It's time for some BS!

grammaboodawg

grammaboodawg

Immortal
Here's a Book Spoiler of the condensed story of Bilbo and Gollum's first meeting and how the game is played... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
Of the Finding of the Ring: Prologue: The Appendices: The Return of the King​
..."'Maybe he would have attacked Bilbo at once, if the ring had been on him when they met; but it was not, and the hobbit held in his hand an Elvish knife... ...as a sword. So to gain time Gollum challenged Bilbo to the Riddle-game, saying that if he asked a riddle which Bilbo could not guess, then he would kill him and eat him; but if Bilbo defeated him, then he would do as Bilbo wished: he would lead him to a way out of the tunnels.
... Since he was lost in the dark without hope... ...Bilbo accepted the challenge; and they asked one another many riddles. In the end Bilbo won the game, more by luck (as it seemed) than by wits; for he was stumped at last for a riddle to ask, and cried out, as his hand came upon the ring he had picked up and forgotten: What have I got in my pocket? This Gollum failed to answer, though he demanded three guesses.
... The Authorities, it is true, differ whether this last question was a mere 'question' and not a 'riddle' according to the strict rules of the Game; but all agree that, after accepting it and trying to guess the answer, Gollum was bound by his promise. And Bilbo pressed him to keep his word... ...this slimy creature might prove false, even though such promises were held sacred, and of old all but the wickedest things feared to break them. But after ages alone in the dark Gollum's heart was black, and treachery was in it. He slipped away, and returned to his island, of which Bilbo knew nothing, not far off in the dark water. There, he thought, lay his ring. He was hungry now, and angry, and once his 'precious' was with him he would not fear any weapon at all.
... But the ring was not on the island; he had lost it, it was gone.'"
 
and what gives them the right to engage in their silly haggling over the proper playing of a game which was clearly being played under duress, eh, precious? Sacred promises, indeed!

Never trust a slimy cavern-dwelling fish- (and orc-) eater.

And Gollum had never lost the Ring: It lost him - deliberately!
 
and their discussions about the rules of the Riddle Game most certainly took place over several hours/days/months at various pubs and towns; but I'll betcha all my action figures they never EVER thought they'd apply to any game deep in a mountain with DEATH ON THE LINE!
 
Gramma, you sure are absolutely positive about that, to lay your precious action figures on the line! [shocked]
 
Here's a Book Spoiler that shows up in a TIME post, but I've turned to it twice recently, so it's meant to be... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From A Journey in the Dark: The Fellowship of the Ring​
..."'The stone vanished with a soft slap; but at the same instant there was a swish and a bubble. Great rippling rings formed on the surface out beyond where the stone had fallen, and they moved slowly towards the foot of the cliff.
... 'Why did you do that, Boromir?' said Frodo. 'I hate this place, too, and I am afraid. I don't know of what: not of wolves, or the dark behind the doors, but of something else. I am afraid of the pool. Don't disturb it!'
... 'I wish we could get away!' said Merry.
... 'Why doesn't Gandalf do something quick?' said Pippin.
... Gandalf took no notice of them. He sat with his head bowed, either in despair or in anxious thoughts. The mournful howling of the wolves was heard again. The ripples on the water grew and came closer; some were already lapping on the shore.
... With a suddenness that startled them all the wizard sprang to his feet. He was laughing! 'I have it!' he cried. 'Of course, of course! Absurdly simple, like most riddles when you see the answer.'
... Picking up his staff he stood before the rock and said in a clear voice: Mellon!
... The star shone out briefly and faded again. Then silently a great doorway was outlined, though not a crack or joint had been visible before. Slowly it divided in the middle and swung outwards inch by inch, until both doors lay back against the wall. Through the opening a shadowy stair could be seen climbing steeply up; but beyond the lower steps the darkness was deeper than the night. The Company stared in wonder.
... 'I was wrong after all,' said Gandalf, 'and Gimli too. Merry, of all people, was on the right track. The opening word was inscribed on the archway all the time! The translation should have been: say "Friend" and enter. I had only to speak the Elvish word for friend and the doors opened. Quite simple. Too simple for a learned loremaster in these suspicious days. Those were happier times.'
 
Or should I say: riddles in the dark! [laugh] Either way, I know how Gandalf feels, suddenly realizing the answer to a far-too-simple "riddle": relieved, and somewhat embarassed (hence the excuse about "suspicious days").

