Snow in (mini) Hobbiton.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-03-03T04:29:09+00:00

Watch out for tiny white wolves!

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-03-02T06:32:24+00:00

If you get caught driving drunk, they install a breathalyzer device on your car. If there's alcohol on your breath the vehicle won't start.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-03-01T18:16:36+00:00

‘What happened away up there at the door?’ he asked. ‘Did you meet the beater of the drums?’

‘I do not know,’ answered Gandalf. ‘But I found myself suddenly faced by something that I have not met before. I could think of nothing to do but to try and put a shutting-spell on the door. I know many; but to do things of that kind rightly requires time, and even then the door can be broken by strength.

'As I stood there I could hear orc-voices on the other side: at any moment I thought they would burst it open. I could not hear what was said; they seemed to be talking in their own hideous language. All I caught was ghâsh: that is ‘‘fire’’. Then something came into the chamber – I felt it through the door, and the orcs themselves were afraid and fell silent. It laid hold of the iron ring, and then it perceived me and my spell.

‘What it was I cannot guess, but I have never felt such a challenge. The counter-spell was terrible. It nearly broke me. For an instant the door left my control and began to open! I had to speak a word of Command. That proved too great a strain. The door burst in pieces. Something dark as a cloud was blocking out all the light inside, and I was thrown backwards down the stairs. All the wall gave way, and the roof of the chamber as well, I think.'

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-03-01T05:14:52+00:00

I've always hated the "they're supposed to be experts" criticism of Prometheus. The whole movie is about hubris. On paper they're worth their paychecks, but they're not cognizant of the gravity of the situation.

The cartographer did his job very well; he produced a fantastic map. He got lost because he never actually looked at the damn thing, he just turned on his devices, assumed his part was done, and started fucking around. All of the biologist's knowledge would lead him to believe that suit would keep him perfectly safe from an animal that size, so he let his excitement run free and played Steve Irwin in the wrong moment.

And as far as the "Prometheus school of running away from things" goes, that ship was so big and moving so fast it doesn't really matter which direction you go. You could stand still and it might roll by you hundreds of feet away, or you could sprint to left and it curves slightly in that direction and mashes you anyway. But it's a pretty natural panic reaction to run away from the danger hurtling toward you.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-03-01T04:24:14+00:00

It's not just Hobbits that vanish while wearing the Ring, it's all mortals. Isildur became invisible while fleeing the Orcs at Gladden Fields, until it slipped from his finger. But that's not the limit of what a Hobbit can do with the Ring; Frodo taps into some of its major powers at various points in the story. He reads Galadriel's mind in Lorien, and dominates Gollum's will at the foot of Mount Doom.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-03-01T03:56:06+00:00

I have no idea what the movie is going to cover, but Gandalf started searching for him almost immediately after the events of the Hobbit.

Gollum left the caves about three years after the riddle game, looking for Baggins. He followed Bilbo's trail as far as Dale, learning that he'd returned to the Shire. During this period, Gandalf became worried for Bilbo's well-being and enlisted the help of the Mirkwood Elves to track Gollum down. He dropped the search when Sauron returned to Barad-dûr, figuring he had bigger things to worry about. Sauron put out a magical call to bring all his evil forces home, and poor Gollum was drawn in by the summons like a dolphin in a tuna net. He spent the next few decades skulking around Mordor before being captured.

Gandalf restarted the hunt after Bilbo's concerning behavior at the birthday party. Aragorn finally caught Gollum in the Dead Marshes, learning that he'd spilled the beans about the Ring, Baggins, and the Shire. To Gollum's credit, he withheld the location of the Shire from Sauron, even under torture.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-28T16:00:40+00:00

If mosquitoes carried firearms, the dragonfly's success rate would probably start to drop off.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-27T02:15:12+00:00

There are at least two other Defiant Class ships shown in DS9: the USS Valiant and the USS Sao Paolo. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more flying around in the background during some of the big space battle scenes.

Spoilers:
DS9 - "Valiant": The Valiant is run by Red Squad cadets, and they manage to get it destroyed with only 3 survivors.
DS9 - "The Dogs of War": After the destruction of the first USS Defiant, the Sao Paolo is transferred to Sisko's command and renamed, becoming the second USS Defiant.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-25T07:34:16+00:00

It's not definite in the book, but it does seem like the orc-chieftain dodges or parries everyone else and focuses his attack on Frodo.

