Green Dragon Live

The Nicks, joined by Jake, Jenni, and Eowyn get together at the Green Dragon Brew Pub in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. If your name is the Green Dragon, we're interested in testing your fare, the food, and the drink. This short episode is cut from our whole meal together and barely passes as a review.

The food was good, heavy and rich with cheese in the case of the flatbreads, but very enjoyable nonetheless. The potato wedges were delicious, with a crispy perfection. The Dragon Eggs were very good - Hard boiled eggs wrapped in sausage and deep fried - even the Nicks (who don't usually like hard boiled eggs found them delectable).The drinks were tasty, but nothing that would make the hair on your toes curl up with excitement. The venue is standard bar restaurant, adequate but not any resemblance of a place that takes its name from Lord of The Rings. In fact, we don't know if the name is any reference to Tolkien's works. We would, however, like to go back and try some of the other pub food, the burgers for example.

Links

greendragonlive.com

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Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks discuss embarrassing stories of when we were fools and couldn't remember what we did, Frodo's predicament, Glorfindel's shiny nature, slipping into the wraith world, a cavalry of waves, the geography, and history of this leg of the journey, and ending the first book on a cliffhanger.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

What Happened Last Time?:

The company came together in the nick of time as Strider's usefulness came through on the first night of their acquaintance. During the night at the Prancing Pony, Black Riders stole into the rooms set aside for the Hobbits, and brutally murdered their pillows, and in the words of Tommy Boy, "Woah, that was close." After some trouble leaving town, Strider is able to get the company lost and out of sight of the Riders while making their way to Weathertop. Seven days, one funky lightning show, and a million bug bites later and they make it to Weathertop just in time for the Black Riders to ambush them and stab Frodo with a blade from Mordor. This is bad news.

Where Are We in the Narrative?:

Our Heroes have left home and hearth behind - beyond the Shire, beyond Bree - besides Bilbo, no other Hobbit in living memory has gone so far afield as these brave, foolhardy, unnatural hobbits. Joining in with a Ranger from the North - Strider, they inch closer to Rivendell while being chased by Black Riders of Mordor. Dark times have found the company, and they will likely need help to arrive safely at Rivendell, but help in the wild is very unlikely to be found.

Notes for this episode: FRODO:

• What happened at Weathertop?
• The Ring and his realization.
• The wound.
• • What does it feel like
  • Eventually, it all but heals up to just a white mark…???
• How does it affect him?
• • Strider comments that the Riders wounded him in such a fashion to make him unable to resist them.
  • shade/shadow over his eyes
  • The world looks pale
  • His friends look like shadows eventually
  • Shadows in his dreams
• Another dream

GEOGRAPHY:

• Wilderness of what once was Arnor/The Kingdoms of the North
• • Towers in the distance
  • No one lives here, not anymore
• Hoarwell (river number 1)
• • The bridge.
  • The jewel.
  • • Did it fall idly, or placed intentionally? Either way, Strider is comforted.
• Trollshaws
• • Bilbo's story!
  • Sam's song.
  • • Talk about song…
    • • How do you read it?
      • Do you read it sing-song, or actually give it a made-up melody?
• The Bruinen (Loudwater) - The Ford (river number 2)

STRIDER:

• Leadership in question… Sam doesn't trust him after he disappears post-Weathertop battle.
• • How does he respond to this?
• What does he do to and with Frodo knowing that he was wounded by the Witch-king of Angmar?
• • How do the hobbits respond?
  • Athelas and its effects.

THE CHASE:

• Some Black Riders from behind
• Frodo hesitates - Glorfindel commands his horse to RUN!
• • Noro lim Asfaloth, noro lim!
• Some Black Riders ahead
• Frodo gets ahead and across the ford by the skin of his teeth
• The standoff
• The "cavalry of waves"
• • What does it mean?
  • Valar?
  • Intervention?

THE END OF THE FIRST BOOK:

• Our first cliffhanger…
• • How does this compare and contrast with the literature you're used to reading?
  • How does it to the rest of the book we've read so far?
  • Another Tolkienism...

Notable Difference(s) from Films:

• Arwen instead of Glorfindel
• Hard to determine how much time is passed even though they say it's two weeks in the movie

Locations/Distance Traveled/Distance apart:

• Wilderness of what once was Arnor
• The Hoarwell
• Trollshaws
• The Bruinen (Loudwater) - the Ford

New Characters:

• Glorfindel

What to Watch for in the Next Chapter:

• We end on a cliffhanger! Does Frodo survive?

