sarahthecoat reblogged
The Fellowship of the Ring - 11/?
sarahthecoat reblogged
The Fellowship of the Ring - 37/?
sarahthecoat reblogged
sarahthecoat reblogged
I was today years old when I figured out bilbo and his mum are both named after things that kill people. Belladonna (as in deadly nightshade) and a Bilbo is a sword somewhere between a dagger and a rapier, a very convenient size for a hobbit!
sarahthecoat reblogged
Legolas pretty quickly gets in the habit of venting about his travelling companions in Elvish, so long as Gandalf & Aragorn aren’t in earshot they’ll never know right?
Then about a week into their journey like
Legolas: *in Elvish, for approximately the 20th time* ugh fucking hobbits, so annoying
Frodo: *also in Elvish, deadpan* yeah we’re the worst
Legolas:
~*~earlier~*~
Legolas: ugh fucking hobbits
Merry: Frodo what’d he say
Frodo: I’m not sure he speaks a weird dialect but I think he’s insulting us. I should tell him I can understand Elvish
Merry: I mean you could do that but consider
Merry: you can only tell him ONCE
Frodo: Merry. You’re absolutely right. I’ll wait.
Legolas: umm well your accent is horrible
Aragorn: *hollering from a distance* HIS ACCENT IS BETTER THAN YOURS LEGOLAS YOU SILVAN HICK
Frodo: :)
Frodo: Hello. My name is Frodo. I am a Hobbit. How are you?
Legolas: y’alld’ve’ff’ve
Frodo, crying: please I can’t understand what you’r saying
wizard-guff
Ok, but Frodo didn’t just learn out of a book. He learned like… Chaucerian Elvish. So actually:
Frodo: Good morrow to thee, frend. I hope we twain shalle bee moste excellente companions.
Legolas: Wots that mate? ‘Ere, you avin’ a giggle? Fookin’ ‘obbits, I sware.
Aragorn: *laughing too hard to walk*
dYinGggGggg…
i mean, honestly it’s amazing the Elves had as many languages and dialects as they did, considering Galadriel (for example) is over seven thousand years old.
english would probably have changed less since Chaucer’s time, if a lot of our cultural leaders from the thirteenth century were still alive and running things.
they’ve had like. seven generations since the sun happened, max. frodo’s books are old to him, but outside any very old poetry copied down exactly, the dialect represented in them isn’t likely to be older than the Second Age, wherein Aragorn’s foster-father Elrond started out as a very young adult and grew into himself, and Legolas’ father was born.
so like, three to six thousand years old, maybe, which is probably a drop in the bucket of Elvish history judging by all the ethnic differentiation that had time to develop before Ungoliant came along, even if we can’t really tell because there weren’t years to count, before the Trees were destroyed.
plus a lot of Bilbo’s materials were probably directly from Elrond, whose library dates largely from the Third Age, probably, because he didn’t establish Imladris until after the Last Alliance. and Elrond isn’t the type to intentionally help Bilbo learn the wrong dialect and sound sillier than can be helped, even if everyone was humoring him more than a little.
so Frodo might sound hilariously formal for conversational use (though considering how most Elves use Westron he’s probably safe there) and kind of old-fashioned, but he’s not in any danger of being incomprehensible, because elves live on such a ridiculous timescale.
to over-analyse this awesome and hilarious post even more, legolas’ grandfather was from linguistically stubborn Doriath and their family is actually from a somewhat different, higher-status ethnic background than their subjects.
so depending on how much of a role Thranduil took in his upbringing (and Oropher in his), Legolas may have some weird stilted old-fashioned speaking tics in his Sindarin that reflect a more purely Doriathrin dialect rather than the Doriathrin-influenced Western Sindarin that became the most widely spoken Sindarin long before he was born, or he might have a School Voice from having been taught how to Speak Proper and then lapse into really obscure colloquial Avari dialect when he’s being casual. or both!
considering legolas’ moderately complicated political position, i expect he can code-switch.
…it’s also fairly likely considering the linguistic politics involved that Legolas is reasonably articulate in Sindarin, though with some level of accent, but knows approximately zero Quenya outside of loanwords into Sindarin, and even those he mostly didn’t learn as a kid.
which would be extra hilarious when he and gimli fetch up in Valinor in his little homemade skiff, if the first elves he meets have never been to Middle Earth and they’re just standing there on the beach reduced to miming about what is the short beard person, and who are you, and why.
this is elvish dialects and tolkien, okay. there’s a lot of canon material! he actually initially developed the history of middle-earth specifically to ground the linguistic development of the various Elvish languages!
