Tuesday, September 7, 2010

"H" is for "Hobbit" In Particular: Mr. Bilbo Baggins

Every week at "ABC Wednesdays" people post about the letter of the week...This week, we were to post about the letter "H".  I chose "Hobbit" because I loved the book so much. Wasn't so crazy about the animated movie version, but I loved the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy (of course the books too!) by Peter Jackson. I also know that a movie of "The Hobbit" is going to be coming out in the near future hopefully. Anway, I thought you might enjoy my "Hobbit" post.
H
is for "Hobbit."
I would like to introduce you to a dear friend of mine that lives in another land very far away from most us called, "Middle Earth." Here is a map of it .


It's an odd place full of creatures most of you have probably   never heard of. There are Dwarves, Eagles, (not your ordinary  one's mind you), beautiful Elves, Ents; ancient trees that walk and talk, mortal men and women and my favorite people: Hobbits also known as "Halflings" to the locals.


I was introduced to one of these Hobbits when I was eleven years old and given a book, called "The Hobbit" by a man named J.R.R. Tolkien who had spent quite a while in Middle Earth and befriended my Hobbit friend; Mr. Bilbo Baggins.
Here is an image of him, although in person,  he is much more colorful, wonderfully quirky and magickal than this image can portray. I hope you do get to meet him in person of if you can't and are interested in his story, please read the above mentioned book, "The Hobbit."


When I told Mr. Baggins I was participating in a blog with the letters of the alphabet featured on a blog. Of course he had no idea what a blog or computer so I had to explain as best as I could what they both were. He was quite intrigued as he had never seen one but was excited that maybe someday he would "meet" one of them, (his own words) so he could tell them about his memoir he was writing. I told him I couldn't imagine a better representative for the letter "H" and so he was gracious enough to sit down for an interview for you, the dear readers.
Mr. Baggins grew up and lived in a very small town called "The Shire". Here is an image of The Shire
.The Shire It is a beautiful town, full of darling little houses where other Hobbits live, including Mr. Baggins nephew, Frodo who many of you have probably seen along with Bilbo in the movie trilogy based on Tolkiens books movies called "Lord of the Rings." The Hobbits haven't seen these movies as they don't venture from The Shire as they're not particularly fond of adventures and are quite afraid of another race of beings that I haven't mentioned, called "The Orcs". The Orcs are enemies of the Hobbits and are evil. They were once men who fell under the rule of the most dreaded one of all, Sauron. I won't go into much about him because he also frightens me and Bilbo wouldn't approve of my talking about him.

So, on with the interview.

Me: Mr. Baggins, may I call you Bilbo? Would you mind telling me a little about yourself and your background?

Bilbo: Why of course dear child, you can certainly call me Bilbo if I may refer to you as "Wendy". (There we had settled the formal matters.) I was born in this shire raised with my parents; Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took. We are quite a hardy race and and remain quite close to our families all our lives. You see none of the other races, perhaps besides the Elves (mentioning the Elves, he had this dreamy, far-away smile on his face) understand what matters to us. Family, good grog, celebrations and books of course which is how I met my esteemed friend and confidante Mr. Tolkien, a wonderful chap by the way.

The name "Hobbits" comes from "the word "Holbytla" which translates "hole-dweller" in Old English," (Hobbit. (2010) Retrieved September 06, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit).

At this point he rose out of his chair to fetch the tea he was making for the both of us. I asked him what the tea was made of and he chuckled, "an old family recipe my dear. Hops, good for the a constitution, Linden flowers for taste, and Lavender for it's medicinal qualities. And of course wild bee honey who live in juniper bushes and make the most delicious honey!" And indeed, the tea was the most lovely tea I had ever drank.

Mr. Baggins sat down with a fire gently blazing in the fireplace and we both listened a minute to the rain pattering on his windows. "It's so beautiful here!" I sighed. I knew he and the other Hobbits took a lot of pride in their land. "Oh, but we have had many threats and forces try to kill us all and ravage the land for their evil purposes" He shuddered here and I knew of  course he was referring to he Orcs.
Orcs from "The Hobbit"
If you're brave enough you can look at this picture of the Orc's but I warn you they're quite scary to look at, much less think of.

I noticed he kept fingering a ring that was from his vest picket that had some type of inscriptions on them that I had never seen before. I asked him if he minded telling me about this ring, because it had such an unusual glow and quality about it. At this he lowered his voice quite dramatically and told me that once long ago there were two of his kind, fishing, "Smeagol" and his best friend "Deagol". Deagol was pulled into the water by a huge carp and when he emerged from the murky water had something glistening in his hand. This was "the ring", one of many;
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
Gollum from "The Hobbit"Apparently, these rings had a certain power that could be used for good or evil.