Links

Saruman Trolololo

greendragonlive.com

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Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks debate nerdy names for Nicholas' yet-to-be-born son. And the escape from Bree, march through Midgewater Marshes, and the back roads to Weathertop, and the attack on the company.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

What Happened Last Time?:

Our Hobbits find themselves in the company of "Strider", one of the rangers from the North. He knows more than he lets on initially and when tension is high none other than Butterbur comes bursting in finally delivering a letter for Frodo from GANDALF that he meant to deliver months ago. Gandalf lobbies for Striders inclusion in the company, calling him by his true name "Aragorn" and the Hobbits agree to trust him. Merry finally returns from his walk after being fetched by Nobb and tells us that the Black Riders are in Bree! Strider helps them set decoys in their proper room and our hobbits drift off as night settles in and danger is closing!

Where Are We in the Narrative?:

Frodo and his companions have come all the way to Bree without the help of anyone, except Farmer Maggot and Tom Bombadil - now out of the Shire and in entirely new lands for any living Shire Hobbit save Bilbo the companions have taken on a new guide - Strider. With a little faith and a letter from Gandalf, and the almost certainty that they have no other choice their new companion plans to get them lost as soon as possible on road toward Weathertop and then toward Rivendell.

The Story in this Chapter:

• Crickhollow attacked - 3 Black Riders
• • AWAKE ! FEAR! FIRE! FOES! AWAKE!
  • Last time the Horn of Buckland was sounded was 100 years ago, the white wolves came in the Fell Winter, when the Brandywine was frozen over
• Prancing Pony infiltrated
• • The stable emptied
  • The southerner with no friends
• Buying a pony from Bill
• • The goodness of Butterbur
• Sam hits Bill in the face with an apple… and it was a waste of an apple
• The Archet Feint / getting lost in a good way
• • "Short cuts, long cuts"
• Midgewater Marshes (3rd day-5th day)
• • Neekerbreekers!
• Lightning from the ground to the east (four nights out)
• The moon!
• Six days in the wilderness to get to Weathertop
• History of Weathertop
• • Amon Sul
  • No barrows… the men of the west didn't "live" here, but they defended it against Angmar.
  • It's said that Elendil stood there watching Gil-Galad approach from the west in the days of the Last Alliance Gil Galad
  • "Starlight"
• Fortnight to Rivendell
• • How long is a fortnight? (2 weeks
• We get a bunch of the nature and limitations/ strengths of the Nazgul
• The story of Tinuviel
• • Edith and John Tolkien's epitaphs "Beren" / "Luthien"
  • We're told a wonderful story here, but the best telling is in the Silmarillion
• Strider's tale ends and the hobbits get up to stretch. They notice the moon rising above the hill and BOOOOM
• Weathertop is attacked - 5 Black Riders
• Un-hiding with the Ring
• The crowned wraith
• • Approaches with a sword in one hand and a knife in the other.
  • • This hand and blade are glowing when he approaches Frodo
• Fire and ice the two blades
• • Frodo's blade from the barrows - forged by the men of Westernesse to fight Angmar
  • The Crowned Wraith's blade pierces with what feels like poisonous ice
• Invoking the name of Elbereth! Akin to "OH MY GOD!"

Notable Difference(s) from Films:

• Top of the hill - in the ruins vs in the dell

Locations/Distance Traveled/Distance apart:

• We leave Bree! Archet, Midgewater Marsh, Amon Sul (Weathertop)

New Characters:

• the Pony!

Info/History from Other Titles/Sources:

1. Fell Winter - Tolkien Companion

What to Watch for in the Next Chapter:

• Frodo was stabbed…. What does this mean in the long-run?

Links

greendragonlive.com

Twitter

Facebook

Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks discuss whether Nicholas is in love with Aragorn and whether Frodo can trust Strider, the long-expected physical description of our main character, the danger outside, and a letter that is only 3 months late.

From the A Way With Words podcast episode entitled Pig Latin - 29 January 2017 -- "Why do so many people begin their sentences with the word So? In linguistics, this is called sentence-initial so. The word So at the start a sentence can serve a variety of functions."

