 21 2017, 1:56am)
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Oct 21 2017, 11:14am
Post #17 of 34
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Today in Middle-earth
October 21, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. The Dwarves become more impatient waiting at the Hidden Door.
(determined from text)
...""Tomorrow begins the last week of Autumn," said Thorin...
..."...What is our burglar doing for us? [asked Dwalin] Since he has got an invisible ring, and ought to be a specially excellent performer now... ...I am beginning to think he might go through the Front Gate and spy things out a bit!"
...Bilbo heard this—the dwarves were on the rocks just above the enclosure where he was sitting... "...Good Gracious!" he thought, "so that is what they are beginning to think, is it? It is always poor me that has to get them out of their difficulties, at least since the wizard left. Whatever am I going to do..? I... ...don't think I could bear to see the unhappy valley of Dale again...""
Remembering Widfara… our brilliant, candycorn-loving TORnsib.
It's time for some BS for Widfara
... A special little offering today for a special Lady who once said this first paragraph was one of her favourites. For Widfara... a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From the Prologue: The Fellowship of the Ring
..."The land was rich and kindly, and though it had long been deserted when they entered it, it had before been well tilled, and there the king had once had many farms, cornlands, vineyards, and woods.
...Forty leagues it stretched from the Far Downs to the Brandywine Bridge, and fifty from the northern moors to the marshes in the south. The Hobbits named it the Shire, as the region of the authority of their Thain... ...and there in that pleasant corner of the world they plied their well-ordered business of living, and they heeded less and less the world outside where dark things moved, until they came to think that peace and plenty were the rule in Middle-earth and the right of all sensible folk. They forgot or ignored what little they had known of the Guardians, and of the labours of those that made possible the long peace of the Shire. They were... ...sheltered, but they had ceased to remember it.
...At no time had Hobbits of any kind been warlike, and they had never fought among themselves. In olden days they had... ...been often obliged to fight to maintain themselves in a hard world; but in Bilbo's time that was very ancient history. The last battle... ...the only one that had ever been fought within the borders of the Shire, was beyond living memory: The Battle of Greenfields, S.R. 1147, in which Bandobras Took routed an invasion of Orcs. Even the weather had grown milder, and the wolves that had once come ravening out of the North in bitter white winters were now only a grandfather's tale....
......though there was still some store of weapons in the Shire, these were used mostly as trophies, hanging above the hearths or on walls, or gathered into the museum at Michel Delving. The Mathom-house it was called; for anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a mathom. Their dwellings were apt to become rather crowded with mathoms, and many of the presents that passed from hand to hand were of that sort.
......ease and peace had left this people still curiously tough. They were... ...difficult to daunt or to kill; and they were... ...so unwearingly fond of good things not least because they could, when put to it, do without them, and could survive rough handling by grief, foe, or weather in a way that astonished those who did not know them well and looked no further than their bellies and their well-fed faces. Though slow to quarrel, and for sport killing nothing that lived, they were doughty at bay, and at need could still handle arms. They shot well with the bow, for they were keen-eyed and sure at the mark. Not only with bows and arrows. If any Hobbit stooped for a stone, it was well to get quickly under cover, as all trespassing beasts knew very well."
Cheers Wid :)
[league = 3 miles]
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 Oct 21 2017, 11:16am)
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Oct 21 2017, 2:35pm
Post #18 of 34
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The Reckoning of Durin's Folk?
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October 21, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. The Dwarves become more impatient waiting at the Hidden Door.
(determined from text)
..."Tomorrow begins the last week of Autumn," said Thorin...
..."...What is our burglar doing for us? [asked Dwalin] Since he has got an invisible ring, and ought to be a specially excellent performer now... ...I am beginning to think he might go through the Front Gate and spy things out a bit!"
I think that the most interesting things about that conversation are: 1) that we do not know if Thorin was using the Shire calendar in his reckoning of weeks or if he was referring to some reckoning of the Dwarves; and, 2) we can intuit from other sources that the Hobbits count the start of November as the beginning of winter (when the Hobbits still dwelt in Rhovanion, this also marked the start of their New Year), however we do not know how Durin's Folk reckon the seasons.
"Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he."
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Oct 22 2017, 1:00pm
Post #20 of 34
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Today in Middle-earth
October 22, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. Bilbo finds and opens the Secret Door.
