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telain
Lorien
Oct 3 2012, 3:46pm
Views: 355
Shortcut
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Would you consider Smaug to be the most famousest dragon of them all?
Difficult question to answer whilst musing on The Hobbit! Dragons are so pervasive in almost every culture that I imagine in different parts of the world, different dragons are more well-known (e.g., Tiamat). Even in British literature Grendel must give Smaug a run for his, ah, money (i.e., hoards of gold and jewels)...
Bilbo the Burglar steals a two-handled cup, which Douglas Anderson infers is based on the cup-stealing episode found in Beowulf...
I am intrigued by the stealing of the cup. What about it seems so right? If Bilbo had stolen a crown or a vase or whatever, it would not have had the same effect But the fact that it is a simple cup -- something seemingly insignificant -- seems to convey enormous significance. Does it underscore who Bilbo really is (a simple Hobbit with simple tastes)? Does it allude to some larger cultural significance?
Is Tolkien making a pointed social comment here - not only of dragons, but real-world millionaires and billionaires who hoard their money and count it to the last penny?
I think so, but also accessing the mythological dragon (like in Beowulf) that symbolizes the end and subsequent new beginning of a civilization/kingdom/realm, etc.
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Time
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Answers
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sador
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Sep 27 2012, 2:12pm
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hic sunt dracones
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telain
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Oct 3 2012, 3:46pm
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