Wealth in the Hobbit: Prompt Response

I would argue that the largest purpose wealth serves is as the embodiment of greed and corruption. In some ways, even the hobbits are not immune to the lure of wealth, although they fair better than the dwarves (possibly due to a general lack of visible wealth in the community).

Our first introduction to the idea of wealth in general is very much in passing - we learn that the hobbits consider the Bagginses "very respectable, not only because most of them were rich", but this isn't focused on until the next page, when the narrator tells us that Bilbo's father used much of his (and his wife's) money to build "the most luxurious hobbit-hole" for his wife (The Hobbit, 2-3). So, at least for hobbits, one of the impacts of wealth is the importance that comes from what you do with it - whether that is being respectable (and not adventuring) or caring for your family. This idea comes back in The Lord of the Rings when Bilbo throws his and Frodo's combined 111th/33rd birthday party. The wealth itself is interesting to the hobbits - "the riches [...] had now become a local legend [...] tunnels stuffed with treasure" - and the stranger from Michel Delving certainly is fascinated by the idea of the "chests of gold and silver, and jools" that he's heard tales about, but what Bilbo does with his wealth is infinitely more interesting (The Fellowship, 24). The food, entertainment, and presents (all for the enjoyment of friends, family, and community) get far more attention than the wealth itself.

For the dwarves, however, wealth itself is consistently more interesting than what the wealth does. Of course, they mourn the loss of their home, but the focus often is on the wealth itself - they "seek the pale enchanted gold", not their old homes, or their old lives (The Hobbit, 14). As the dwarves sing, Bilbo feels "the love of beautiful things [...] a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves" (The Hobbit, 15). When they finally reach the mountain and go inside, their first glimpse of the treasure causes them to "forg[e]t fear and even caution," lost in looking at the treasure even when they know they have limited time and may not be as safe as they currently appear (The Hobbit, 239). Tolkien writes that "when the heart of a dwarf, even the most respectable, is weakened by gold and by jewels, he grows suddenly bold, and he may become fierce" (The Hobbit, 239). The idea of having to share their people's wealth with the struggling people of Laketown, even for the service that Bard provided in killing Smaug, drives them almost to war with the Men and Elves.

Tolkien is very clear in having Thorin repent of his gold-sickness led actions by apologizing to Bilbo ("I leave now all gold and silver, and go where it is of little worth"), and he dies with one of my favorite phrases from The Hobbit, that "if more of us valued food and cheer above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world" (The Hobbit, 290). This, in my mind, is the difference in how Tolkien treats wealth. Hoarded wealth, wealth for the sake of itself, is corrupting. Wealth that is used for others, or not kept solely for the sake of hoarding wealth, is much safer! This even somewhat shows in the One Ring. Smeagol takes the Ring because of greed, and it corrupts him. Bilbo takes it accidentally, and uses it for the good of his friends, and remains mostly uncorrupted.

I'm sure there are many more references, and many other ways that Tolkien uses wealth to advance different messages in his works, but this response has already gotten longer than I'd expected. Have a wonderful day/night all!

Freewrite: The Hobbit as a Children's Story

Freewrite topic: – In The Hobbit, Tolkien uses specific writing conventions that most would say mark this text as children’s story. What are those conventions? What specific aspects identify this text as different from some of his others work? What is the purpose or meaning of these conventions or markers in relation to the text being a children’s text? Does the text remain a children’s story throughout?