Ooh, the "sonar tracking"! That rippling that begins beyond where Boromir's stone plopped into the water, and slowly, slowly makes its way to shore...as if a certain creature is "pinging" to find out, who threw the stone...
 
It's a Book Spoiler that takes us to fair Ithilien...for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit: The Two Towers​
... "All about them were small woods of resinous trees, fir and cedar and cypress, and other kinds unknown in the Shire, with wide glades among them; and everywhere there was a wealth of sweet-smelling herbs and shrubs. The long journey from Rivendell had brought them far south of their own land, but not until now in this more sheltered region had the hobbits felt the change of clime. Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mold, larches were green-fingered, small flowers were opening in the turf, birds were singing. Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate, kept still a disheveled dryad loveliness....
... ...Many great trees grew there, planted long ago, falling into untended age amid a riot of careless descendants; and groves and thickets there were of tamarisk and pungent terebinth, of olive and of bay; and there were junipers and myrtles; and thymes that grew in bushes, or with their woody creeping stems mantled in deep tapestries and hidden stones; sages of many kinds putting forth blue flowers, or red, or pale green; and marjorams and new-sprouting parsleys, and many herbs of forms and scents beyond the garden-lore of Sam. The grots and rocky walls were already starred with saxifrages and stonecrops. Primeroles and anemones were awake in the filbert-brakes; and asphodel and many lily-flowers nodded their half-opened heads in the grass: deep green grass beside the pools, where falling streams halted in cool hollows on their journey down to Anduin.
... The travellers... ...walked, brushing their way through bush and herb, sweet odours rose about them. Gollum coughed and retched; but the hobbits breathed deep, and suddenly Sam laughed, for heart's ease not for jest. They followed a stream that went quickly down before them. Presently it brought them to a small clear lake in a shallow dell: it lay in the broken ruins of an ancient stone basin, the carven rim of which was almost wholly covered with mosses and rose-brambles; iris-swords stood in ranks about it, and water-lily leaves floated on its dark, gently rippling surface; but it was deep and fresh, and spilled ever softly out over a stony lip at the far end.
... Here they washed themselves and drank their fill at the in-falling freshet. Then they sought for a... ...hiding-place; for this land, fair-seeming still, was nonetheless now territory of the Enemy. They had not come very far from the road, and yet even in so short a space they had seen scars of the old wars, and the newer wounds made by the Orcs and other foul servants of the Dark Lord: a pit of uncovered filth and refuse; trees hewn down wantonly and left to die, with evil runes or the fell sign of the Eye cut in rude strokes on their bark.
... Sam scrambling below the outfall of the lake, smelling and touching the unfamiliar plants and trees, forgetful for the moment of Mordor, was reminded suddenly of their ever-present peril. He stumbled on a ring still scorched by fire, and in the midst of it he found a pile of charred and broken bones and skulls. The swift growth of the wild with briar and eglantine and trailing clematis was already drawing a veil over this place of dreadful feast and slaughter; but it was not ancient. He hurried back to his companions, but he said nothing: the bones were best left in peace and not pawed and routed by Gollum."
 
Both in dark riddlings where simplicity was really the answer for Bilbo and Gandalf... and on the pinging Watcher... where a simple curiosity by the Travellers was definitely not a good call.
 
There is a strong intimation that many of the plants in ithilien were part of an old planned-out area: descendants of trees that were "planted long ago", a small lake in "the ruins of an ancient stone basin".

It's a strange thing to those of us in the States to think of deliberately-planted forests and large areas, but I understand that much of Europe and the U.K. have such places - could someone enlighten us about these? [:)]

And yet again Tolkien lapses into poetry:

Ithilien
The garden of Gondor now desolate, kept still
A dishevelled dryad loveliness.

I can almost smell the riot of aromas, like opening a spice-cupboard...
 
it makes Sam laugh. It's Sam that makes Frodo laugh... but it's the growing green and flowers that tickles our gardener's heart :)

What I love to imagine here is that Faramir is given this land... and Eowyn... and the Elves. How perfect for this garden that won't give up to have stewards who appreciate it. I think part of Faramir's guard during this time of war was also due to his intent to save this land. I'll betcha he requested/volunteered for this duty.
 
he wasn't the only volunteer. Who would not want to save such a place from the ravages of monsters?

Hm, reminds me of a National Geographic article I read, a while back...things haven't changed much over the years, have they; and Tolkien knew too well how greed and corruption could ruin a beautiful land.
 