Maps

Map of Middle-earth

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

What Happened Last Time?:

Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry take their leave of Tom Bombadil at the road outside of Bree, after a short walk they arrive at the gate at night and are greeted none-too-kindly by Harry the gatekeeper who is astonished that 4 Shire-hobbits have arrived after dark. Finding the Prancing Pony, and having a pleasant dinner Merry stays behind and/or goes for a walk in the town while Frodo, Sam, and Pippin visit the common room. They are greeted warmly by the locals, and find their stories welcome, though bordering on too much info. Frodo - trying to divert attention away from too many questions - accidentally makes their position much worse and raises more questions about themselves than ever.

Where Are We in the Narrative?:

Frodo and co. have finally made it to Bree after setting out from the Shire (small delays in the Old Forest and the Barrow Downs aside.) Gandalf is still MIA and word is spreading that he is unaccounted for. A mysterious Ranger knows perhaps more than we'd like of Frodo Baggins of the Shire, and Rivendell seems a lofty distance away………………*OMINOUS*

The Story in this Chapter: (We didn't keep to our notes in the same way as other episodes)

• Words we use differently - faggot
• Strider - serious, friendly?, scared, knowledgeable, full of warnings, rascally look, quick ears, hunter, can avoid being seen, laughs, smiles, older than he looks, knows the lands from the Shire to the Misty Mountains (more?)
• • Reminds me of the CONSTANT VIGILANCE of Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody
• Overheard the hobbits on the road out of the downlands
• • Has been looking for Frodo
  • Hopped the gate
• Things he says that show he knows things and/or is a friend
• • Knows Tom Bombadil
  • He knows what chases them, and their number (not given)
  • He knows Frodo's first name, not just Baggins
  • "The secret"
  • • Later mentions the Ring, no one mentions it before.
  • He speaks the verse
  • Shows the broken blade
  • Mentions that he learned of Frodo's leaving the Shire from Gildor Inglorion
• Bill Ferny
• • Swarthy sneering fellow
  • • Swarthy means dark skinned (additional sources #1)
  • Would sell anything to anybody and make mischief for amusement
  • Friendly with a Southern stranger
• Strider's face and body language when speaking of the black riders
• • He is really afraid of them, which should scare the hobbits even more
  • "You fear them, but you do not fear them enough"
• Sam - voice of reason? Caution
• • Stereotype of a vagabond
• Frodo's leadership
• • "Caution is one thing, and wavering is another"
  • Assumes that the riders have missed him.
• Before the night is over the Black Riders will have heard of Frodo
• Butterbur Arrives
• • Apologies aplenty - though weak
  • First descriptions of Frodo's physicality (it's only chapter 10)
  • • Stout, red cheeks, taller than some, fairer than most, cleft chin, perky with a bright eye.
• Frodo Baggins - Number 1 Bagshot Row - Bag End - Hobbiton in the Shire
• • Mid Year's Day - Summer Solstice
  • • We would think of this as the first day of Summer
    • EncArda - Mid-year's Day - The day that marked the middle of the year
    • • Also called Loëndë, the day that fell in the middle of the year was an important feature in many of the calendars of Middle-earth. On a modern calendar, Mid-year's Day would be 22 June.
      • (Additional Sources #2)
  • If Gandalf is not with him - he may be in trouble
  • • Trouble is not far off - the black riders
    • Dogs yammering - geese screaming
    • Butterbur slammed the door on them
    • • They're getting a lot of rejection
• Blocking Strider
• • Would never leave Bree
  • • The idea makes him scared
• MORDOR - The Shadow in the East
• • Butterbur even more scared
  • The worst news in Bree
• Story of Bilbo known in Bree - people putting it all together
• Merry is still missing
• The Letter - Post Scripts
• • Gandalf was in haste and had to add three addendums to make sure he told all
  • • 1 - don't use it again - an assumption?
    • 2 - The real Strider - thanks for the poem…
    • • Aragorn
      • Broken sword
    • 3 - Poor, poor, Butterbur
• Gandalf in great danger
• • Not just a firework maker
• Trust Strider?
• • Trust without proofs
  • "The enemy has set traps for me before now"
  • Wants friendship
  • Pippin - Handsome is as handsome does
  • • "You would die first unless you are made of sterner stuff than you look to be"
  • Sam - Play-acting spy
  • • "If I was after the ring" ← first-time "ring" is used this chapter
  • "If by my life or death I can save you, I will"
  • Enemy would "Seem fairer and feel fouler"
• The verse
• Out of Bree
• • Get lost
  • Go to Weathertop
• Strider and Gandalf
• • Came back to the area in the Spring
  • Sarn Ford down the Brandywine - 1st of May
  • • Strider learned the original plan
  • Strider is troubled about Gandalf's absence
• Word came to Strider from elven folk of Gildor had spread the word that Gandalf was missing and that the Riders were about.
• • Also, that Frodo has left Hobbiton - but no news about leaving Buckland (success!)
• What can hold Gandalf back? - THE enemy?
• • "This business of ours will be his greatest task
• Merry finally comes in, out of breath, he just saw the black riders!
• • Strider asks for more details, Merry is hesitant (first time he's met him!)
  • Aragorn tells him he has a stout heart (dare I say surprised at him? Are they already proving more hardy than they look?), but Merry was "drawn somehow" after the Rider.
  • 2 Figures - one Muttering the other whispering or hissing.
  • Something knocked him over, made him feel like he had fallen into deep water. Nobb found him with two men stooped over him… he called over to them and they fled.
  • • Nobb shouting is also possibly a brave thing - though he lives in a place where Man-kind and Hobbit-kind are equals - maybe not so brave as typical for him.
  • Strider calls it "the black breath" and declares that the southerner is a spy, and Bill Ferny too!
  • Reassures that the Riders will not openly attack a home….. Yet.
  • Stay here… and do not go to your rooms… we'll stay together and bar the door.
• Frodo catches Merry up on everything he has missed while Strider and Nobb grab their luggage.
• • Nobb is proud of creating decoys of the hobbits in their rooms.
  • Pippin (at Frodo's expense) - "Very lifelike"
  • Uncommon word for Nicholas when he first read this story - "Bolster" A long thick pillow placed under other pillows to add support or bolster them.
• They block the door with a chair, Frodo draws the curtains and Strider lights a fire and sits in the chair against the door.
• "Jumped over the moon… very ridiculous of you Frodo," comments Merry.
• Strider - "I hope so."
• SLEEP!