(determined from text)
... "As the sun turned west [Bilbo] saw the orange ball of the sun sinking... ...and there pale and faint was a thin new moon above the rim of Earth.
... At that very moment he heard a sharp crack behind him. There on the grey stone in the grass was an enormous thrush... ...Crack! It had caught a snail and was knocking it on the stone. Crack! Crack!
... Suddenly Bilbo understood. Forgetting all danger he stood on the ledge and hailed the dwarves, shouting and waving...
... ...Quickly Bilbo explained. They all fell silent... ...The sun sank lower and lower, and their hopes fell. It sank into a belt of reddened cloud and disappeared. The dwarves groaned, but still Bilbo stood almost without moving. The little moon was dipping to the horizon.... ...Then suddenly when their hope was lowest a red ray of the sun escaped like a finger through a rent in the cloud. A gleam of light came straight through the opening into the bay and fell on the smooth rock-face... ...There was a loud crack. A flake of rock split from the wall and fell. A hole appeared suddenly about three feet from the ground.
... Quickly, trembling lest the chance should fade, the dwarves rushed to the rock and pushed—in vain.
... "The key! The key!" cried Bilbo. "Where is Thorin?"
... Thorin hurried up... ...and drew the key on its chain from round his neck. He put it to the hole. It fitted and it turned! Snap! The gleam went out, the sun sank, the moon was gone, and evening sprang into the sky.
... Now they all pushed together... ...Long straight cracks appeared and widened. A door five feet high and three broad was outlined, and slowly without a sound swung inwards. It seemed as if darkness flowed out like a vapour from the hole in the mountain-side... ...a yawning mouth leading in and down."
2. A plan to search the secret passage is made.
(determined from text)
... "For a long time the dwarves stood in the dark before the door and debated, until at last Thorin spoke:
..... "Now is the time for our esteemed Mr. Baggins, who has proved himself a good companion on our long road, and a hobbit full of courage and resource far exceeding his size... ...now is the time for him to perform the service for which he was included in our Company; now is the time for him to earn his Reward..."
... ...Bilbo felt impatient... ...and he knew what he was driving at.
... "If you mean you think it is my job to go into the secret passage first, O Thorin Thrain's son Oakenshield, may your beard grow ever longer," he said crossly, "say so at once and have done! I might refuse... ...But 'third time pays for all' as my father used to say, and somehow I don't think I shall refuse... ...I think I will go and have a peep at once and get it over. Now who is coming with me?"
... He did not expect a chorus of volunteers, so he was not disappointed... ...the others made no pretence of offering—except old Balin, the look-out man, who was rather fond of the hobbit. He said he would come inside at least and perhaps a bit of the way too..."
3. Bilbo descends to Smaug’s Cellar
(determined from text)
...""Is that a kind of a glow I seem to see..."
... ...As he went forward it grew and grew, till there was no doubt about it... ...it was now undoubtedly hot in the tunnel. Wisps of vapour floated up and past him and he began to sweat. A sound, too, began to throb in his ears, a sort of bubbling... ...This grew to be the unmistakable gurgling noise of some vast animal snoring in its sleep down there in the red glow in front of him.
... It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone... ...Before him lies the great bottommost cellar or dungeon-hall of the ancient dwarves right at the Mountain's root. It is almost dark... ...but rising from the near side of the rocky floor there is a great glow. The glow of Smaug!
... There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep... ...Beneath him, under all his limbs and his huge coiled tail, and about him on all sides stretching away across the unseen floors, lay countless piles of precious things, gold wrought and unwrought, gems and jewels, and silver red-stained in the ruddy light.
... Smaug lay with wings folded like an immeasurable bat, turned partly on one side, so that the hobbit could see his underparts and his long pale belly crusted with gems and fragments of gold from his long lying on his costly bed...
... ...To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all. There are no words left to express his staggerment... ...the splendour, the lust, the glory of such treasure had never yet come home to him...
... ...almost against his will, he stole from the shadow of the doorway, across the floor to the nearest edge of the mounds of treasure. Above him the sleeping dragon lay, a dire menace even in his sleep. He grasped a great two-handled cup, as heavy as he could carry, and cast one fearful eye upwards. Smaug stirred a wing, opened a claw, the rumble of his snoring changed its note.
