The Hobbit - an Introspective

Far over the Misty Mountains Cold

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A FAN of the works of Tolkien. this fandom has its roots in my childhood growing up in Duluth, MN, hillside. I first experienced and had read-aloud to me the works of "The hobbit","The Lord of the Rings" and other works of Tolkien by caregivers at the group home I Lived at. We also owned the Rankin Bass film variants in which i gained a greater knowing of what i read through the visual medium. Years later, as some would probably surmise, i jumped on the Tolkien bandwagon again when the 3 books of the "Lord of the Rings" series were all made into intensely long 3:17 film productions. These films were amazingly filmed in the late 90s, back to back over a filming period of 3 years.

SOME PEOPLE IN THE FANDOM are drawn to the the likes of "The lord of the rings" and "The Hobbit" because of the action adventure writing style, plot devices and motifs. Some others are drawn in by the large and diverse world that JRR Tolkien created using his working knowledge of Our own mythologies, world religions and basic storyline archetypes. Some are into the languages of the various middle earth characters and the characters themselves. Others still are into the lore and music surrounding the middle earth world and universe. I am into it for alot of the reasons most others are. The basic archetypes play out the hman condition using known and not so well known mythical ideas and symbols that are common-place in everything from our belief systems and religions to our everyday lives. I am also interested in the linguistics involed and the roots of all the foreign languages spoken. Being that i am a musician, i am also into the poetry and the lore that encompass such a vast undertaking
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BACK IN THE YEAR 2007 a few years after the "Lord of the Rings" Hype had died down a bit, there circlated a trailer on Both "Youtube" as well as several peer to peer networks like "limewire/frostwire" for "The Hobbit" showing what looked like some of the original Cast from "THe Lord of the rings"reprising their roles. It also showed Bard the Bowman taking out what looked like an animatronic Smaug. Unfortunately the Trailer turned out to the some kind of fan edit of "The Lord of the Rings" and other films out that year such as "Eragon" which lead to quite the disgruntled fanbase.

DESPITE THE TRAILER THAT CAUSED massive fanrage over hte internet for years and a controversy between two film companies that owned the distribution rights to "The Lord of the Rings" as a film franchise, The internet was soon abuzz at the end of the year 2011. Another trailer had hit Youtube. This time, it was completely and totally official and , as they say in our vernacular "Legit". This trailer sported all new songs from the man behind the score for "The Lord of the Rings" , Composer Howard Shore. It also sported some of the original cast, as did the previous fake. Fans, as well as myself were excited to see the door open for us to return to the world of "Middle Earth" to the shire, to see the story before the story and were interested to see in visuaal form the events that lead up to "The Lord of the Rings"

Concerning Hobbits

ON 14 DEC 2012 MYSELF AND OTHER FANS flocked to the cinema in droves to see the film on opening night/ day depending on one's take on such things. being that my only reference for a visual hobbit presentation was the aforementioned 1977 Rankin-bass production of "The Hobbit" I didn't know what to think of the live action counterpart. Being that I was into the whole scope of how Mr ackson did his productions, I figured I'd be in for a very long but fun ride. The film went through the motions of bilbo telling the story before his 111st Birthday party as a backstory to the audience, Gandalf showing up with the dwarves and the songs therein ( "Blunt the Knives", "Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold" ) and so forth. Bilbo and The dwarves traveled to Rivendale, home of the elves, aided by horses, Gandalf, Thorin and some exposition in between to keep the film flowing and break up the action scenes.

BILBO AND COMPANY ENCOUNTERED ORKS, Goblins and Radagast the Brown on their way to the lonely mountain. There was also a meeting between the powers of middle earth AKA "The white Council" used as a device to give foreshadowing to the original "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. There is also talk of a "necromancer" that is used as a device to foreshadow subplots in "The Hobbit" itself. After Elrond reads the map that was given to thorin Oakenshield at the beginning, they're able to get into the mountain caverns to sleep, however, they wind up on the doorstep of Goblin-town. they wind up being questioned by the great goblin and then freed by Gandalf

THE FILM CONCLUDES ON A CLIFF with some birch trees and the company clinging for dear life as Gandalf summons the Eagles. The Eagles show up and rescue them, lead by The Lord of Eagles who carries away a battle damaged Thorin Oakenshield 

There and Back Again

AS A WRITER, I HAVE BEEN AND HAVE TAKEN many influences from the story-line and idea behind "The Hobbit"As well as the other works of JRR Tolkien. From the way I structure some thoughts and sentences to the fact that some of my outside of paper writing has songs and Lore in it. Even bits and pieces of my day to day speech and communication wit others borrows from the works of Mr Tolkien. Because he was a mythologist and linguist, he draws on common experiences, common symbols , themes and archetypes that touch us all and thus touch me.

THE IMPACT THAT THE WORKS OF TOLKIEN, Including and especially "The Hobbit" have had on the general public in the western and other cultural lenses is hard to describe, but it can be seen all over. with corporations called Aragorn and computers called Gandalf, the broader culture is embracing Tolkein's Mythos by storm. with the advent of film technologies like 3D, CGI and stereoscopic rendering and filming, everyone from the seasoned nerd to the average film goer/reader can enjoy his works.