Other comments or observations:

• What is the timing of the events alluded to in the chapter?
• • Gandalf met Strider - May 1
  • Gandalf wrote the letter (Mid-Year - June 22)- where was Frodo?
  • How many weeks has Frodo and company lost?
  • • For that matter - how long has Gandalf been missing?

Notable Difference(s) from Films:

• Much shorter sequence, Nobb is not involved, nor are any southerners or spies.
• No letter from Gandalf.
• We are not told Strider's true name this soon in the films.

Locations/Distance Traveled/Distance apart:

• Still in Bree/ The Prancing Pony

New Characters:

• Bill Ferny - The swarthy, sneering, Breelander

Info/History from Other Titles/Sources:

1. https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/swarthy - Swarthy means dark skinned. If you like tall, dark and handsome men, you find a swarthy complexion attractive. Not everyone with dark skin is swarthy. The word is usually used to describe someone whose skin is weather beaten and darkened by the sun, or has an olive complexion.
2. http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/m/midyearsday.html

What to Watch for in the Next Chapter:

• Back on the road with a new guide - trying to get lost in the wilderness - hoping Strider is a good guy (he is).

Links

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Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks discuss going to the bar alone; being a stranger in a new land; Bree, the Bree-folk, and their sayings; the types people that travel through Bree and the Prancing Pony, and more!

Maps

Map of Middle-earth

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode:

What Happened Last Time?

The hobbits get a restful night's sleep and leave the HOTB early in the morning making way through the Barrow Downs and up back to the main road to continue on to the village of Bree. BUT ITS NOT THAT EASY. After an unplanned inside-of-the-eyelids study leaning up against a standing stone session Frodo wakes up, it's dark out and FOG IS EVERYWHERE!!! He tried to find the hobbits, gets caught by a wight, wakes up in a barrow, spots the others looking rightly terrible and, losing all hope, calls for Tom to come help using that little song. Tom saves the day by gets them out of their predicament and walks them back up to the main road.

Where Are We in the Narrative?

Our heroes are finally arriving at what we can likely call our first major checkpoint of the adventure, Bree. After shortcuts through forests and fields, disastrous dealing with menacing trees, and barrow wights, and the luck of finding a friend in Farmer Maggot and Tom Bombadil to aid them on their road: Leaving the Shire has not been as easy as they, nor Gandalf would have predicted, and going back into civilization is both a relief and a threat. Many eyes and ears prying, who knows who is friend, and who is foe?

