As I mentioned in my introductory post, I love speculation and interpretation as long as there’s supporting evidence. I wanted to share the results of a test run I did on Ep.1. I focused on transcribing passages where Corey either interprets or speculates, and then divided them by slides and topic. In the transcription, I removed vocal fillers, and in some cases, “like,” “or whatever,” “kind of,” “I mean,” “really,” “ya know,” etc., and the beginnings of sentences Corey abandoned and immediately replaced with new words. I bolded the main ideas and italicized emphasized words. I also noted when chat caused responses and included timestamps throughout. But in the end, I am not exactly satisfied with this method, but I thought this test run might be useful: At its worst, what not to do. At it’s best, something concrete to enhance until it’s publishable. So please, I would like feedback on this method.
INTRO:
AN OVERARCHING GOAL AND TONE:
The whole goal of this is I want to talk my way through the LotR, and I want to take my time. I want to take as long as it takes to talk about everything that I want to talk about. I’ve never ever been able to be perfectly indulgent–self [indulgent]. I’ve always had a semester schedule or something that I had to adhere to. But no way! This is completely open ended, so I’m really psyched for that.” 11:36-12:03…Try to stay within the frame of what we know in the chapters that we’re reading. I don’t mean what we know about the History [of Middle-earth]...it’s not what we’re here to talk about. We’re going to be talking about the published Fellowship of the Ring. But one temptation that it’s easy to experience when talking about the LotR is jumping forward, to be thinking about other parts of the story. Now it’s relevant of course but I want to try to think not about what we’re going to learn later, but about what we’re being told here. 15:51-16:38
SLIDE: PARTIES AND PRESENTS
BILBO’S GATE
Why did Bilbo have a gate erected? It’s obviously not for security purposes. There isn’t like a burly dwarf bouncer standing behind him…it seems clear that the gate was erected exactly, expressly for this purpose: so that Bilbo could stand at it when all the guests come in and give them their presents…[chat reminds him of line] the phrase from one of the poems from the Hobbit came back to me…”For [Here] at the Gate the King awaits / His hands are rich with gems and gold.” That image of the King Under the Mountain standing at the gate of his hall with his hands rich with gems and gold or maybe even jools. But, anyway, that’s the image the dwarves have in their mind of what a king should be, right, standing at the gates and giving generously to his faithful supporters. And of course in the Hobbit it turns out to be heavily ironic ‘cause instead, what do we get? Thorin at the Gate instead erects a wall which walls up the gates so that nobody can come in and he refuses to give even a just portion of his treasure to anybody so he completely goes away from that traditional idea of the King. But here’s Bilbo being very kingly in a sense in Hobbit scale he’s not giving away gems and gold but he’s nevertheless acting in this beneficent fashion but again it's not really just kinglike. That is to say this not “I am distributing wealth to my supporters and peoples.” This is a hobbit tradition. “Hobbits give presents to other people on their own birthdays.” This is how it’s done, though we are told, “not very expensive ones, as a rule, and not so lavishly as on this occasion.” Bilbo’s generosity is much more extravagant than is at all customary. 22:48-25:45 C.f. First of all, note “a gold pen and ink bottle” is a lavish gift! I mean, that’s a gorgeous and expensive gift. And yet it’s teasing again. 45:29-45:41
TOLKIEN’S DEVELOPMENT OF SHIRE CULTURE:
He [Tolkien] didn’t really have it [the Shire] worked out. It's really easy to kind of project backward to the Hobbit what we know about LotR or what we come to know by the end of LotR, but of course there’s very, very little said about Hobbits or Hobbit culture other than in the very first chapter of the Hobbit and mostly it’s just background. We know that Bilbo has the whole Took and Baggins thing going on in his own make up from his parentage and the struggle, or tension at least, between those two sides of Bilbo is a major feature of the Hobbit, of course. The Hobbit society–what we’re told about the Hobbit society–is really just a kind of dramatic backdrop to that internal, psychological issue of Bilbo’s…but again, he [Tolkien] doesn’t really flesh out what the culture’s really like. We know very little about it. Again what we’re told is really just as a kind of frame, really. All we get about Hobbits in the Hobbit is like a portrait of Bilbo and you can kind of barely make out some things in the background behind him but it’s not really a picture of them, it’s a picture of Bilbo…In the Long expected party we are introduced to hobbits and to their culture more than we ever are anywhere else, really. 18:23-20:34
HOBBIT VICES:
I think that a lot of Tolkien fans have developed this kind of highly romanticized view of Hobbits in the Shire. Hobbits are not totally upstanding people. Again, there's this kind of image of the Shire as this perfect harmonious place and Hobbits as– like the Shire is Eden and the Hobbits are these pure sinless little creatures, but they’re not! They don’t kill people! I mean we’re told– Frodo makes that astonishing claim at the end of The Return of the King that no Hobbit has ever killed another Hobbit on purpose in the Shire before. So apparently, no one’s ever been convicted of murder. At least Frodo doesn’t think so. But then again, there's no reason to just kind of generally extend that out. That Lobelia stole Bilbo’s spoons and he’s not really forgiven her for it. I mean this is sort of the way it goes all the time…[chat says, ”They are cheeky and not above minor skullduggery for personal gain.”] Yes! Yes! Absolutely not above it in any way. 28:18-30:05