... Then Bilbo fled. But the dragon did not wake... "...I've done it! This will show them. 'More like a grocer than a burglar' indeed! Well, we'll hear no more of that."
... Nor did he. Balin was overjoyed to see the hobbit again... ...He picked Bilbo up and carried him out into the open air. It was midnight... ...but Bilbo lay with his eyes shut, gasping and taking pleasure in the feel of the fresh air again and hardly noticing the excitement of the dwarves, or how they praised him and patted him on the back and put themselves and all their families for generations to come at his service."
4. The cup is missed.
(determined from text)
... The dwarves were still passing the cup from hand to hand and talking delightedly of the recovery of their treasure, when suddenly a vast rumbling woke in the mountain underneath as if it was an old volcano... ...The door behind them was pulled nearly to, and blocked from closing with a stone, but up the long tunnel came the dreadful echoes, from far down in the depths, of a bellowing and a trampling that made the ground beneath them tremble.
... Then the dwarves forgot their joy and their confident boasts... ...and cowered down in fright. Smaug was still to be reckoned with... ...Dragons may not have much real use for all their wealth, but they know it to an ounce as a rule, especially after long possession; and Smaug was no exception. He had passed from an uneasy dream (in which a warrior, altogether insignificant in size but provided with a bitter sword and great courage, figured most unpleasantly) to a doze, and from a doze to wide waking. There was a breath of strange air in his cave. Could there be a draught from that little hole? He... ...glared at it in suspicion and wondered why he had never blocked it up... ...he had half fancied he had caught the dim echoes of a knocking sound from far above that came down through it to his lair. He stirred and stretched forth his neck to sniff. Then he missed the cup!
... Thieves! Fire! Murder! Such a thing had not happened since first he came to the Mountain! His rage passes description... ...His fire belched forth, the hall smoked, he shook the mountain-roots... ...then coiling his length together, roaring like thunder underground, he sped from his deep lair through its great door, out into the huge passages of the mountains-palace and up towards the Front Gate.
... To hunt the whole mountain till he had caught the thief and had torn and trampled him was his one thought. He issued from the Gate... ...and up he soared blazing into the air and settled on the mountain-top in a spout of green and scarlet flame. The dwarves heard the awful rumour of his flight, and they crouched against the walls of the grassy terrace cringing under boulders...
... ...There they would have all been killed, if it had not been for Bilbo once again. "Quick! Quick!" he gasped. "The door! The tunnel! It's no good here...."
... ...Those were perhaps the worst moments they had been through yet. The horrible sounds of Smaug's anger were echoing in the stony hollows far above; at any moment he might come blazing down or fly whirling round and find them there, near the perilous cliff's edge hauling madly on the ropes. Up came Bofur... ...Up came Bombur... ...Up came some tools and bundles of stores, and then danger was upon them.
... A whirring noise was heard... ...The dragon came.
... They had barely time to fly back to the tunnel, pulling and dragging in their bundles, when Smaug came hurtling from the North, licking the mountains-sides with flame, beating his great wings with a noise like a roaring wind. His hot breath shrivelled the grass before the door, and drove in through the crack they had left and scorched them as they lay hid... ...They crept further down the tunnel, and there they lay and shivered though it was warm and stuffy... ...through the night they could hear the roar of the flying dragon grow and then pass and fade, as he hunted round and round the mountain-sides."
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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Murlo
Rivendell
Oct 22 2017, 4:19pm
Post #21 of 34
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Durin's Day also on the 22nd this year
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I had clear skies in my area at sunset yesterday, and try as I might, I could not find the new crescent moon with the unaided eye until a few minutes after sunset. If we can spot the crescent moon just before sunset today, since Bilbo and the Dwarves saw the crescent moon before the sun had set in the story, then I think that means today would be Durin's Day as well :)
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Oct 22 2017, 8:08pm
Post #22 of 34
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I had clear skies in my area at sunset yesterday, and try as I might, I could not find the new crescent moon with the unaided eye until a few minutes after sunset. If we can spot the crescent moon just before sunset today, since Bilbo and the Dwarves saw the crescent moon before the sun had set in the story, then I think that means today would be Durin's Day as well :)
At least in the Western Hemisphere, the new moon was on October 19, though the first visible sign of the waxing moon might not be easily observable until today. I will grant that today's moon does perfectly match what Bilbo saw of Durin's Day, 2041 (T.A.). And the sun and the moon are in the sky together. This year would be a good match for the year of the Quest of Erebor if a first quarter moon fell on on July 1 or 2 instead of June 30. In fact, I've found at least one Moon Phase Calendar that does just that: http://www.moonconnection.com/...hases_calendar.phtml. The moonrise in the book, though, was nearer to sunset:
If [Bilbo] lifted his head he could see a glimpse of the distant forest. As the sun turned west there was a gleam of yellow upon its far roof, as if the light caught the last pale leaves. Soon he saw the orange ball of the sun sinking towards the level of his eyes. He went to the opening and there pale and faint was a thin new moon above the rim of Earth.