The Story in this Chapter:

• The Breeland
• Rangers
• The Big Folk and the Little Folk
• • The Bree Folk
  • "Outsiders" to the Shire Folk
  • • Many outsiders?
• Dyke and Gate and the two main roads
• • "Strange as news from Bree"
• The Northern Lands are desolate - What was up there? What is there now? ANGMAR! The old capital of Arnor, Annuminas, was northwest as well, on the shores of Lake Evendim.
• Gatekeeper (Harry)
• • Suspicious of the Hobbits, and suspicious to the Hobbits
• Dark Figure over the gate
• • Strider?
  • Black Rider?
  • Gollum?
• Sam quails at the size of men
• Prancing Pony First Impressions
• Barliman Butterbur - thoughts?
• • short for a man - he's a bit taller than hobbits and a bit shorter than most men
  • Seems to be a master of his trade. Can talk, knows when to be quiet and unassuming, friendly and inviting
  • His talk "doesn't have no point" - he catches the Hobbits up on the basic particulars of what is happening in the inn tonight.
• Bree Sayings
• • Strange as news from Bree (East Farthing)
  • It never rains, but it pours
  • There's no accounting for East and West (the Rangers and Shire Folk) - The Bree version of "Strange as news from Bree"
• Frodo, Sam, Pippin to the common room
• Merry to hang back and maybe go for a walk outside
• Bree Hobbits and names
• Frodo using geography and history which are not used in Bree much, difference in language, or maybe difference in class/education
• • Mr. Brandybuck, Mr. Took, Sam Gamgee, Mr. Underhill
• The Southerner
• • Solo?
  • Part of the company come up the Greenway?
• Strider
• • Note the way he is described - physically
  • Tolkien gives as little as possible to describe
• Even stranger travelers in Bree
• Frodo's foolish action
• • The Ring - A call from outside?
  • A jump over the moon - a slip - and the Ring's opportunity to reveal itself
• A song!
• • Tolkien's purpose in writing the types of things he did, was to give England a kind of mythology, of which it was robbed by the arrival of invaders who brought their own.
  • In a little way, this is the same thing - giving us a long version of Hey Diddle Diddle
• Is Frodo a traveling magician?!
• Swarthy Breelander (Bill Ferny), Squint-eyed Southerner, and Harry the gatekeeper leave together
• • Harry and Bill both gatekeepers? (totally speculation)
• Trying to describe the scene to Barliman
• Strider uses Frodo's proper surname and says that he put his foot in it or rather his finger
• Clearing the house
• Private meetings

Other comments or observations:

• Who climbs over the wall?

Notable Difference(s) from Films:

We are back in line with the films! Sort of. The feel of Bree is remarkably different, especially TPP.

Locations/Distance Traveled/Distance apart:

• East of the HoTB - up into the Barrow-downs, then northward toward the main road leading into the village of Bree.

New Characters:

• Everyone our hobbits encounter!
• Barliman
• Strider
• Harry at the Gate/Southerner/Breelander

What to Watch for in the Next Chapter:

• We learn more about Strider and our journey really begins.

Links:

greendragonlive.com

Twitter

Facebook

Sad Mario Theme by YAOG

Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks discuss the consequences of sleeping, mid-day naps, getting lost in the fog, being ambushed by wights, running naked in the sun, singing about "old Fatty Lumpkin", and the history of Angmar and the small Kingdoms of former Arnor.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Map of the Small Kingdoms of former Arnor

Notes for this episode

What Happened Last Time?:

The Hobbits have found possibly the strangest thing in Middle-earth in the form of Tom Bombadil. "Master", "eldest", "he is as you see him" are just some of the terms used to describe the who and what of good ol' Tom. Through song and tale he weaves his knowledge and divulges the hearts and goings on of the trees and other fantastic beasts in the Old Forest, and he even knows a thing or two about the Ring, though it curiously doesn't seem to affect him very much, if at all. Now the Hobbits, are laid to rest before venturing forth from the house of Tom Bombadil back toward the road, and then toward Rivendell.

The Story in this Chapter:

• Waking
• Leave taking
• Goldberry is calling after them!
• A view of the road - but not really
• An unexpected nap
• Fog on the Barrow-downs
• "Follow me!"... "Where are you guys?"
• Atop the Barrow
• Within the Barrow
• Garbed in white, with circlets, and rings
• A sword lay across their necks
• A SEVERED ARM crawls toward them like a macabre spider
• Calling out to Tom Bombadil Frodo finds his voice again.
• Running in the sun to shake off the darkness
• Fatty Lumpkin - Tom's pony!
• On the road to Bree.