One of the original parts about The Hobbit that seems to mark it as more of a “children’s story” is the way the narration occurs in (at least) the first few chapters. The narrator Sounds like he’s telling a bedtime story, complete with interjections, and roundabout explanations (like a child is asking questions and he is answering them). “What is a hobbit?” and “I suppose hobbits require some explanation” – whereas he could have just explained without the verbal (written) interjections. This seems like the narrator is specifically talking to us, specifically explaining the parts of the story that are most strange and wonderful to us. (Ah, Gandalf! If you had only heard half the things I have heard about him!) Wow I really want to go fix some spelling but oh well. The prompt asks what are the conventions – I’d say the way he talks to the readers (as narrator/person telling bedtime story) which I don’t recall quite so often occurring in his other works, although I may be wrong. One of the things about the hobbit that catches my attention is the fun way he adds rhymes/poems/songs that seem both less and more sophisticated than you’d expect. The Elves are teasing/taunting with their almost child-like songs when Bilbo and the Dwarves are arriving in Rivendell (even though that also shows how much they know about the company, ti still doesn’t seem much like how the elves are described in later sections). I don’t necessarily think (jumping ahead a bit to other prompt sections) that the text remains so child-like/for children all the way through – although some aspects still remain like that – but the battle of the five armies comes to mind as not necessarily child-like, and the negotiations and explanations of how the battles are being fought or avoided also seem like they are less for children than the beginning, which is very mild and happy (describing the Hobbits is a very pleasant, funny section, that I can definitely see children laughing about – barefoot little people that disappear when the Big People come near because of how bumbling and not quite as perceptive the big people are, which is reminiscent of childhood games hiding/pretending to hide form adults who don’t have as good imaginations and can’t “see” all the things children talk about). Let me really quickly bring down the prompt again

– In The Hobbit, Tolkien uses specific writing conventions that most would say mark this text as children’s story. What are those conventions? What specific aspects identify this text as different from some of his others works? What is the purpose or meaning of these conventions or markers in relation to the text being a children’s text? Does the text remain a children’s story throughout?

What is the purpose or meaning of the conventions or markers in relation to being a child’s text? Well, the first thing I think of isn’t how they relate to being a child’s text, but how they relate to the books as being Bilbo’s memoir/There and Back Again, which has been found and translated for us – so it makes me wonder who exactly that narrator should be (is it Bilbo? Is it someone speaking our language who has read/heard enough about Gandalf and hobbits to know what to explain to us? Someone who has been in our shoes (adult) who knows what we’ll get confused on and want to know more about (colors, small details about the hobbits etc).

(thought after the fact – the riddle game! Totally a kid thing!)

I always enjoy re-reading my freewrites (odd organization and half-thoughts included), so this is pretty untouched from my original freewrite, barring a few unacceptable spelling errors that I have corrected!

Exercise for Chapter 18

Exercise for Chapter 18 -- from Atlin

In regards to my chapter of The Hobbit which we didn't get to in class, I've copied the notes I made in class below (I didn't have a partner for this activity). 

1. List Specific Examples of themes
1. Thorin and Bilbo come to good terms before Thorin's death 258
2. Dain becomes king under the mountain 261
3. Peace around the Lonely Mountain between Men, Dwarves, and Elves 261
4. Bilbo turns down much of his treasure, shows humility of the hobbits and their strength of character, also their ability to withstand the temptation of power and riches 262
5. Beorn gains territory, sets the stage for Beornlings of LOTR 263
6. Last view east of the mountains 264
7. Departure of eagles 260
2. Select 2 different themes
1. Bilbo turning down the gold (most of it)
1. Because of Bilbo's bravery,  Dain offers him a large share of  gold and treasure for his keeping. Bilbo turns it down, accepting only two small chests. Although logistically this is obviously a more manageable amount of gold, I guarantee a man, elf, or dwarf, would not have given away their share of treasure so easily. I know if I was in Bilbo's shoes, I would still take all of my gold, even if I don't know what to do with it, I would try to figure something out. This also demonstrates that hobbits are less easily corrupted by the thought of riches and power. Bilbo was more concerned with going back home than he was about becoming wealthy. This helps explain why Bilbo could survive so long as a ring-bearer and why Frodo was strong enough to bear it as well.
2. Peace around the Mountain
1. The end of the battle ushers in a time of great prosperity to the mountain, and improves the relations of all the surrounding communities. I believe this is only possible because of Dain's generosity. Everybody felt like a winner in the situation. If Dain would have felt attached to every piece of gold as Thorin was, this peace would not have occurred. A good explanation for why Dain was generous was because of how victory would not have been possible without each community banding together to defeat a common enemy. The prosperity of Dain also finds its way into LOTR, although it is mentioned that Dain and Bard are both killed in Return of the King. But the strength of their community provides a much needed distraction and serves to preoccupy many of Sauron's resources.