Here's a Book Spoiler that looks at one of the many struggles Frodo faced... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From The Breaking of the Fellowship: The Fellowship of the Ring​
..."For a moment, perfectly balanced between their piercing points, he writhed, tormented. Suddenly he was aware of himself again. Frodo, neither the Voice nor the Eye: free to choose, and with one remaining instant in which to do so. He took the Ring off his finger. He was kneeling in clear sunlight before the high seat. A black shadow seemed to pass like an arm above him; it missed Amon Hen and groped out west, and faded. Then all the sky was clean and blue and birds sang in every tree.
... Frodo rose to his feet. A great weariness was on him, but his will was firm and his heart lighter. He spoke aloud to himself. 'I will do now what I must,' he said. 'This at least is plain: the evil of the Ring is already at work even in the Company, and the Ring must leave them before it does more harm. I will go alone. Some I cannot trust, and those I can trust are too dear to me: poor old Sam, and Merry and Pippin. Strider, too: his heart yearns for Minas Tirith, and he will be needed there, now Boromir has fallen into evil. I will go alone. At once.'
... He went quickly down the path and came back to the lawn where Boromir had found him. Then he halted, listening. He thought he could hear cries and calls from the woods near the shore below.
... 'They'll be hunting for me,' he said. 'I wonder how long I have been away. Hours, I should think.' He hesitated. 'What can I do?' he muttered. 'I must go now or I shall never go. I shan't get a chance again. I hate leaving them, and like this without any explanation. But surely they will understand. Sam will. And what else can I do?'
... Slowly he drew out the Ring and put it on once more. He vanished and passed down the hill, less than a rustle of the wind."
 
Bad pun, I know! [:P] But that's the curiosity of this passage: why could Frodo feel Sauron searching for him, when he wore the Ring on Amon Hen, yet not a short while later, when he was wearing the Ring while heading back to the landing?

My guess is that the very nature of Amon Hen caused Sauron to become suspicious of the presence of the Ring there, or in that vicinity: that place is under the influence of some ancient palantir-like craft which allows far sight - and that, in turn, caused Frodo to "touch" upon Sauron's stronghold itself, causing a mutual awareness.

Fortunately, it also caused Gandalf to become aware of Frodo...
 
It's a sweet Book Spoiler that creates quite a buzzzzz... for a moment of Tolkien-zen.
From Queer Lodgings: The Hobbit​
..."'Some... ...say that he is a man descended from the first men who lived before Smaug or the other dragons came into this part of the world, and before the goblins came into the hills out of the North. I cannot say, though I fancy the last is the true tale.... ...He keeps hives and hives of great fierce bees and lives most on cream and honey. As a bear he ranges far and wide. I once saw him sitting all alone on the top of the Carrock at night watching the moon sinking towards the Misty mountains, and I heard him growl in the tongue of bears: ‘The day will come when they will perish and I shall go back!’ That is why I believe he once came from the mountains himself..."
... ...It was the middle of afternoon before they noticed that great patches of flowers had begun to spring up, all the same kinds growing together as if they had been planted. Especially there was clover, waving patches of cockscomb clover, and purple clover, and wide stretches of short white sweet honey-smelling clover. There was a buzzing and a whirring and a droning in the air. Bees were busy everywhere. And such bees! Bilbo had never seen anything like them.
... "If one was to sting me," he thought, "I should swell up as big again as I am.
... They were bigger than hornets. The drones were bigger than your thumb, a good deal, and the bands of yellow on their deep black bodies shone like fiery gold.
... "We’re getting near," said Gandalf. "We are on the edge of his bee-pastures.'"
 
A agree that the "Seeing Seat" powers are potent even when you don't want to be seen (or to see). When he had on the Ring here, he was vulnerable having just been attacked by Boromir, whereas when he put it on again to leave, he was resolved and had taken back control of his mind and determination.

What I find interesting is that he's speaking to himself aloud. It's made very clear that he spoke openly, then muttered a bit as he worked through what to do. All in an instant, but it strikes me that people tend to speak to themselves out loud when they're most in need of support. He's so clear as he ponders every angle and comes to this brave conclusion. No plan to have anyone with him. Alone in Mordor. *shiver*
 
And what sweet "pastures" they browse in! [laugh]

I wonder if Beorn's descendants lost a bit of the "bearishness" with each generation, until they became unchangeable but very stocky and hairy!
 
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