Other comments or observations:

• Angmar! Carn Dum! Nick Andrew LOVES THESE PLACES!!
• Referenced in the Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies as the reason Bolg travels north and Tauriel and Legolas follow him -- the threat of a resurrected Angmar is too much to ignore!
• LotRO Players who completed the first major story arc of the game's narrative got to know Angmar extremely well. Most of you even got to play through a raid into Carn Dum itself.
• Speaking of Carn Dum, it's an oddity in the world of Middle-earth as we don't exactly know what that name means… we can assume it is a compound of Elvish and Dwarvish, in which case it means "the Red Halls." Creepy, eh?
• Angmar was founded in midway point through the third age of ME with a singular purpose… DESTROY any and all remnant of the North that brought about Sauron's demise at the War of the Last Alliance.
• Witch-king!!!!!!

Notable Difference(s) from Films:

We get a small shot of the fog-laden Barrow-downs as one of the Nazgul looks over it atop his horse.

Locations/Distance Traveled/Distance apart:

• East of the HoTB - up into the Barrow-downs, then northward toward the main road leading into the village of Bree.

New Characters:

• The barrow wight

Info/History from Other Titles/Sources:

• Lots of information about Carn Dum and Angmar in Tolkien's various other published works. I highly encourage you to check them out -- even if you just google it.

What to Watch for in the Next Chapter:

• BREE!

Links

greendragonlive.com

Twitter

Facebook

Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

In this episode the Nicks discuss what it's like to be the house guest of the biggest enigma in literary history - as Nick likes to say. Nicholas asks about potentially bad habits of being a house guest, and together they try to uncover some clues about Tom Bombadil and his wife Goldberry - the River Woman's Daughter.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

Last Time - In the Lord of The Rings:Frodo, Pippin, Merry, and Sam have reached a safe haven…. Or have they?! After a dizzying experience in the Old Forest and a harrowing brush with death at the roots of Old Man Willow our hobbits are invited to the home of a strange man who seems to have saved them from danger with mere song. Who is this "Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo", and was it mere chance that he happened on them just in the nick of time?

The Story in this Chapter:

• They are greeted by Goldberry, Frodo is stirred into a sudden outburst of song.
• The hobbits can't help but SING when they are in the HoTB
• Song is everywhere in the HoTB! Everywhere.
• They bathe and are treated to an amazing dinner where they all drink sing together.
• Dreams - each of the hobbits has a dream (Except Sam).
• Frodo clearly dreams of a tower that we may or may not have talked about in the prologue series… and an old man with white hair wielding a staff.
• The hobbits are all comforted back into sleep by the words spoken earlier by Tom and/or Goldberry.
• Tom tells stories by speaking and singing -- as he tells them the hobbits lose themselves in his words.
• They learn all about Old Man Willow. They also keep losing him and then catching up with his song/tale.
• Tom tells them he came before. He is "Eldest". What could this mean?

Notable Difference(s) from Films:

"Gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning." is a line given by Treebeard in the films when he describes creatures that come into the woods. This line here is spoken by Tom when he is telling the Hobbits about the ways of trees.

New Characters:

• Tom Bombadil
• Goldberry

What to Watch for in the Next Chapter:

The Barrows!

Links

greendragonlive.com

Twitter

Facebook

Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks discuss walking in the woods and being scared in real life. The Hobbits come in close contact with the menace of the trees, Old Man Willow, and a stranger called Tom Bombadil. What Happened Last Time?:

Frodo, Pippin, Merry, Sam, and Fatty Bolger have finally met up in Frodo's new house at Crickhollow. After a bath, and some supper, the friends talk about what has happened on their journey through the Shire. Frodo, though reluctant, is finally put on the point of telling his friends that he is leaving the Shire altogether, but, as it turns out, he doesn't have to because they already know a good deal of the story themselves. With Sam gathering information the friends have helped Frodo by conspiring to help him on his journey toward Rivendell. With final preparations in order, a quick night's sleep is all that separates these Hobbits from their adventure into the Old Forest and beyond.

Where Are We in the Narrative?:

Frodo has finally made it to his home at Crickhollow in his attempt to disguise his departure from the Shire, his mission to take the Ring to Rivendell is about to start. His friends have conspired to help him, which is very welcome to Frodo especially as Gandalf is still conspicuously missing! Though none of them fully understand the dangerous road they are embarking on... they at least have each other.

