#hobbit reread

[sweetpea67]

Rereading the beginning of The Hobbit is extra funny when you know all of Gandalf’s backstory. Like can you imagine St. Michael the Archangel inviting twelve randos to your house and then browbeating you into stealing something for them?

[thethermocline]

Thorin starts talking about danger and Bilbo literally just starts screaming.

[explorersaremadeofhope]

“We were on a journey to visit our relatives, our nephews and nieces, and first, second, and third cousins, and the other descendants of our grandfathers, who live on the East side of these truly hospitable mountains,” said Thorin, not quite knowing what to say all at once in a moment,

thorin oakenshield is canonically an absolutely terrible liar, send tweet

[thethermocline]

I think Peter Jackson was too afraid to let the elves be weird.

Because they are. So, so weird.

I don’t mean comical, I’m not looking to declaw them. But. How surreal, Elrond’s last homely house, in a valley that appears out of nowhere. You go down into it and there are elves hidden in the trees who sing extremely silly songs gently mocking you.

And the stay there was a great boon to the company, so clearly it was good - but also so, so weird.

And then there’s the wood elves. Thranduil is every inch a king. He has his people’s loyalty, he has held off the darkness for ages and ages without a ring, he has an extremely potent power which is all his own.

...he also wears twigs and berries as a crown.

I’m not saying he’s not majestic or regal I’m just saying maybe elves understand those concepts differently. It’s been a while since I saw the lotr movies but I’ve seen screenshots of Legolas at Aragorn’s coronation wearing a thin silver circlet. I think that is cowardice and unsupported by canon. Let elves be weird! Legolas is a wood elf. Maybe he just walks out into the forest before the ceremony and comes back with a ragged crown of live butterflies clinging to his hair. It doesn’t have to be a big thing, but, like - elves are not people! They are elves! Let elves be weird!!!

All kinds of small magic on middle earth are interesting to me, but the wood elves...I just think there’s some potential there. I saw a clip of Orlando Bloom as Legolas understanding the trees, but he was way too regal about it, in my opinion. There’s a dignity being retained here which strikes me as out of place. This a different species! With different norms and needs and customs!!! ELVES ARE NOT JUST MEN WITH POINTY EARS

...I don’t know. I’m nearly to the Greenwood in my reading - about a chapter or so away - so I guess I’m just thinking about it a lot. And to be clear, Peter Jackson did a good job with Lord of the Rings. His movies are iconic. I just find myself eternally disappointed in his elves.

[thethermocline]

These descriptions are very interesting to me in terms of what they reveal about the woodland elves. First, like I already posted about - complete avoidance of violence! All the wood elves do is de-escalate, avoid intruders, and get their reputation smeared.

But anyway. I can’t help but notice that Thranduil is wearing leaves as a crown while his people wear jewels. I don’t think that matches with any description of him as greedy and cold. I’ll talk about that more when Thorin gets captured, there’s some interesting bits there. But I think we have an unreliable narrator.

[thethermocline]

While Bilbo is stuck in Mirkwood, he often sees Thranduil go out to hunt with his people. It seems to me that Thranduil is not a king content to be locked away in his stronghold with his treasure (such as it may be). The Elvenking would rather wear a crown of leaves and spend his time in the sun.

[thethermocline]

Okay why did no one tell me that Dwalin in the book has a blue beard and, better question, why wasn’t this crucial and plot-altering detail not included in the movie???

[thethermocline]

I like the lil arrow in the corner for the Elvenking.