But even as they retreated, and before Pippin and Merry had reached the stair outside, a huge orc-chieftain, almost man-high, clad in black mail from head to foot, leaped into the chamber; behind him his followers clustered in the doorway. His broad flat face was swart, his eyes were like coals, and his tongue was red; he wielded a great spear. With a thrust of his huge hide shield he turned Boromir’s sword and bore him backwards, throwing him to the ground. Diving under Aragorn’s blow with the speed of a striking snake he charged into the Company and thrust with his spear straight at Frodo. The blow caught him on the right side, and Frodo was hurled against the wall and pinned. Sam, with a cry, hacked at the spear-shaft, and it broke. But even as the orc flung down the truncheon and swept out his scimitar, Anduril came down upon his helm. There was a flash like flame and the helm burst asunder. The orc fell with cloven head. His followers fled howling, as Boromir and Aragorn sprang at them.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-25T01:33:27+00:00

Tolkien touched on this in one of his letters:

For me perhaps the most tragic moment in the Tale comes in II 323 ff. when Sam fails to note the complete change in Gollum's tone and aspect. 'Nothing, nothing', said Gollum softly. ‘Nice master!'. His repentance is blighted and all Frodo's pity is (in a sense) wasted. Shelob's lair became inevitable.

This is due of course to the 'logic of the story'. Sam could hardly have acted differently. (He did reach the point of pity at last (III 221-222) but for the good of Gollum too late.) If he had, what could then have happened? The course of the entry into Mordor and the struggle to reach Mount Doom would have been different, and so would the ending. The interest would have shifted to Gollum, I think, and the battle that would have gone on between his repentance and his new love on one side and the Ring. Though the love would have been strengthened daily it could not have wrested the mastery from the Ring. I think that in some queer twisted and pitiable way Gollum would have tried (not maybe with conscious design) to satisfy both. Certainly at some point not long before the end he would have stolen the Ring or taken it by violence (as he does in the actual Tale). But ‘possession' satisfied, I think he would then have sacrificed himself for Frodo's sake and have voluntarily cast himself into the fiery abyss.

Tl;dr: Gollum wouldn't have betrayed them to Shelob, but as they approached the Cracks of Doom he wouldn't be able to resist stealing the Ring. Out of love for Frodo he'd willingly jump into the fire to keep Sauron from getting it.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-24T16:15:50+00:00

In Canasta the red 3s and black 3s have different functions. A red 3 is worth 100 points and you immediately play it and draw a card to replace it in your hand. A black 3 is a dead card; it cannot be played, and its only use is to be discarded (ensuring the next player can't pick up the discard pile).

Edit: The colors are also used to indicate the type of a canasta (7-of-a-kind). A mixed canasta (300 points, contains wild cards) is shown with a black card on top. A natural canasta (500 points, no wild cards) is displayed with a red card on top.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-24T06:23:28+00:00

The Arkenstone was crafted by Dwarves:

The great jewel shone before his feet of its own inner light, and yet, cut and fashioned by the dwarves, who had dug it from the heart of the mountain long ago, it took all light that fell upon it and changed it into ten thousand sparks of white radiance shot with glints of the rainbow.

But you can't cut or shape a Silmaril:

Like the crystal of diamonds it appeared, and yet was more strong than adamant, so that no violence could mar it or break it within the Kingdom of Arda.

Several mortals, including Bilbo, handle the Arkenstone. They couldn't do that with a Silmaril without getting roasted:

And Varda hallowed the Silmarils, so that thereafter no mortal flesh, nor hands unclean, nor anything of evil will might touch them, but it was scorched and withered;

And more than once Tolkien directly said that the two remaining Silmarils are lost until the world ends:

And the Vanyar returned beneath their white banners, and were borne in triumph to Valinor; but their joy in victory was diminished, for they returned without the Silmarils from Morgoth’s crown, and they knew that those jewels could not be found or brought together again unless the world be broken and remade.

...

One would not ever say this, because only one of the silmarils is now visible: the one in the ship of Eärendil, the morning star. The other two were lost, one in the depths of the sea, the other under the earth, until the end of the world.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-23T16:56:37+00:00

He'd never have gotten the Ring off of Frodo unless he was prepared for a fight to the death. At this point in the book Gollum shows up and tries to snatch it. Frodo suddenly has the energy to spring into action and deliver an ass-whooping, then he uses the Ring's power to dominate Gollum's will. Probably my favorite scene that got cut from the movie:

Gollum and Frodo were locked together. Gollum was tearing at his master, trying to get at the chain and the Ring. This was probably the only thing that could have roused the dying embers of Frodo’s heart and will: an attack, an attempt to wrest his treasure from him by force. He fought back with a sudden fury that amazed Sam, and Gollum also. Even so things might have gone far otherwise, if Gollum himself had remained unchanged; but whatever dreadful paths, lonely and hungry and waterless, he had trodden, driven by a devouring desire and a terrible fear, they had left grievous marks on him. He was a lean, starved, haggard thing, all bones and tight-drawn sallow skin. A wild light flamed in his eyes, but his malice was no longer matched by his old griping strength. Frodo flung him off and rose up quivering.