The Story in this Chapter:

• Waking up at 4:30 AM is hard to do

• • On the road by 6:00 AM
• Through the Hedge
• • When trees attack
• The menace of the trees
• • With ears to hear
• The Clearing - "Bonfire Glade"
• • Still empty of trees - a safe place?
  • The trees really can move, and the trail on the other side.
  • Can they erase trails or just move them around?
  • • Do created things count differently? Capital 'P' Places
• The bald hill
• • Speaking the plan out loud
• All roads lead to Withywindle
• • Down and to the right until you get to the river
  • The Barrow's effect in the River, and on the forest?
• The Lullaby of Papa Willow
• • Words in the wind
  • Suspicious Sam
• The Revenge of Old Man Willow -or "Get off my roots!"
• • Sam saves the ponies
  • And Frodo
  • OTHER SOURCES: See #1
• Deep rooted laughter -or- Feeling the heat
• • "He'll squeeze me in two"
• The voice of Tom Bombadil
• • Stops Frodo and Sam in their tracks "...they stopped short as if they had been struck stiff."
  • Much more to come next time
• An invitation to supper, a lawn, and a brick-lined path.

Other comments or observations:

• A kid teaches us how to make a grass whistle
• LoTRO Tom Bombadil theme

Notable Difference(s) from Films:

All of this forest is missing from the movie, the only parts that survive in the extended cuts are lines given to Treebeard and a tree that attacks Merry and Pippin in the same way Old Man Willow does.

Locations/Distance Traveled/Distance apart:

• The Old Forest
• The River Withywindle
• The House of Tom Bombadil

New Characters:

• Old Man Willow
• Tom Bombadil
• Goldberry

Info/History from Other Titles/Sources:

1. The Complete Tolkien Companion 3rd Edition - Entry: "Old Man Willow"
2. More next time from the Letters

What to Watch for in the Next Chapter:

Possibly the strangest creature in all of Middle-earth has just invited the hobbits to his home - what effect will he have on the hobbits, the journey, the Ring?

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In this episode, The Nicks rip apart Buzzfeed's attempt at knowing things about LoTR, discuss Chapter 9 - A Conspiracy Unmasked, and decide if they would rather be in Frodo's shoes or Fatty's.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Notes for this episode

This is the quiz we worked from for the beginning of the episode, though we don't highly recommend it. There are spoilers, mistakes, and a lot of partial answers.

What Happened Last Time?

Frodo, Pippin, and Sam took a shortcut through the forest and across the field from Woodhall toward the ferry. Though it was harder than the road and took them off course, it seems to have been a good idea because they missed the black riders the whole day, and the end up on Farmer Maggot's farm. While there Farmer Maggot feeds them and offers to take them by cart to the ferry, where they happen to meet their friend - Merry.

Where Are We in the Narrative?:

Frodo, Sam, and Pippin are on the border of the Shire, in Buckland, where Crickhollow resides. Danger has come upon them sooner than anyone, including Gandalf, could have imagined. Frodo must leave for Rivendell immediately, in spite of Gandalf's continued absence. But, Frodo is miserable because he doesn't know how to tell his friends that he is leaving.

The Story in this Chapter:

• Over the ferry
• Buckland (Bucklebury is almost a suburb of Buckland… it's its own small country!)
• Crickhollow
• • Very hobbit-hole like, despite being a house. Creature comforts -even arranged similarly to Bag End
• Conspirators revealed DUN DUN DUNNNNN!!!!!
• Making plans
• • Preparations already made - because Merry is a boss.
  • Fatty stays behind - who has the more dangerous role?
• Resting up for the first leg of the journey through the Old Wood and Eastward to Rivendell
• Frodo has a weird dream -- on a tower, near the seeaaaaaa [turtles]

Notable Difference(s) from Films:

• All of this is missing from the movie

Locations/Distance Traveled/Distance apart:

• Bucklebury Ferry
• Buck Hill & Brandy Hall
• Bucklebury
• Crickhollow
• Probably a total of around 5 miles

New Characters (but not really):

• Fredegar Fatty Bolger

What to Watch for in the Next Chapter:

The Journey out of the Shire begins with the next chapter as Frodo and company enter into the potentially dangerous Old Forest on the borders of Buckland.

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Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.

The Nicks discuss Chapter Four of Fellowship - Getting caught in the bogs and thickets, Black Riders, Bamfurlong, Farmer Maggot's dogs, whether Frodo's story mirrors Bilbo's, narrow misses, social status, and traveling in the fog without lanterns.

