Holts Reads The Fellowship Of The Ring

[Aili Raja]

And chapter one then

One curious thing is how hobbits talk about age. Bilbo's age is most often mentioned as "eleventy-one" instead of "one hundred and eleven" - do you have any theories about this (just for fun)?

Since English is not my mother-tongue I never thought that it was strange at all. You usually don't hear of such high ages in every day speech and I assumed it just was the way it was said. Like years in English instead of "one thousand nine hundered and ninety nine" it is "nineteen ninety nine" although the years after two thousand for example "twenty eleven" I find extremely strange to say

What do you think about the system that the person having birthday gives presents to the guests, instead of the other way around?

I'm pretty used to the way it is now but I like the idea of having to think about other peoples birthday presents only once a year but getting them every once in a while

On the day after the party, some hobbits were given things along with messages from Bilbo. Maybe not everyone was happy about their gifts (those first few mentioned) - I'm thinking of how they would be interpreted... Still, they are pretty good things. Which gift would you have liked the most to get?

The book-case as mine is already totally full

This is for those of you who have also watched the movie: What is your opinion on the joke/trick by Bilbo at the end of his party? Do you prefer the book version or the movie version, and why?

Hmm don't really remember the movie version I guess it is time to watch again.

What was your favourite part of this chapter?

I liked Bilbo´s speech and the poem when he was leaving

What did you think about the chapter in general?

I liked that it was still peaceful and dealing with local everyday life - the outside world had not barged in yet. And as Tarma said a very good introduction to hobbit characteristics

[Prof. Rachel Selenia]

I am so sorry for being late with this! RL caught me, literally, but now I'm slowly catching up with RL...

We are reading Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 now!

And here are some discussion topics about Chapter 2.


Which part of the chapter did you like the most?

We got to read a lot about Gollum and the Ring. What do you think about getting so much background information at once - is it interesting or just boring/tiresome?

In this chapter, we meet Frodo, Sam and Gandalf properly for the first time. What is your impression of them?
If you have seen the movie, did you get some other impression of them the first time you watched it, compared to when you read about them?

Do you have a favourite piece of dialogue from this chapter?

Is there anything else about Chapter 2 that you want to discuss or mention?


Remember that you will get Silmarils for each post you write! Feel free to write more than one post on each chapter, in case you want to respond to someone else's post as well.

As always, feel free to jump in at any time, you are welcome to post answers to previous chapter discussions as well as the most recent one, doesn't matter.

[Aili Raja]

Which part of the chapter did you like the most?

Well this is easy - of course the part when Sam was caught eavesdropping (There ain't no eaves at Bag End, and thats a fact. )

We got to read a lot about Gollum and the Ring. What do you think about getting so much background information at once - is it interesting or just boring/tiresome?

I think that the information is very nessesary because without it we could not underestand the things that follow and well the things that follow would probably have also been different. I think that Frodos reactions to the story keep it from getting boring, it feels more like two people talking rather than one telling a long story to the other.

In this chapter, we meet Frodo, Sam and Gandalf properly for the first time. What is your impression of them?
If you have seen the movie, did you get some other impression of them the first time you watched it, compared to when you read about them?

Frodo is shown to be an untypical hobbit - talking to strange folk, celebrating Bilbos birthday, wanting to go wandering it all differes from what we have learnt how a typical hobbit is.
Sam seems somehow naive (with his belief in dragons, tree people, and wanting to see elves and the fear of being turned into a toad). We do know that dragons and tree people do exist and so on but the surroundings and the way others interact with him makes him seem naive or even child like.
Gandalf gives the impression of a very wise old man but now and again there is a hint of something darker/deeper in him, but we don't really get to know how dark/deep because he awoids the questions that are directly about him.

And since I still haven't had time to rewatch the movie then I'll skip this part for the moment.

Do you have a favourite piece of dialogue from this chapter?

There are several places that I like:

"There's only one Dragon in Bywater, and that's Green,..."

"Eavesdropping, sir? I don't follow you, begging your pardon. There ain't no eaves at Bag End, and thats a fact."

"Me, sir!" cried Sam, springing up like a dog invited for a walk. "Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!" he shouted, and then burst into tears.

Is there anything else about Chapter 2 that you want to discuss or mention?

I think that this is one of the most important chapters in this book as it gives the backround to the story and also the "colour" of the story to come.

[Prof. Rachel Selenia]

Here are some discussion topics for Chapter 3! Feel free to discuss the previous chapters as well - I will do that shortly too!


Which part of the chapter do you like the most?

Both Bilbo and Frodo start their first adventure when they are 50 years old. Do you think there is a special reason why Tolkien chose that age for them, or do you think it's just a coincidence?

Here we meet the Elves for the first time! They're singing and laughing and teasing the Hobbits - what is your opinion of these Elves?

Do you have a favourite piece of dialogue from this chapter?

Is there anything else about Chapter 3 that you want to discuss or comment?

[Prof. Rachel Selenia]

I've fallen behind, and a lot at that. I'm terribly sorry about it! Because of that, I will post discussion questions rather close after each other, to catch up. Feel free to answer them at your own pace. Each post will earn you Silmarils, so I would recommend answering one set of questions in separate posts. (As long as you don't post them too close after each other - 1 day after each other is okay, in case no one replies in between. If there is, then that amount of time between posts isn't needed.)

That being said, we are now reading chapter 7.

And here are the questions for chapter 4!


Oooh, the Black Riders! Scary! At least that's what the hobbits think. What do you say? Are the Black Riders as scary as we are meant to think they are?

There's a new character - Farmer Maggot! What do you think about him? And a follow-up question, for those of you who have seen the movie: I suspect you got a totally other opinion of him when you did. Discuss the differences between the Farmer Maggot of the book and the Farmer Maggot of the movie!

What was your favourite part of this chapter?

Do you have a favourite piece of dialogue from this chapter?

Is there anything else about Chapter 4 that you'd like to mention or discuss?

[Prof. Rachel Selenia]

Here are some questions for Chapter 5! Come on now folks, haven't you read these past few chapters yet? We need some answers heeere!


Now there's finally quite a lot of Merry and Pippin! Yeah, they're two of my favourite characters. What is your opinion of them so far? Do they seem like trouble-makers (as they are pictured in the movies)? Or do you think they seem more decent and orderly?

I'm curious about the songs/poems and your reactions to them. Do you actually read them - or do you skip them? Do you imagine some kind of melody - did you make it up yourself or have you heard an actual melody to these songs? (I'm thinking of the Tolkien Ensemble here...)

Do you have a favourite Hobbit yet? Which Hobbit is the most uninteresting so far?

What was your favourite part of this chapter?

Do you have a favourite piece of dialogue from this chapter?

Is there anything else about Chapter 5 that you'd like to mention or discuss?

[Prof. Rachel Selenia]

For the next week and a half, we're reading Chapter 8! Come on now, everyone, read and discuss!

[Prof. Rachel Selenia]

Since this activity kind of died, I will close it for the time being. Everyone who has posted will of course get their Silmarils.