The Hobbit, Chs 10-19, Significance of the Seemingly Insignificant

One idea I found quite striking and profound, though it was only remarked upon in passing, was the concept that The Hobbit is a story about the significance of the seemingly insignificant. This was quite a startling revelation, as it’s such a poignant observation that I don’t think I’d have realized if it hadn’t been mentioned, yet it’s so true. 

This significance of the seemingly insignificant starts out immediately with Bilbo as a Hobbit, people don’t take much notice of them, they’re not even a concern or interest to others, until Bilbo goes off into the world and they encounter him. Additionally, for Bilbo’s development as a character, all these small things build up to an incredible change in him. Beginning with him simply leaving home, which wasn’t entirely of his own volition, there was some wizardry involved there on Gandalf’s part, along with his finding of the ring, helping the dwarves along the way, and finding and keeping the Arkenstone.  

If you’re not already aware of how the story goes, and the significance of these, each of them doesn’t seem terribly significant at the time they occur, and yet combined, they’re incredible significant in propelling the story, as well as Bilbo’s character development. Tolkien is incredibly skilled at seamlessly weaving these details into his story to build an incredible story. Though I have realized he does seem to dumb down his writing, just a bit, especially when I consider it in comparison to The Lord of the Rings. This is most likely Tolkien taking into consideration his intended audience for this specific book.  

An example of this that sticks out to me is when Bilbo found the ring, the narrator explained how the ring was a turning point for Bilbo, though not of particular interest for him at the time, as he simply picked it up, as if that was naturally the thing to do when you come upon a ring in a goblin cave. This exposition would have been unnecessary if the targeted audience was adults. Tolkien’s writing in this book has a lot of passages that tell, rather than show, probably as an avenue to engage his audience, to keep them reading to the end to find out how each part of the story that’s specifically expounded on resurfaces later.    

The other idea I found quite interesting was the barrel being such an insignificant thing, and yet being so significant to the progression of the story. It was simply the only means of escaping from the wood elves, yet it becomes significant as Bilbo takes it as one of his claims to fame, despite the terrible time he had riding the barrel. If he had not mentioned it, which Bilbo realizes and Tolkien points out quite explicitly, Smaug might not have gone out and attacked Lake Town, and Bard would have never had the opportunity to kill him. The story would have been much different if the barrel hadn’t taken on such significance. 

Significance of the Seemingly Insignificant

I found the conversation in class about Tolkien's use of the seemingly insignificant was extremely interesting. Now that I look back on my working knowledge of Tolkien, I recognize this as a greater pattern. One of the largest and most glaring of these examples is the One Ring in the Hobbit. It plays an important role in the book, but it doesn't show the massive world-changing power and potential that is shown in LOTR.

Another example of the significance of a small token would be Lady Galadriel's gift to Gimli, of three strands of her hair. Although to all of the other parties involved,  this gift seems strange and small, but to Gimli it was of profound importance. Not only does it show a rare display of kinship among dwarves and elves, but the fact that it comes from an elf of such high stature as Galadriel is of utmost importance. Although the gift of three strands of her hair doesn't hold the more magical powers of some of her gifts to other members of the fellowship, it doesn't mean that the gift was cherished any less.

Thinking back through what I have read of Tolkien's works, this theme of insignificant events or items becoming important seems to occur quite frequently.

Fate and Destiny in the Hobbit

The concept of fate and destiny in the Hobbit is interesting to me because for some characters, their destiny is obvious and spelled out for them while for others, it occurs to them unexpectedly. The characters I'm specifically thinking of are Thorin and Bilbo. I should clarify first that fate and destiny aren't one in the same, as destiny are the events that will happen to something/something for with a predetermined purpose while fate are events/often death that mostly occur out of someone's control, possibly by the hand of a supernatural being or thing. 