Nicholas Jon sounds like he's hiding from the black riders in a tin can, and tries a looser editing style. Nick Andrew lives in the loudest place possible and tries to imagine Sam's fangirling over the Elves with a real-world example... from his own experience? We'll never know.

Maps

Map of Middle-earth

LoTRproject.com interactive map - Caution: spoilers for new readers!

Last time in The Lord of The Rings

Frodo inherited the Ring from Bilbo and learned that it is the One Ring and must be destroyed. He sells his house and takes his friends on an adventure through the Shire only to be dogged by a black rider. Some elves take them in for the night and give them the advice to not wait for Gandalf.

Where are we in the narrative?

Frodo, Sam, and Pippin are still in the Shire making their way to Buckleberry Ferry and then on to Crickhollow, Frodo's new house. The Elves showed concern for Frodo especially when they heard that the travelers have seen a black rider and Gandalf hasn't come as promised. Unwillingly the Elves give the advice to move ahead with their plan and not to wait for Gandalf.

Notes for this episode

The Story in this Chapter:

• A chance to get to know Hobbits better
• Thinking at breakfast? Hobbits are supposed to EAT!! Food is their THING.
• Frodo speaking aloud - sign of the Ring?
• The change coming over Sam
• Oracle-esque? Something in his heart/gut tells him that he "has to see it through."
• Shortcuts
• • Golden Perch, Ivy Bush, Green Dragon (Most of the buildings mentioned in the Shire are Inns)
  • If you look at the map - the road (trail?) to Woodhall dead-ends. Was Frodo planning to go over the country from the beginning?
• Pippin - and Hobbit jesting/poking/digging "First check."
• Sam saves the company - "You've got sharp ears, Sam"
• • Is this a recognition of having spotted the rider
  • Or a request to listen and keep an ear out?
• Golden Drink (possibly Miruvor as we later learn) - alcohol? stimulant? some other nourishing thing? REDBULL!
• The first Nazgul cry - "There are words in the cry," and that was no hobbit voice.
• The ease at which the Hobbits forget their fear when the Shire does its thing.
• Bamfurlong is a great bit of LoTR trivia - good to have in your back pocket to show your knowledge - also useful as a substitute curse word when around children.
• Farmer Maggot
• How near the miss - Nazgul / Frodo at Farmer Maggot's
• Sam's suspicious nature
• Dogs response to the Nazgul (movie-book)
• Maggot tells off a Nazgul - "Back where you belong" - funny because he doesn't really know what that might mean
• 14 to dinner - some mirroring to Bilbo? Bilbo had 15 - symbolically could show the incompleteness of the party (Gandalf? Merry? The rest?)
• Sam's position showing? - "You & Pippin and all" - "You & Merry (Maggot's closer friend) and all"
• Sundown - and they only got to the farm from Woodhall
• • 5+ more miles to the ferry
• Frodo is anxious - Pippin is drowsy - Sam is watchful "I want Mr. Baggins, have you seen him?" - not as effective in the audio book - frighteningly ambiguous in writing.

Other comments or observations:

• Book pacing
• • Natural divide between character based narrative and descriptive narrative?
  • Fast = action and character?
  • Or Fast = a lack of world description?
  • Slow = A lot of everything? - For Tolkien the physical world is hugely important - character-like - but the characters are not described in much detail.
  • • We can see the world, and the people in it, but we can't see their faces except as we imagine them to be.
• Some books with different pacing
• • Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan - slow (though starts okay)
  • Belgariad - David Eddings - Quick pace - every chapter moves the story ahead
  • Angels and Demons - Dan Brown - Very fast pace (movie like cuts)
  • Lord of the Rings - Slower very descriptive - minimal character description - not a lot of politic-ing

Notable Difference(s) from Films: All of this is missing from the movie

Locations/Distance Traveled/Distance apart: The actual distance traveled is probably 20 miles maximum including 5+ by cart.

New Characters: Farmer Maggot and his family/household

Info/History from Other Titles/Sources: Letter 206 - Funny incident where Tolkien went to a Hobbit Dinner and spoke, and on the menu was "Maggot Soup" which was, of course, mushroom soup named for Farmer Maggot.

What to Watch for in the Next Chapter: Next chapter Frodo and all finally make it to Crickhollow - but Frodo needs to leave right away. He will have to tell his friends that he is going, but he doesn't know how to break it to them.

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Special thanks to our friend Harry Murrell for the use of his music. Listen to more and subscribe to his channel here.