Legolas: Alas, verily would I have dispatched thine enemy posthaste, but y’all’d’ve pitched a feckin’ fit.
Aragorn: *eyelid twitching*
Frodo: *frantically scribbling* Hang on which language are you even speaking right now
Pippin, confused: Is he not speaking Elvish?
Frodo, sarcastically: I dunno, are you speaking Hobbit?
Boromir, who has been lowkey pissed-off at the Hobbits’ weird dialect this whole time: That’s what it sounds like to me.
Merry, who actually knows some shit about Hobbit background: We are actually speaking multiple variants of the Shire dialect of Westron, you ignorant fuck.
Sam, a mere working-class country boy: Honestly y'all could be talkin Dwarvish half the time for all I know.
sainatsukino
Pippin, entering Gondor and speaking to the castle steward: hey yo my man
Boromir, from beyond the grave: j e s u s
Tolkien would be SO PROUD of this post
It got better
sarahthecoat reblogged
Just a plain hobbit you look but there is more about you now than appears on the surface …
On the morning of the last day Frodo was alone with Bilbo, and the old hobbit pulled out from under his bed a wooden box. He lifted the lid and fumbled inside.
‘Here is your sword,’ he said. 'But it was broken, you know. I took it to keep it safe but I’ve forgotten to ask if the smiths could mend it. No time now.. So I thought, perhaps, you would care to have this, don’t you know?’
He took from the box a small sword in an old shabby leathern scabbard. Then he drew it, and its polished and well-tended blade glittered suddenly, cold and bright. 'This is Sting,’ he said, and thrust it with little effort deep into a wooden beam. `Take it, if you like. I shan’t want it again, I expect.’
Frodo accepted it gratefully.
'Also there is this!’ said Bilbo, bringing out a parcel which seemed to be rather heavy for its size. He unwound several folds of old cloth, and held up a small shirt of mail. It was close-woven of many rings, as supple almost as linen, cold as ice, and harder than steel. It shone like moonlit silver, and was studded with white gems. With it was a belt of pearl and crystal.
'It’s a pretty thing, isn’t it?’ said Bilbo, moving it in the light. `And useful. It is my dwarf-mail that Thorin gave me. I got it back from Michel Delving before I started, and packed it with my luggage: I brought all the mementoes of my Journey away with me, except the Ring. But I did not expect to use this, and I don’t need it now, except to look at sometimes. You hardly feel any weight when you put it on.’
`I should look - well, I don’t think I should look right in it,’ said Frodo.
`Just what I said myself,’ said Bilbo. 'But never mind about looks. You can wear it under your outer clothes. Come on! You must share this secret with me. Don’t tell anybody else! But I should feel happier if I knew you were wearing it. I have a fancy it would turn even the knives of the Black Riders,’ he ended in a low voice.
`Very well, I will take it,’ said Frodo. Bilbo put it on him, and fastened Sting upon the glittering belt; and then Frodo put over the top his old weather-stained breeches, tunic, and jacket.
'Just a plain hobbit you look,’ said Bilbo. 'But there is more about you now than appears on the surface. Good luck to you!’ He turned away and looked out of the window, trying to hum a tune.
'I cannot thank you as I should, Bilbo, for this, and for all our past kindnesses,’ said Frodo.
'Don’t try!’ said the old hobbit, turning round and slapping him on the back. `Ow!’ he cried. `You are too hard now to slap! But there you are: Hobbits must stick together, and especially Bagginses. All I ask in return is: take as much care of yourself as you can. and bring back all the news you can, and any old songs and tales you can come by. I’ll do my best to finish my book before you return.
JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Ring goes South
sarahthecoat reblogged
Do you ever think about how staggeringly in bad taste it is that Gandalf brought a firework that turns into Smaug to Bilbo’s birthday party
Like how were you hoping that would go
*gandalf voice* so bilbo lived to be 111 huh? it would be a shame if someone or something caused him to go into c a r d i a c a r r e s t
Gandalf: I’m still not a hundred percent sure that magic ring is artificially extending Bilbo’s life, so let’s run some tests.
i would note that bilbo was the only person at the party not even slightly alarmed, so possibly gandalf just knows him well
“You know what would be the greatest gift I could give Bilbo on his 111th birthday? Making Lobelia and Otho Sacksville-Baggins shit their pants at the party.”
sarahthecoat reblogged
Good night, Frodo!