Thorin's destiny, as the grandson of Thror, is to retake the Lonely Mountain from Smaug and reclaim the great halls, caves, and of course treasure of his ancestors. As a result of reclaiming the Mountain and the treasure, Thorin would fulfill his destiny to be the King under the Mountain. However, fate steps in and he unfortunately dies after the Battle of the Five Armies. In his case, Thorin perceived his duty to his ancestors as his destiny and took control of fulfilling it but he could not control his fate. 

Bilbo contrasts to Thorin in that he had no idea about his destiny (i.e. his involvement and significant role in the adventures of the story) nor how his destiny would affect the history and future events of Middle Earth. A quote that stood out to me when I finished the Hobbit was Gandalf's response to Bilbo when he notes that the prophecies of the old songs are actually true: 

"And why should not they prove true? Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!"

I think what Gandalf says here explains a bit about how a character's fate and destiny are controlled to some level by higher powers who set the prophecies for Middle Earth in place. 

I'd be interested to hear/read anyone else's thoughts on this quote, as I think it could be related to characters/events/themes in Tolkien's other works. 

Exercise for Chapter 16

Responses Hannah and Amy's work for today's exercise -- Chapter 16

Chapter 16: A Thief in the Night

Bilbo’s personal transformation is mainly seen in his selflessness.  He sacrifices not only his safety, but his fourteenth share of the treasure to try to save his friends, who will be ungrateful at best.  Bilbo cares deeply for his friends and thinks little of himself , showing positive transformation.  Even the proud Elvenking marvels at Bilbo’s honor.  He is even honorable in something so small as keeping his word to Bombur and getting back in time to wake him up for his watch.  Bilbo exemplifies the fact that the true measure of one’s character is how they honor others, especially those who can do nothing for them.

More about Tolkien's Biblical allusions

There was a little bit of discussion in class today about the parallels between a biblical story and the thrush killing the dragon in chapter 14.  While thinking about this I realized that there is another pretty significant allusion to another biblical event in chapter 14 soon after Smaug is killed.  Soon after the Bard emerges from the water, he is praised by the towns people who want to make him king.  This of course would mean that the current Master of lake town has his position of power put in jeopardy.  So, with some clever speech, he convinces a majority of the people to once again see him as master and a hero, despite the fact that he abandoned them to save himself during the attack.  The bard then falls back into being some crazed radical in the eyes of the majority of the people, and their blame is deflected from the king to the dwarves and Bilbo for betraying their trust.   Thus, the people praise the liar and traitor and condemn their savior.

This is extremely similar to  the story of the condemnation of Jesus Christ by the people of Jerusalem after his trial with Pontius Pilate.  though crowds had gathered to follow and listen to Jesus prior to his arrest by the high priests, and clearly respected him and praised him as their savior, the people suddenly changed their minds during the trial.  The high priests, who felt that Jesus was a threat to their positions, bribed and threatened the people to ask Pilate to release a murderer from prison instead of Jesus, to which the complied. Jesus was now condemned to death for blasphemy despite the fact that the high priests used religion as a front to gain personal power and exploit the people who trusted them.  Thus, the savior is now the criminal and those in power became more powerful.

As we have seen, Tolkien references a lot of biblical events in this book, but does so in such a way that the overall message is still effective even if the reader didn't know it was an allusion.  However, I found the inclusion of this specific allusion to make a lot of sense.  Honor is a huge theme throughout the Hobbit.  Specifically, how one is able to gain honor, and also how one can lose honor.  In both the Hobbit and biblical story, this event reminds the reader of how easily our opinion of what is right and honorable can be skewed if we do not consider the whole picture, or let fear and greed control our perspective.  I think this realization is best summed up in Thorin's last words to Bilbo "If more of us valued and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world" (312).  Honor isn't about how much power an individual has, but how they use the power or opportunity they do have to help others and bring peace and compassion into the lives of those they meet.  Bilbo is not honorable because he gains the treasure of the mountain, but because he was willing to sacrifice himself and his reputation to save his friends and those he respected.

Exercise for Chapter 19

Responses from Emma for today's exercise -- Chapter 19

A. List specific examples (with page numbers) from your section of the text that seem to you to highlight or even hint at any (or all) of the following themes. Since all these themes will not appear clearly in each chapter, work on the themes that do occur in your assigned chapter.