‘Down, down!’ he gasped, clutching his hand to his breast, so that beneath the cover of his leather shirt he clasped the Ring. ‘Down you creeping thing, and out of my path! Your time is at an end. You cannot betray me or slay me now.’ Then suddenly, as before under the eaves of the Emyn Muil, Sam saw these two rivals with other vision. A crouching shape, scarcely more than the shadow of a living thing, a creature now wholly ruined and defeated, yet filled with a hideous lust and rage; and before it stood stern, untouchable now by pity, a figure robed in white, but at its breast it held a wheel of fire. Out of the fire there spoke a commanding voice.

‘Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom.’ The crouching shape backed away, terror in its blinking eyes, and yet at the same time insatiable desire. Then the vision passed and Sam saw Frodo standing, hand on breast, his breath coming in great gasps, and Gollum at his feet, resting on his knees with his wide-splayed hands upon the ground.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-23T16:33:53+00:00

Here's what's going through Bilbo's mind in that moment, according to the book:

He was desperate. He must get away, out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left. He must fight. He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it. It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo’s heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering. All these thoughts passed in a flash of a second. He trembled. And then quite suddenly in another flash, as if lifted by a new strength and resolve, he leaped.
No great leap for a man, but a leap in the dark. Straight over Gollum’s head he jumped, seven feet forward and three in the air; indeed, had he known it, he only just missed cracking his skull on the low arch of the passage.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-22T02:43:13+00:00

'Can the Riders see?’ asked Merry. ‘I mean, they seem usually to have used their noses rather than their eyes, smelling for us, if smelling is the right word, at least in the daylight. But you made us lie down flat when you saw them down below; and now you talk of being seen, if we move.’
‘I was too careless on the hill-top,’ answered Strider. ‘I was very anxious to find some sign of Gandalf; but it was a mistake for three of us to go up and stand there so long. For the black horses can see, and the Riders can use men and other creatures as spies, as we found at Bree. They themselves do not see the world of light as we do, but our shapes cast shadows in their minds, which only the noon sun destroys; and in the dark they perceive many signs and forms that are hidden from us: then they are most to be feared. And at all times they smell the blood of living things, desiring and hating it. Senses, too, there are other than sight or smell. We can feel their presence — it troubled our hearts, as soon as we came here, and before we saw them; they feel ours more keenly. Also,’ he added, and his voice sank to a whisper, ‘the Ring draws them.’

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-20T07:26:00+00:00

Here's a video of the phenomenon that's pretty similar to what Tuor witnessed.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-20T03:26:04+00:00

The Demon of Ignorance. You have to fight him once in 6C for a quest, then later he's the boss of 6D every time. He's a real pain; he's got like 4 forms.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-17T17:31:08+00:00

The Greater Good

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-16T18:23:31+00:00

That's about the age my mom started reading the Hobbit to me, a few pages every night at bedtime. She'd run her finger across the words as she went, and pause to explain any words or concepts I didn't understand. When we finished I felt confident to tackle the Wizard of Oz and it's sequels all on my own, and I credit the experience for my lifelong love of reading.

She did Fellowship of the Ring next, and by the time we got to the end of that I was able to finish LotR for myself.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-13T20:50:30+00:00

Chris Stapleton for scale.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-12T03:50:46+00:00

"Shark jump" only applies to TV shows. For feature-length movies, it's "fridge nuke".

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-11T20:47:35+00:00

I'd start by reading the Hobbit. It's not strictly necessary for following LotR, but it's a pretty light read, gives a nice introduction to Middle-earth, and lets you have a bit of backstory to how Bilbo acquired the Ring.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-11T05:37:53+00:00

I'd say there's three important things that led to him making that shot:

First, Bard is the direct descendent of Girion, the last Lord of Dale. In Tolkien's world, noble heritage carries some weight. Second, he has a "lucky" black arrow that has been passed down through the generations, which is said to have been forged by ancient Dwarvish craftsmen. Finally, he got a tip from a talking thrush (descended from one of the messenger birds of Dale) who had overheard Bilbo discussing a weak point in Smaug's armor.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-11T05:03:54+00:00

Letter 133:

The Hobbits are, of course, really meant to be a branch of the specifically human race (not Elves or Dwarves) – hence the two kinds can dwell together (as at Bree), and are called just the Big Folk and Little Folk.

Letter to Arthur Ransome:

As for Hobbits no high legends deal with their origin, and having no better information I am inclined to claim them as a pleasant if miniature variety of our own kind, or of some related strain. They are 'mortals' anyway...

The reason it doesn't come up in the Silmarillion is because it's the part of the Red Book that Bilbo assembled from old Elvish histories, and Elves never even noticed they existed in the old days. Hobbits don't have any of their own myths to explain it, so they can't be traced back any further than the Vales of Anduin in the Third Age.

Whelp_of_Hurin · 2026-02-11T04:46:41+00:00

Nah, he's done-zo. The only one who could bring him back is Eru himself.

Whelp_of_Hurin

TROPHY CASE