Bless me, but it has been good to see you again! There are no folk like hobbits after all for a real good talk. I am getting very old, and I began to wonder if I should ever live to see your chapters of our story. Good night! I’ll take a walk, I think, and look at the stars of Elbereth in the garden. Sleep well!’
A Elebereth Gilthoniel silivren penna míriel o menel aglar elenath! Na-chared palan-díriel o galadhremmin ennorath Fanuilos, le linnathon nef aear, si nef aeron!
JRR Tolkien recites the Elvish hymn to Varda (translation)
JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Flight to the Ford, Many Meetings
sarahthecoat reblogged
‘They seemed to think that the Enemy was looking high and low for me, and would make mincemeat of me, if he caught me tottering about in the Wild.
‘And Gandalf said: “The Ring has passed on, Bilbo. It would do no good to you or to others, if you tried to meddle with it again.” Odd sort of remark, just like Gandalf. But he said he was looking after you, so I let things be. I am frightfully glad to see you safe and sound.’ He paused and looked at Frodo doubtfully.
`Have you got it here?'
… he asked in a whisper. `I can’t help feeling curious, you know, after all I’ve heard. I should very much like just to peep at it again.’
`Yes, I’ve got it,’ answered Frodo, feeling a strange reluctance. `It looks just the same as ever it did.’
`Well, I should just like to see it for a moment,’ said Bilbo.
When he had dressed, Frodo found that while he slept the Ring had been hung about his neck on a new chain, light but strong. Slowly he drew it out. Bilbo put out his hand. But Frodo quickly drew back the Ring. To his distress and amazement he found that he was no longer looking at Bilbo; a shadow seemed to have fallen between them, and through it he found himself eyeing a little wrinkled creature with a hungry face and bony groping hands. He felt a desire to strike him.
The music and singing round them seemed to falter and a silence fell. Bilbo looked quickly at Frodo’s face and passed his hand across his eyes. `I understand now,’ he said. `Put it away! I am sorry: sorry you have come in for this burden: sorry about everything. Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story. Well, it can’t be helped. I wonder if it’s any good trying to finish my book? But don’t let’s worry about it now - let’s have some real News! Tell me all about the Shire!’
Frodo hid the Ring away, and the shadow passed leaving hardly a shred of memory. The light and music of Rivendell was about him again.
JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Many Meetings
sarahthecoat reblogged
In the meanwhile Frodo and Bilbo sat side by side, and Sam came quickly and placed himself near them. They talked together in soft voices, oblivious of the mirth and music in the hall about them. Bilbo had not much to say of himself. When he had left Hobbiton he had wandered off aimlessly, along the Road or in the country on either side; but somehow he had steered all the time towards Rivendell. `I got here without much adventure,’ he said, `and after a rest I went on with the dwarves to Dale: my last journey. I shan’t travel again. Old Balin had gone away. Then I came back here, and here I have been. I have done this and that.
I have written some more of my book.
And, of course, I make up a few songs. They sing them occasionally: just to please me, I think; for, of course, they aren’t really good enough for Rivendell. And I listen and I think. Time doesn’t seem to pass here: it just is. A remarkable place altogether.
JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Many Meetings
sarahthecoat reblogged
Sam led him along several passages and down many steps and out into a high garden above the steep bank of the river. He found his friends sitting in a porch on the side of the house looking east. Shadows had fallen in the valley below, but there was still a light on the faces of the mountains far above. The air was warm. The sound of running and falling water was loud, and the evening was filled with a faint scent of trees and flowers, as if summer still lingered in Elrond’s gardens.
`Hurray!’ cried Pippin, springing up. Here is our noble cousin!
Make way for Frodo, Lord of the Ring!
‘Hush!’ said Gandalf from the shadows at the back of the porch. `Evil things do not come into this valley; but all the same we should not name them. The Lord of the Ring is not Frodo, but the master of the Dark Tower of Mordor, whose power is again stretching out over the world! We are sitting in a fortress. Outside it is getting dark.’
`Gandalf has been saying many cheerful things like that,’ said Pippin. `He thinks I need keeping in order. But it seems impossible, somehow, to feel gloomy or depressed in this place. I feel I could sing, if I knew the right song for the occasion.’
`I feel like singing myself,’ laughed Frodo. `Though at the moment I feel more like eating and drinking!’
`That will soon be cured,’ said Pippin. `You have shown your usual cunning in getting up just in time for a meal.’