-- Relationships between Individuals and Communities

pg. 274: when Bilbo arrives home and sees his belongings at Bag-End, being auctioned off to the hobbits of Hobbiton and his relatives, the Sackville-Bagginses, claiming his property as he is “presumed dead”; Bilbo the individual and his community.

-- Personal Transformation/Growth

pg. 273-74: “The Road Goes Ever On” song that Bilbo sings evokes a reaction from Gandalf who remarks that “You are not the hobbit that you were”; pg. 275, he loses his reputation in Hobbiton and is no longer a respectable hobbit but he doesn’t mind and is content with being home again and embraces his newfound friendship with the elves and hangs his sword and other artifacts from his journey around his house.

-- Honor/Dishonor

pg. 275: in the minds of the other hobbits, Bilbo has lost his respectable reputation and is considered “queer” for his stories and changed behavior, despite him having gained honor amongst the dwarves, elves, and even men in other places outside his home.

-- Significance of the Seemingly Insignificant

pg. 276: Gandalf reminds Bilbo that despite his importance in fulfilling the prophecy and being the unexpected hero during many points of the journey, his ability to escape danger/have adventures were not based in mere luck. He really is “only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!”

B. Select 2 different themes above to develop in more detail. Write a few sentences for each explaining how the examples you chose advance Tolkien’s development of the theme in his text and also why the theme is important in the story. One way to approach this might be to ask yourself what would be lost from the story or how would it be different without the theme represented by your examples.

On Transformation/Growth: In terms of Bilbo’s transformation in the eyes of the hobbits of Hobbiton, he has changed from a respectable, decent hobbit who lived at Bag-End to a “queer” fellow who tells strange stories and has odd company (dwarves, elves, Gandalf). However, Bilbo has had an immense internal transformation because 1) he embraced his Took-ish behavior and enjoyed his adventures (after a warming up to them), 2) despite enjoying the fact that he was home again in his cozy hobbit-hole, he didn’t care about the mutterings and judgements of his neighbors. He didn’t mind being perceived as odd and was content.

On Honor/Dishonor: despite having lost his honorable reputation in Hobbiton, Bilbo gained the respect and honor of dwarves, elves, wizards and even the men of Lake-Town.

On Significance of the Seemingly Insignificant: Bilbo’s contributions to the journey of the Company were incredibly important and helpful, but they were not completely random/unexpected because as Gandalf says, he was not solely responsible for his actions, nor were his actions performed only for his benefit. They had a ripple effect of sorts, by fulfilling the prophecies of the old tales, but he is reminded that results of his actions were bigger than him.

Bilbo's Hope

From today's discussion I wanted to talk a little bit more about Bilbo's change from being pretty pessimistic throughout The Hobbit to his sudden hope for opening the hidden door when the company reaches Erebor.

In the text his hope seems to come from nowhere as he continues to wait by the door even though all the others have left and given up hope. It says on page 228 that "he had a queer feeling that he was waiting for something". This relates back to a conversation we had last week about the idea of a higher power manipulating things behind the scenes. My thought is that one of the Middle Earth gods gave Bilbo some hope so that he wouldn't miss the opening of the door. This, to me, indicates that reclaiming Erebor is a huge event for the whole of Middle Earth even though the dwarves think they are only claiming it for themselves.

In the movies, I can't remember if it talks about this in the book, Gandalf explains that Smaug would have been an even bigger problem for much longer if he was around long enough to be recruited by Sauron's forces and that Erebor becomes the main defense against evil in the east. This shows that the quest for the Mountain might have had importance in determining how events in The Lord of the Rings occurred.

Themes in the last half of The Hobbit

Choose one idea raised by a group other in class today that you find interesting or problematic related to the themes in the last half of The Hobbit. Write a comment here that discusses your thoughts about that idea

Fate, Destiny, and Individual Free Will

What roles do fate, destiny, and individual free will play in The Hobbit? Are these concepts related to or distinctly separate from each other? Explain your thoughts on these questions in relation to Tolkien's text.