"Far, far below the deepest delvings of the Dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things. Even Sauron knows them not. They are older than he."
(This post was edited by Otaku-sempai on Oct 22 2017, 8:19pm)
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Oct 23 2017, 11:02am
Post #23 of 34
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Today in Middle-earth
October 23, 2941 (S.R. 1341)
1. An angered Smaug searches the mountain.
(determined from text)
...[Smaug] guessed from the ponies, and from the traces of the camps he had discovered, that men had come up from the... ...lake and had scaled the mountain-side from the valley where the ponies had been standing; but the door withstood his searching eye, and the little high-walled bay had kept out his fiercest flames. Long he had hunted in vain till the dawn chilled his wrath and he went back to his golden couch to sleep—and to gather new strength. He would not forget or forgive the theft, not if a thousand years turned him to smouldering stone, but he could afford to wait. Slow and silent he crept back to his lair and half closed his eyes.
2. Bilbo returns to Smaug's chamber in the afternoon.
(determined from text)
..."Smaug certainly looked fast asleep… …when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance. He was just about to step out on to the floor when he caught a sudden thin and piercing ray of red from under the drooping lid of Smaug's left eye. He was only pretending to sleep…! ...Hurriedly Bilbo stepped back and blessed the luck of his ring. Then Smaug spoke.
..."Well, thief! I smell you and I feel your air. I hear your breath. Come along! Help yourself again, there is plenty and to spare!"
...But Bilbo was not quite so unlearned in dragon-lore as all that, and if Smaug hoped to get him to come nearer so easily he was disappointed. "No thank you, O Smaug the Tremendous!" he replied. "I did not come for presents. I only wished to have a look at you and see if you were truly as great as tales say…"
..."…Do you now?" said the dragon somewhat flattered, even though he did not believe a word of it.
..."Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality, O Smaug the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities," replied Bilbo.
..."You have nice manners for a thief and a liar… …You seem familiar with my name, but I don't seem to remember smelling you before. Who are you and where do you come from, may I ask?"
..."You may indeed! I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air, I am he that walks unseen."
..."So I can well believe… …but that is hardly your usual name."
..."I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number."
..."Lovely titles!" sneered the dragon…
..."…I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of a bag, but no bag went over me."
..."These don't sound so creditable," scoffed Smaug.
..."I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ringwinner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider," went on Bilbo beginning to be pleased with his riddling.
..."That's better!" said Smaug. "But don't let your imagination run away with you!"
...This of course is the way to talk to dragons, if you don't want to reveal your proper name… …and don't want to infuriate them by a flat refusal… …No dragon can resist the fascination of riddling talk and of wasting time trying to understand it. There was a lot here which Smaug did not understand at all… …but he thought he understood enough…
..."…he smiled to himself. "Lake-men, some nasty scheme of those miserable tub-trading Lake-men, or I'm a lizard. I haven't been down that way for an age and an age; but I will soon alter that…!"
......Bilbo was now beginning to feel really uncomfortable. Whenever Smaug's roving eye… …flashed across him, he trembled, and an unaccountable desire seized hold of him to rush out and reveal himself and tell all the truth to Smaug. In fact he was in grievous danger of coming under the dragon-spell....
..."...My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, and the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my winds a hurricane, and my breath death!"
..."I have always understood," said Bilbo in a frightened squeak, "that dragons were softer underneath, especially in the region of the—er—chest; but doubtless one so fortified has thought of that."
...The dragon stopped short in his boasting. "Your information is antiquated… …I am armoured above and below with iron scales and hard gems. No blade can pierce me."
