Recent content by TThurston

The story of The Hobbit makes it seem that Gandalf was regularly involved in the affairs of dwarves at that time. We also read accounts of his visits to Rohan, Gondor, and Hobbit and Elven lands as part of the near-term backstory to The Lord of the Rings. It seems plausible to me that he would...

A few more thoughts regarding Gandalf's size and stature: In The Hobbit, Gandalf is carried in flight by an eagle that we assume is not too different from those that carry dwarves and a hobbit. There is no indication that the Lord of the Eagles who carries Gandalf is larger than the the other...

Hmm... I just asked Google, and it informs mean that "uruk-hai" may be translated as "orc" and "folk". So it seems to have been a silly coincidence I noticed that the uruk-hai seem to be the orc variant of the high-elves. Well, at least I've learned something I didn't know before. I'm surprised...

A few passages from the prologue, "concerning hobbits": "in ancient days they were, as a rule, shy of 'the Big Folk', as they call us" "they are a little people smaller than Dwarves: less stout and stocky, even when they are not actually much shorter. Their height is variable, ranging between...

I encountered this post today and found it interesting: March 25 and Tolkien Perhaps this has already been discussed and someone could direct me to the appropriate place.

Many posts here have discussed Frodo's and Gandalf's ability to see things that others cannot. If we consider that "see" is a verb, then one who's special ability is "to see" would be called a see-er, or seer. Perhaps it would be interesting to consider other cases in LOTR where Frodo or Gandalf...

Regarding the faint footfalls and the two pale points of light (luminous eyes), I always understood this not as hallucination, but as enhanced perceptioin of dark and hidden things; Frodo is sensative more than the others to Gollum who is following the company. Sadly, Frodo and Gollum are...

We some evidence of Tolkien being a bit of a playful regarding the names he gaves things in Middle Earth. After all, there is Barliman Butterbur, a "man" who supplies beer made from "barley". We see a bit of this when Smaug asks Bilbo his name and Bilbo responds with all kinds of word-plays on...

It seems that Tolkien himself was not the only illustrator that showed elves having a smaller stature than an adult man. Pauline Baynes, who illustrated several of his books made the following illustration of the fellowship: This illustration was from the top of a poster published by Allen...

Not quite. Leaving Bag End, running down the lane is downhill. Once he reaches The Mill, he's at the level of the river. He then crosses the river, and runs a mile or more along the other side of the river, or perhaps a bit uphill to reach the Inn. A human boy will be the height of an adult...

In The Hobbit chapter Not At Home, Thorin says “Here is the first payment of your reward!” and gives Bilbo “a small coat of mail, wrought for some young elf-prince long ago … of silver-steel, which the elves call mithril, and with it went a belt of pearls and crystals.” A light helm of leather...

Sometimes I throw rocks into pools for no particular reason. There's a pool, here's a rock, I throw it, it makes a spash - done. Then again, even if there's no reason, this rock allows the narrator to suggest possible culpability for the attack of the Watcher.

As I’ve been carefully re-reading The Hobbit, I’ve noticed a few things that might merit clarification. In Chapter 2, the morning after The Unexpected Party, Bilbo washes up, has breakfast, and is just sitting to a nice little second breakfast when in walks Gandalf. He asks, “whenever are you...

I've learned a bit since yesterday's post. For one thing, goblins and dragons were part of the ordinary culture of Oxford, not just something for fantasy literature. My uncle's college had both a goblin club (for men) and a faerie club (for women). And at least two of the Tolkien boys attended...

This forum is supposed to be for questions. Everything I've presented so far is context; now for my questions: How do we account for the great difference between Tolkien's pictures of elves in the Father Christmas letters (around 1935), and the descriptions of elves written near the end of his...