The End of a Quest--Not Necessarily the End of the Story

As I have been wrapping up The Return of the King and through the class's discussions on The Hobbit, I have been reminded of a feature of Tolkien's writing that I find very interesting.  In both of these books, the story does not end with the completion of the central quest.  In The Hobbit, the book does not conclude with the defeat of the dragon.  While the main plot revolved around the company of dwarves' retaking their homeland through destroying Smaug, Tolkien surprises readers by having much more to say even once Bard the Bowman smites the evil beast.  Similarly, in The Return of the King, the ring's destruction does not draw the curtains of the story.  Six more chapters remain between the climb up Mount Doom and the departure to the Grey Havens.

While I believe that Tolkien intended the dragon's defeat and the ring's destruction to be the mechanisms for moving the story's plot, I also think he is intentional in choosing not to end the overall story with the conclusion of the central quests.  If the story were to end with Smaug's death, then we would never have fully seen the completion of Bilbo's dramatic character development.  While Bilbo had changed much from the dinner party at Bag-End, he still had yet to fully demonstrate his courage by going behind Thorin's back and delivering the Arkenstone to Bard.  While confronting trolls, orcs, Gollum, spiders, and the dragon were all incredible feats of courage, Bilbo's "betrayal" of his dwarven friend was actually his most significant show of bravery as he knew Thorin in his madness would despise him for it.  Tolkien needed his protagonist to finish his story arc, and that required an extended plot beyond the golden cavern of Smaug.

Likewise, in The Lord of the Rings, destroying the ring ended Frodo and his friends' quest, but the story still required appropriate denouement.  Aragorn had to fully embrace the kingship of Gondor, and the four hobbits still had to confront the reality of their pleasant, pastoral land being ravaged by Saruman.  And even beyond this unexpected setback, Frodo's story ended with his leaving the shores of Middle-Earth with Gandalf, Bilbo, and the elves.  The quest of the ring brought all these characters together, and they all shared common experiences.  In the end, each had his own ending, and Tolkien wished to share these with his readers.

I am glad Tolkien wrote these stories' endings the way he did.   I believe they are more reflective of how real life works.  After tackling present obstacles, a person's life and story do not end there.  There is more to do and more challenges to face.  Tolkien demonstrates this by adding so much more after those chapters that would normally (and arguably are) the points of highest emotion.  That Tolkien has more to say is another reason why I think both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are still so popular today.

nature vs. technology

I've reached the point in Two Towers where Marry and Pippin make friends with Treebeard and it made me think about a discussion that we had in class about Tolkien's love for nature and perspective on technology.

Tolkien apparently loved the beauty of nature. The bad guys in LOTR are often described as mechanical  (Saruman having "a mind like metal and wheels"). Saruman's destruction of Fangorn Forest shocks Treebeard and other Ents into action. Through the continued reference of industry and war as synonymous, especially in relation to Saruman and the production of his army, Tolkien presents a very negative image of industry and technological advancement. When looking into Galadriel's mirror Frodo witnesses a polluted world of industry and factories, adding to the negative view expressed towards industry and technology.

I found it very interesting to read over some of these sections after having this discussion in class. I felt that it enhanced my reading experience quite a bit.   

A Study in Ponies

One of the most fascinating things that I discovered during our exercise on the natural vs. unnatural objects/creatures in the Hobbit was Tolkien's take on ponies. In the majority of Middle Earth, ponies are, for the most part, completely normal. They allow good people to ride them and will carry their extra gear, particularly when they are trained well. However, when Thorin and Company go to the house of Beorn, they encounter some different ponies. Not only will they take people places and carry their belongings, but they will set the table and bring the food. They don't even eat the food along the way, but place it carefully onto the table and leave it there for other creatures to eat. The dogs do this as well, but I'll come back to this later. How on earth, well Middle Earth, did Beorn train them to do that? Ponies just don't do that sort of thing. It would be one thing if ALL ponies behaved this way in Middle Earth, but they don't. Any other ponies would eat the food themselves and leave the plate and silverware where they were. So what makes these ponies special? I don't really have an answer except that maybe Tolkien was trying to put an emphasis of the magic around Beorn. Beorn just seemed really connected to the land and the animals that resided there.