..."I might have guessed it," said Bilbo. "Truly there can nowhere be found the equal of Lord Smaug the Impenetrable. What magnificence to possess a waistcoat of fine diamonds!"
..."Yes, it is rare and wonderful, indeed," said Smaug absurdly pleased. He did not know that the hobbit had already caught a glimpse of his peculiar under-covering on his previous visit, and was itching for a closer view for reasons of his own....
......the dragon spouted terrific flames after him… …the nostrils sent forth fire and vapour to pursue him, and he was nearly overcome, and stumbled blindly on in great pain and fear. He had been feeling rather pleased with the cleverness of his conversation with Smaug, but his mistake at the end shook him into better sense.
..."Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!" he said to himself, and it became a favourite saying of his later, and passed into a proverb....
......[The dwarves] had difficulty in getting anything out of him… …he was now regretting some of the things he had said to the dragon, and was not eager to repeat them. The old thrush was sitting on a rock near by with his head cocked on one side, listening to all that was said. It shows what an ill temper Bilbo was in: he picked up a stone and threw it at the thrush, which merely fluttered aside and came back.
..."Drat the bird… …I believe he is listening, and I don't like the look of him."
..."Leave him alone!" said Thorin. "The thrushes are good and friendly---this is a very old bird indeed, and is maybe the last left of the ancient breed… …tame to the hands of my father and grandfather. They were a long-lived and magical race, and this might even be one of those that were alive then, a couple of hundreds of years or more ago. The Men of Dale used to have the trick of understanding their language, and used them for messengers to fly to the Men of the Lake and elsewhere...."
..."Well, he'll have news to take to Lake-town all right..," said Bilbo; "…though I don't suppose there are any people left there that trouble with thrush-language."
...'Why what has happened?" cried the dwarves. "Do get on with your tale!"
...So Bilbo told them all he could remember…
......All the while they talked the thrush listened, till at last when the stars began to peep forth, it silently spread it wings and flew away....
3. Smaug smashes the Secret Door.
(determined from text)
... "Darkness grew deeper and [Bilbo] grew ever more uneasy. "Shut the door!" he begged them. "I fear that dragon in my marrow. I like this silence far less than the uproar of last night. Shut the door before it is too late!"
... Something in his voice gave the dwarves an uncomfortable feeling... ...[Thorin] kicked away the stone that wedged the door... ...they thrust upon it, and it closed with a snap and a clang. No trace of a keyhole was there left on the inside. They were shut in the Mountain...
... ...They had hardly gone any distance down the tunnel when a blow smote the side of the Mountain... ...The rock boomed, the walls cracked and stones fell from the roof on their heads... ...They fled further down the tunnel glad to be still alive, while behind them outside they heard the roar and rumble of Smaug's fury. He was breaking rocks to pieces, smashing wall and cliff with the lashings of his huge tail, till... ...an avalanche of splintered stones fell over the cliff into the valley below.
... Smaug had left his lair in silent stealth, quietly soared into the air, and then floated heavy and slow in the dark... ...down the wind towards the west of the Mountain... ...spying the outlet to the passage which the thief had used. This was the outburst of his wrath when he could find nobody and see nothing, even where he guessed the outlet must actually be.
... After he had let off his rage... ...he had further vengeance to take. "Barrel-rider!" he snorted. "Your feet came from the waterside and up the water you came without a doubt. I don't know your smell, but if you are not one of those men of the Lake, you had their help. They shall see me and remember who is the real King under the Mountain!"
... He rose in fire and went away south towards the Running River."
4. Smaug attacks Lake-town.
(determined from text)
..."'...suddenly a great light appeared in the low place in the hills and the northern end of the lake turned golden. "The King beneath the Mountain!" they shouted. "His wealth is like the Sun, his silver like a fountain, his rivers golden run...!
...There was once more a tremendous excitement and enthusiasm. But the grim-voiced fellow ran hotfoot to the Master. "The dragon is coming or I am a fool... ...Cut the bridges! To arms! To arms!"
...Then warning trumpets were suddenly sounded, and echoed along the rocky shores. The cheering stopped and the joy was turned to dread. So it was that the dragon did not find them quite unprepared.
