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Tolkien's sense of humor

Although I have read LOTR many times, I have never read The Hobbit and, in lieu of the movie's near release, I decided to do so. And, here is what I have found: Tolkien's sense of humor. BTW, he never refers to our modern world in all his writings, but he seems to have deviated just a bit in The Hobbit. Enjoy!

"If you have ever seen a dragon in a pinch, you will realize that this was only potential exaggeration applied to any hobbit, even to old-Took's great-grand-uncle Bullroarer, who was so huge (for a hobbit) that he could ride a horse. He charged the ranks of the goblins of Mount Gram in the battle of the Green Fields, and knocked their king Golfimbul's head clean off with a wooden club. It sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit-hole, and in this way the battle was won and the game of Golf invented at the same moment."
"If you look to me for illumination, you better have a flashlight!"
Love it! :-)
David
I read the hobbit decades ago; so long ago I totally forgot that.
I have not read The Hobbit. But I know enough about movie/film differences to wait until after I see the films at this point(to avoid any disappointment). Also, I played golf for the first time in SLC.
"The real world is bizarre enough for me." - Blue Öyster Cult
You've never played golf? That must have been interesting.
To be honest with you..... I don't think there are going to be too many differences other than what is added.

The few made up characters and characters from the appendices... Radagast being the main one and Galadriel....
Saruman is probably in it... etc


But I think the main narrative will be there in its entirety and not deviate too much. It will just be packed with extra stuff too.

I mean, the stone giants are in the trailer and I thought for sure they would be taken out, as their part at the Misty Mountains in the Hobbit seems the give the story much more fairy tail feeling than the realism of LOTR. They are nowhere to be found in LOTRs...

But Jackson left them in there, which I think is really cool. They could have done that scene with just a regular snow storm, which makes me feel that if that is in there, probably most of the story will be.
Matt
The stone giants as in the trolls that decide how to eat Bilbo? He refers to them in FOTR when he is talking to the kids at the beginning, and there is a scene with Aragorn and the hobbits where they camp with the stone trolls around a campfire. I think that might only be in the extended edition though.

I'm looking forward to it, but I think there has to be so much back story added that it won't really be the book as we know it. So much of it was a kids story rather than the darker storyline in LOTR.
David
Demonlawyer wrote:So much of it was a kids story rather than the darker storyline in LOTR.
Yeah, that was pretty much my impression of The Hobbit too when I first read it.
Demonlawyer wrote:The stone giants as in the trolls that decide how to eat Bilbo?
No, the Stone Giants were different types of creatures, similar to the Ents, except of course they are Stone and Ents are Tree-Like...

The Trolls were turned to Stone from the Sunlight because they took too long arguing when trying to decide how to cook/eat the Dwarfs and Bilbo... Gandalf stepped out from behind a tree to delay them just long enough for the Sun to come up before they could get back in their cave and then they are turned to Stone...
This business with the Trolls is their first adventure together and the Dwarfs make Bilbo prove his worth as a Thief by making him steal from them...

You are correct however about Aragorn and the Hobbits camping underneath the Trolls... This does take place in the Extended Version...
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Yea, the stone giants are throwing enormous rocks around while the dwarves are crossing the Misty Mountains. You can see one of the enormous bolders in the trailer.

If I remember correctly, the dwarves think it is thunder cause there is a storm.
Matt
In the trailer, if you look closely, it almost looks as if it's an actual stone-giant that's falling down the cliffside - just a collection of boulders/rocks that make up a humanoid shape. And if I remember correctly, there's also a brief shot of one of these giants in the distance tossing a boulder - but it's gone in a flash so you gotta be quick.

And speaking of the The Hobbit, I have some old collectible copies from the 50's for sale on eBay right now. I also have a vast collection outside of eBay if anyone's interested - just inquire :)

Bests, Rockefeller 8)
"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do"

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Saw " The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey" yesterday in IMAX 3D and it was simple amazing! Had read the book several times and did not see how Peter Jackson was going to be able to streatch the story out into three movies but this first installment at 2 hrs 48 minutes flew right by!

Won't give away any spoilers but will tell that yes, those were stone giants fighting in the trailers and that scene was exceptionally remarkable. Not much found out about "the Necromancer" from this film, probably more in the next two. (Hmmmnnn, maybe it's just Sauruman stirring up trouble?)

There was alot in the film about a character I don't remember from the book (it's been many years since the last read) but will let those that go to the movie see for themselves.

Finally, the movie ends with the party seeing Smaug's mountain (can't remember the real name) in the distance. Which makes sense since the 2nd movie subtitle is (something) about Smaug.