Now, back to the dogs. The dogs also complete similar tasks, but this seems slightly less impressive to me. Yes, it is impressive, but dogs can also be trained to do similar things in the real world. Service dogs can do extraordinary things like fetching water bottles, turning on the lights, and many many more amazing things. Beorn's dogs in the Hobbit do go over the top a little, but it doesn't feel quite as impressive, nor the impression quite as lasting as it does with the ponies. There may not be a big reason for Tolkien doing this, but I thought it was splendid and thought it provided food for thought.

Goldberry

Unnatural VS Natural

In the world Tolkien has created many things are natural things that we find in our world, some of those things include bees and trees which act similarly in Middle earth as they do in our reality. Tolkien does this to show that even though Middle Earth is fictional it still has similarities to our world that make it seem more tangible ad easy to visualize. Due to the world being more believable and actually something we can visualize when he mentions things like green fire or giant talking eagles we as readers feel more immersed because these "unnatural" things he adds in are basically something we would find in our world just with an added element such as color, size, ability to talk etc. In addition to this he also has a normal version of these "unnatural" things such as red/orange fire or normal sized non talking eagles. Again, I would like to emphasize that he does this because when he writes about something that we can actually visualize and believe could exist it is much easier for readers to transport themselves into Middle Earth and become apart of the story.

Natural v. Unnatural/Supernatural In-Class Exercise

The Skin-Changer within The Hobbit, Beorn, is an unnatural and/or supernatural creature. Beorn, because of his transformative abilities, can be compared to other mythological or scary beings in a variety of stories across the world, such as the werewolf and shapeshifter. This creature is supernatural because, clearly, shifting between a human being and an animal is not of the natural world ... at least not in our natural world. Not only was Beorn included in The Hobbit to add to the magic and fantasy of Tolkien's novel but to emphasize the idea of not judging a book by its cover. Beorn's character allows us to understand that not everything is as it seems and that not every creature we perceive as ugly or dangerous is a monster. This concept is something that I truly enjoy and welcome while reading novels from all genres.

Natural vs. Unnatural: Immersion

All,

I know many people have been discussing this however a particular point caught my attention: we were shifting our focus between what's natural in our world and what's natural in Tolkein's world.

Having a few days to think about it, I became more interested in lists for both of these, and this eventually led to a sort of free write of my own volition. I thought about how Tolkein builds such an intense, but almost subtle immersion via blurring this line. Whenever I think of the late nights with reading lights attached my books on the road and being so completely invested in Middle Earth it relates to how natural the world feels. Tolkein's strong suit was building a world recognizable, almost akin to ours. He has butterflies, he has humans, he has mini humans (i.e. Hobbits), he has squirrels, he has eagles, and much more. All of these little comforts I think is what allows us to suspend our disbelief so much further - it's what brings people wanting to enter Middle Earth. If it can have butterflies like us, if we can share so many identifiable features from our world, why can't we share that magic?

I think this is why our focus kept shifting because Tolkein was intentionally making it difficult to tell what is natural.

That's my post,
Elendil

Natural vs. Unnatural

I found this class discution very interesting. Seeing how different people saw different things as natural vs. unnatural was suprising. For this exercise, I chose the eagles as natural and the goblins as unatural.
The eagles in this story, while not natural for our world, act as a focus of nature itself in this story. They are good, but not in the way that many races of Middle Earth are good. They do not muster up an army to fight aginst evil things, but they oppose evil when they encouter it. In this way, they act more as nature itself, uncaring about the outside world, but an unwavering force that stands against the unnatural. The eagles do not have a stake in the gold and treasure of the Lonely Mountain, but their opposition of the unnatural puts them against the enemies of the dwarves at that point in the story.

The goblins, on the flip side of this, are unnatural. Tolkien talks about how they "make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones." (pg 73) He goes on to talk about how they invent things like wheels and engins and explosions. As Dr. Donovan menitioned in class, Tolkien grew up in a town over run with the Industrial Revolution. For him, the blance between natural and unnatural was very much thrown off. Growing up in town surrounded by these things, and then makeing it a staple description for an evil race in his world clearly demonstraits how Tolkien felt about such things. His goblins, while natural to his world, act in a way that is against nature, making them unnatural things.