INTRO:
AN OVERARCHING GOAL AND TONE:
The whole goal of this is I want to talk my way through the LotR, and I want to take my time. I want to take as long as it takes to talk about everything that I want to talk about. I’ve never ever been able to be perfectly indulgent–self [indulgent]. I’ve always had a semester schedule or something that I had to adhere to. But no way! This is completely open ended, so I’m really psyched for that.” 11:36-12:03…Try to stay within the frame of what we know in the chapters that we’re reading. I don’t mean what we know about the History [of Middle-earth]...it’s not what we’re here to talk about. We’re going to be talking about the published Fellowship of the Ring. But one temptation that it’s easy to experience when talking about the LotR is jumping forward, to be thinking about other parts of the story. Now it’s relevant of course but I want to try to think not about what we’re going to learn later, but about what we’re being told here. 15:51-16:38
SLIDE: PARTIES AND PRESENTS
BILBO’S GATE
Why did Bilbo have a gate erected? It’s obviously not for security purposes. There isn’t like a burly dwarf bouncer standing behind him…it seems clear that the gate was erected exactly, expressly for this purpose: so that Bilbo could stand at it when all the guests come in and give them their presents…[chat reminds him of line] the phrase from one of the poems from the Hobbit came back to me…”For [Here] at the Gate the King awaits / His hands are rich with gems and gold.” That image of the King Under the Mountain standing at the gate of his hall with his hands rich with gems and gold or maybe even jools. But, anyway, that’s the image the dwarves have in their mind of what a king should be, right, standing at the gates and giving generously to his faithful supporters. And of course in the Hobbit it turns out to be heavily ironic ‘cause instead, what do we get? Thorin at the Gate instead erects a wall which walls up the gates so that nobody can come in and he refuses to give even a just portion of his treasure to anybody so he completely goes away from that traditional idea of the King. But here’s Bilbo being very kingly in a sense in Hobbit scale he’s not giving away gems and gold but he’s nevertheless acting in this beneficent fashion but again it's not really just kinglike. That is to say this not “I am distributing wealth to my supporters and peoples.” This is a hobbit tradition. “Hobbits give presents to other people on their own birthdays.” This is how it’s done, though we are told, “not very expensive ones, as a rule, and not so lavishly as on this occasion.” Bilbo’s generosity is much more extravagant than is at all customary. 22:48-25:45 C.f. First of all, note “a gold pen and ink bottle” is a lavish gift! I mean, that’s a gorgeous and expensive gift. And yet it’s teasing again. 45:29-45:41
TOLKIEN’S DEVELOPMENT OF SHIRE CULTURE:
He [Tolkien] didn’t really have it [the Shire] worked out. It's really easy to kind of project backward to the Hobbit what we know about LotR or what we come to know by the end of LotR, but of course there’s very, very little said about Hobbits or Hobbit culture other than in the very first chapter of the Hobbit and mostly it’s just background. We know that Bilbo has the whole Took and Baggins thing going on in his own make up from his parentage and the struggle, or tension at least, between those two sides of Bilbo is a major feature of the Hobbit, of course. The Hobbit society–what we’re told about the Hobbit society–is really just a kind of dramatic backdrop to that internal, psychological issue of Bilbo’s…but again, he [Tolkien] doesn’t really flesh out what the culture’s really like. We know very little about it. Again what we’re told is really just as a kind of frame, really. All we get about Hobbits in the Hobbit is like a portrait of Bilbo and you can kind of barely make out some things in the background behind him but it’s not really a picture of them, it’s a picture of Bilbo…In the Long expected party we are introduced to hobbits and to their culture more than we ever are anywhere else, really. 18:23-20:34
HOBBIT VICES:
I think that a lot of Tolkien fans have developed this kind of highly romanticized view of Hobbits in the Shire. Hobbits are not totally upstanding people. Again, there's this kind of image of the Shire as this perfect harmonious place and Hobbits as– like the Shire is Eden and the Hobbits are these pure sinless little creatures, but they’re not! They don’t kill people! I mean we’re told– Frodo makes that astonishing claim at the end of The Return of the King that no Hobbit has ever killed another Hobbit on purpose in the Shire before. So apparently, no one’s ever been convicted of murder. At least Frodo doesn’t think so. But then again, there's no reason to just kind of generally extend that out. That Lobelia stole Bilbo’s spoons and he’s not really forgiven her for it. I mean this is sort of the way it goes all the time…[chat says, ”They are cheeky and not above minor skullduggery for personal gain.”] Yes! Yes! Absolutely not above it in any way. 28:18-30:05