Bilbo went on to tell me that Smeagol seeing this ring, wanted it so bad, he begged his friend, Deagol for it and when Deagol wouldn't hand it to him, Smeagol turned into this dark creature, Gollum and killed his friend. You'll have to read the book to find out how Bilbo outwitted Gollum and took the ring and what happens on his journey.


I could tell Bilbo was getting a bit weary and knowing Hobbits like I do, knew that a daily nap was important for their welfare. So, I thanked Mr. Baggins for the tea, the company and his graciousness for the interview. And then I left Middle Earth where I rushed immediately back to my own realm and here you see the what transpired.


The book, "The Hobbit" I read at least once a year along with the sequels where the adventure is focused on Bilbo's nephew Frodo. Bilbo of course is still a major character along with a wizard I eventually will be introduced to by the name of Gandalf the Good. I do hope you'll read Mr. Tolkiens and lose yourself in them as I have. I guarantee you wont' be disappointed and will come to love Mr. Baggins and his family as much as I have. There are also quite a few other books written by J.R.R. Tolkien that I recommend equally.

Here's a preview of the movie "The Hobbit" soon to be released.

13 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Oh yeah, I remember that animated movie version of The Hobbit -- pee yuuuuuu!

Cezar and Léia said...

Very creative and interesting idea about Hobbits and this theme H, congratulations! :)
Léia

Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said...

Good choice! I can't WAIT for The Hobbit to come out! I read the Hobbit and the Trilogy when I was in 8th or 9th grade way back in the late '60's.

Dimple said...

Hi Wendy, Thanks for the comment on my H post!
I also have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings many times. I enjoy them each time through, although I don't go to Middle Earth as often now as I used to.
I enjoyed your interview with Mr. Bilbo!

Hildred said...

Great Post Wendy, - really enjoyed your interview with Mr. Bilbo. I have been acquainted with him for many years, since my children took me along to Middle Earth and introduced me to all its delights and wisdoms.

Thank you for visiting the Hinky Pinky post, - my acquaintance with this word game came at the same time as my introduction to the Hobbits.

Wizardess said...

Sweet post! I, too, love the halflings. I think the 3 movies, esp. in the extended versions, are even better than the books. Although I am devoted to the Michael Hague illustrated version of The Hobbit. Someday I will live in a hobbit hole.

Mother Moon said...

ah dear Bilbo.. he is a kind soul yet I have to say I am bit fond of sam myself...

Alice in Wonderland said...

We read that the movie "The Hobbit" was going to be split into two movies! Personally I can't see how this can be done...but I did notice in that clip, clips of another movie called "Rein of Fire" were used.
Interested to see what they would make of it though.
Then there is "The Silmarillion" to get through too!

Blessings.

Wendy said...

Wasn't that horrible, Debra, I would be embarrassed if I was the creator of that movie, lol...

Thank you Leia for stopping by and so glad you liked the post :)

Paula, isn't it nice to rediscover a book that we love? I hope they'll do the movie justice, but judging from P. Jackson's work on the "LOTR" trilogy I think it will be great. Thanks for stopping by.

Hi Dimple, It's always nice to meet a fellow Middle-Earth Traveler and it's never to late top revisit ;)

Hildred, I'm going to bring somehow your wonderful game of Hinky Pinky in this blog..It reminds me so much of what Gollum challenged Bilbo with...Wouldn't that be fun?

Wizardess, if you find a hobbit dwelling to live in, can I come too? :) I loved the movies and felt they did the books real justice, I'm anxious to see the new movie, that seems to be the latest talk of the town.

Mother Moon, yes, Sam is Wonderful! Frodo would never have made it without him. He's a soul full of heart and courage; a true Hobbit!

Alice, I can see how they'll split it up because there were so many characters and hopefully they'll take their time to do it well. The movie "Rein of Fire" with Christian Bale about the Dragons they used? Interesting...I haven't read The Silmarillion in a long time, maybe time to revisit. Thanks as always for commenting :)

niko said...

ow i love LOTR too!!! i found the hobbits very cute :) can watch the film over and over again and i wont get tired of it

thanks for dropping by my blog. came here from sunday stealing

and for your question, we'll be having a vacation in my parents province :) yay

happy weekend wendy!

Wendy said...

Hi Niko, so glad you came and stopped over. Hobbits are cute, aren't they? Have a great vacation with your parents. I'm envious ;)

Dhemz said...

oh that's a good one....:)

thanks for sharing...and thanks for dropping by...great to be here...:)

www.gregdemcydias.com

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