Barrels: the Role of Natural Objects in World-building, Plot Progression

            In regards to natural and unnatural (or both) items in Tolkien’s works, what intrigues me the most is decidedly the former. Magic and magical items play a large role to be sure; however, seemingly normal items can subtly establish world-building and simultaneously advance the plot all at once. One interesting example is a humble wooden item that is essentially Chekhov’s gun, though in this case it is more Chekhov’s barrel. Obviously, from the start of their introduction in Chapter 9 of The Hobbit the barrels serve an important purpose – allowing the escape of the dwarves and Bilbo from the elves. However, the barrels also contribute a substantial amount of world-building. These barrels hold wine from other elven lands and Dorwinion to be sure (164), but they also are known to hold “other stuffs, butter, apples, and all sorts of things, to the king’s palace” (166). Through describing the barrels, the reader learns that the elves must trade for many consumables and thus rely on the river for said trade. This adds a lot of realism to Tolkien’s story; before the advent of industrialization waterways were crucial in trade around the world (of course, this only makes the inner world-builder in me wonder how this transport system operates in winter).

           
            In addition to this, the physics of the barrels themselves aid in advancing the plot as the party reaches the Lonely Mountain. Thankfully, Tolkien excellently describes the physical repercussions of Archimedes principle, which leads to great hilarity from Bilbo’s initial attempts at riding the barrel: “Every time he tried, the barrel rolled a round and ducked him under again” (170). Of course, this barrel-riding not only provides comic relief, but also leads to dire consequences when Bilbo names himself “Barrel-Rider” whilst talking to Smaug. Smaug makes the unfortunate connection of barrels to Lake Town and ultimately attacks the town, though it all turns out all right in the end. And to think, all of this world-building and plot progression from a humble, natural thing as a barrel!

Natural/Unnatural: Wargs

Wargs are an interesting combination of both natural and unnatural.

They are natural because they are like normal wolves in many ways, such as hunting in packs, gathering under the moon, and howling.

However they are also unique in some other ways. They are bigger than, regular wolves, have a language comprehensible to Gandalf and the goblins, and they seem to be much more intelligient as well.

This is a good example of Tolkien's habit of taking something familiar and twisting it into a more evil and scarier version of itself. Natural wolves don't attack towns or people except under unusual circumstances. The wargs go out of their way to plot an attack against the men who are moving north into the woods at the feet of the misty mountains. The wargs' alliance with the goblins immediately establishes them as evil creatures, by association with the goblins that we have already seen as an evil force. 

The question of perspective in what we decided was natural or unnatural was a fascinating one, because clearly what is natural on earth and what is natural in middle-earth are totally different. From an earth perspective magic is unnatural, but from a middle-earth perspective it is an accepted force in the world. This question of reference frame has always fascinated me, and I think Tolkien does an excellent job of showing us what is and is not natural in his world independent of our own. For example the Nazgul are shown as being unnatural even in middle-earth, but things we do not have in our primary world like hobbits, dwarves, elves, goblins, and wizards are perfectly normal in middle-earth.

Elladan

I am Elladan son of Elrond and Celebrian; lord and lady of Rivendell. I look so alike my twin brother Elrohir that none but the closest of friends can tell us apart. My sister Arwen married Aragorn II after the war of the ring. I remember when Aragorn was young and growing up in Rivendell he would often accompany my brother and me on our journeys. When the time came for the fellowship we aided the journey by scouting out the paths ahead.

Like all the elves of our line, we are gifted with the ability to chose between the mortal life of a man and the immortal one of the Eldar. Our sister chose to remain in middle earth and become mortal. We remained in middle earth for a time after the war of the ring but it is unclear whether we chose mortality or eventually sailed off to the undying lands. 

I really had no memory of this character from the books so he is new for me. I'll definitely be looking out for his name during my rereads. I like his story even though he's a pretty distant character from the main plot.