April 2, 2004

Re: Hobbit Interpetations
Danny

The Ring did have some small effects on Bilbo in my mind. Recall that he later felt it silly to tell a different story to his finding the Ring. It didn't take a tremendous hold on him at first, but it did start to change his behaviors a bit. I don't think the Ring should receive as much attention in the Hobbit as it did in the LOTR films, but it should receive some. One thing I don't recall is if Tolkien ever refers to Bilbo seeing the world differently when he wears the ring as he does when Frodo wears it. If I recall, there wasn't any indication in the Hobbit that wearing the ring made the world look different. That will have to be different in order to be consistent with the LOTR movies. However, I agree that having any hints of the eye of Sauron when he touches or wears the ring would be well out of place.

I personally would like to see something thatdoes have some of the tie ins with LOTR, but not every one mentioned. A bit on Gandalf's decision to help them defeat Smaug would be awesome. I didn't know about the Lost Tails info about Gandalf deciding to do this as a part of his larger quest to defeat Sauron. It would also be good to have the parts that mention the Necromancer included though more detail may not be neccesary.

One thing that I think would be good actually would be to show Rivendel in peace with very happy elves. It would show a sharp contrast to what the elves were feeling once they knew their time in Middle Earth was coming to an end, and when they felt the threat of Sauron looming over them like a gillotene. All you would need is one additional line by Gandalf saying something about how a threat to their peace is growing in Mirkwood or something like that. I think this would be very effective. It would portray the elves as the happy, wise people who loved life, and it would make the effects of Sauron's return and increase in power more effective when viewed with LOTR in mind.

One last comment on a different note. I hope the recent discussions about Frodo didn't bother some as much as it seems they did. The discussion never was about 'he is a hero, he isn't, he is.' Nor was the discussion debating wether Frodo was the only hero or not. We all agree and understand that the quest to destroy the ring involved many many heroes. The post on bravery being measured more by personal circumstances was fabulous and I agree with it entirely. The point I was trying to make was simply that Frodo's sacrifice is often overlooked by the way the quest ends, and that the way the quest ends does not diminish in any way what Frodo did. Every character in the fellowship is a hero, even Boromir on many occasions. Every character deserves praise and honor for what they did. Every character tends to receive recognition. I just noticed that many tend to discredit Frodo and almost relegate him to a lower level of praise than others (Sam or Gandalf.) So I posted to develop why Frodo deserved to be viewed with special honor for making the ultimate sacrifice, not despairaged because the Ring overpowered him like it would have done to any other.