`More than meal! A feast!’ said Merry. `As soon as Gandalf reported that you were recovered, the preparations began.’ He had hardly finished speaking when they were summoned to the hall by the ringing of many bells.
JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Many Meetings
sarahthecoat reblogged
The Carrock by Alan Lee
sarahthecoat reblogged
My favorite thing about Bilbo’s adventures is that there’s technically no “”canon”” version of Bilbo’s adventures.
Like The Hobbit– the book– is canonically a very biased account of events written by Bilbo himself. It’s also Canon that some of things Bilbo wrote were flat-out-lies (Ex. the original version of Riddles in the Dark, where Gollum willingly gives him the Ring as a gift.)
In the books Frodo also says that Bilbo “always jokes about serious things”, makes light of things that were actually important to him or hurt him. Which obviously also puts the bright, jokey tone of The Hobbit in a new light
So the question of…what really did happen, and what was its real effect on Bilbo? Is up in the air. And the only sources you have to piece it together are 1. a ridiculously biased account that’s mostly true but also contains who-knows-how-many lies and half-truths, told by an unreliable narrator aggressively determined to Laugh It All Off, and 2. a few random snippets, some that agree with Bilbo’s account and some that contradict them
(Ex. the original version of Riddles in the Dark, where Gollum willingly gives him the Ring as a gift.)
I seriously love how Tolkien handled that. For those who don’t know, when Tolkien was writing The Lord of The Rings he realized he was going to have to alter a few details of The Hobbit to make sure the continuity smoothed out the way he was obsessively compelled to ensure. Which is to say that there was a slightly revised reprint of The Hobbit shortly before Fellowship came out, with the main change being the Riddle Contest.
But Tolkien didn’t want to leave returning fans who’d reread their old copies of the Hobbit to be left confused! So when Bilbo and Gandalf are discussing the Ring, Bilbo, our kind, reliable narrator who lead us through the entire first novel in Middle Earth, Bilbo remembers the original version. But Gandalf? Wise Gandalf who greatly helped Bilbo and the dwarves through the first half of their journey? Gandalf remembers the version from the recent reprint.
New readers who’d only ever read the reprint get the surprise jolt of Bilbo clearly remembering his story incorrectly, lending strong credence to Gandalf’s concerns.
Old readers who knew the original? Get the horrifying moment of Gandalf disputing the story they read and Bilbo remembers. Bilbo’s not just remembering his story wrong, he copied it down wrong. Is Gandalf lying? Is Bilbo? Was Bilbo wrong about more? They don’t know! The only thing they can say for certain is that whatever is going on, it is a Big Deal.
Which just might be the best conceivable way to handle needing to retcon part of your story.
sarahthecoat reblogged
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) dir. Peter Jackson
sarahthecoat reblogged
aight fuckers I’m doing it I’m spending a full $4 to watch the first lotr movie, for the first time
so like I get, you know, power and malice and cruelty were ‘poured’ into the rings, but like. what did they actually put in those things. what fuckin gold gives a ring malice. why did the elves only get three.
holy shit it’s Agent Smith with pointy ears
this ring was made of weet-bix and nutri grain
it was in this moment, when all hope was lost, that issieldor-whoever took up his father’s sword -
I’M SORRY BUT I’M LAUGHING THE RING GIVES THE BIG BAD GUY LIKE DARK MAGIC AND A DEMON ARMY TO CONTROL BUT EESEELDOOR PUTS IT ON AND HE JUST TURNS INVISIBLE
holy shit I just experienced seven and a half minutes of introductory exposition by a mysterious lady who apparently thinks VERY little of hobbits
omg is this WHOLE movie exposition
it has been remarked by some that a hobbit’s only real passion
is for food
FOOD
a wizard is never late
says Ian McKellan, wishing he was Julie Andrews, Queen of Genovia
I know absolutely nothing about either of these two but I already fucking love their relationship it’s beautiful
OH SO BILBO’S THE FUCK THAT CAUSED ALL THOSE JUMP SCARES
oh shit son he’s got the ring and the golem voice
okay so that’s pretty fucking cute
apparently every hobbit has an instinctual urge to hug Ian McKellen and honestly? same
siancrosslinisback
Watching OP stumble ass over teakettle in love with this movie is amazing and these posts made my week
OK, it has been too long, i gotta watch these again! <3
sarahthecoat reblogged
Martin saving a little bee on the set of the hobbit…