...Before long, so great was his speed, they could see him as a spark of fire rushing towards them and growing ever huger and more bright... ...Still they had a little time. Every vessel in the town was filled with water, every warrior was armed, every arrow and dart was ready, and the bridge to the land was thrown down and destroyed before the roar of Smaug's terrible approach grew loud, and the lake rippled red as fire beneath the awful beating of his wings....
......Roaring he swept back over the town. A hail of dark arrows leaped up and snapped and rattled on his scales and jewels, and their shafts fell back kindled by his breath burning and hissing into the lake.... ...At the twanging of the bows and the shrilling of the trumpets the dragon's wrath blazed to its height, till he was blind and mad with it. No one had dared to give battle to him for many an age; nor would they have dared now, if it had not been for the grim-voiced man (Bard was his name), who ran to and fro cheering on the archers and urging the Master to order them to fight to the last arrow.
...Fire leaped from the dragon's jaws. He circled for a while high in the air above them lighting all the lake... ...Then down he swooped straight through the arrow-storm, reckless in his rage, taking no heed to turn his scaly sides towards his foes, seeking only to set their town ablaze....
......But there was still a company of archers that held their ground among the burning houses. Their captain was Bard, grim-voiced and grim-faced... ...he shot with a great yew bow, till all his arrows but one were spent. The flames were near him. His companions were leaving him. He bent his bow for the last time.
...Suddenly out of the dark something fluttered to his shoulder. He started—but it was only an old thrush. Unafraid it perched by his ear and it brought him news. Marvelling he found he could understand its tongue, for he was of the race of Dale.
..."Wait! Wait..! ...The moon is rising. Look for the hollow of the left breast as he flies and turns above you!" And while Bard paused in wonder it told him of tidings up in the Mountain and of all that it had heard.
...Then Bard drew his bow-string to his ear. The dragon was circling back, flying low, and as he came the moon rose above the eastern shore and silvered his great wings...
..."...Black arrow! I have saved you to the last. You have never failed me and always I have recovered you. I had you from my father and he from of old. If ever you came from the forges of the true king under the Mountain, go now and speed well!"
...The dragon swooped once more... ...and as he turned and dived down his belly glittered white with sparkling fires of gems in the moon—but not in one place. The great bow twanged. The black arrow sped straight from the string, straight for the hollow by the left breast where the foreleg was flung wide. In it smote and vanished, barb, shaft and feather, so fierce was its flight. With a shriek that deafened men, felled trees and split stone, Smaug shot spouting into the air, turned over and crashed down from on high in ruin.
...Full on the town he fell. His last throes splintered it to sparks and gledes... ...A vast steam leaped up, white in the sudden dark under the moon. There was a hiss, a gushing whirl, and then silence. And that was the end of Smaug and Esgaroth, but not of Bard."
5. Lake-town in the aftermath.
(determined from text)
..."...down the wind came the voices of the people of Esgaroth lamenting their lost town and goods and ruined houses. But they had really much to be thankful for... ...though it could hardly be expected that they should just then: three quarters of the people of the town had at least escaped alive; their woods and fields and pastures and cattle and most of their boats remained undamaged; and the dragon was dead. What that meant they had not yet realized.
...They gathered in mournful crowds upon the western shores, shivering in the cold wind, and their first complaints and anger were against the Master, who had left the town so soon, while some were still willing to defend it... ...they praised the courage of Bard and his last mighty shot. "If only he had not been killed," they all said, "we would make him a king. Bard the Dragon-shooter of the line of Girion! Alas that he is lost!"
...And in the very midst of their talk, a tall figure stepped from the shadows. He was drenched with water, his black hair hung wet over his face and shoulders, and a fierce light was in his eyes.
..."Bard is not lost!" he cried. "He dived from Esgaroth when the enemy was slain. I am Bard, of the line of Girion; I am the slayer of the dragon!"
... "King Bard! King Bard!" they shouted; but the Master ground his chattering teeth...."
October 23, 3018 (S.R. 1418)
1. Elrond's third day in his battle to save Frodo.
(not from the appendices)
..."[Gandalf] -- Elrond is a master of healing, but the weapons of our Enemy are deadly. To tell you the truth, I had very little hope; for I suspected that there was some fragment of the blade still in the closed wound. But it could not be found until last night. Then Elrond removed a splinter. It was deeply buried, and it was working inwards... ...'It is gone now. It has been melted.'"
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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