tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post3499014998615774372..comments2024-03-29T06:16:21.012+08:00Comments on Monsters and Manuals: The Forgotten HobbitUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-31611584817781759732021-01-20T04:49:24.360+08:002021-01-20T04:49:24.360+08:00Yes. I think I have mentioned on the blog before t...Yes. I think I have mentioned on the blog before that I originally thought that orcs were crocodile-men.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-264058111911777142021-01-20T04:48:47.587+08:002021-01-20T04:48:47.587+08:00Yeah, I love that scene. A last bit of innocent bu...Yeah, I love that scene. A last bit of innocent bucolic fantasy before things start to get dark.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-58481856479952977252021-01-20T04:47:41.367+08:002021-01-20T04:47:41.367+08:00I get what you mean, but I have so much love for t...I get what you mean, but I have so much love for the Two Towers because it's the first volume of LOTR that I read.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-32900065548169833362021-01-14T01:06:25.305+08:002021-01-14T01:06:25.305+08:00I always preferred The Hobbit to Lord of the Rings...I always preferred The Hobbit to Lord of the Rings as well: from a personal preference standpoint, The Hobbit just flew, the reading felt light and airy; meanwhile, LotR trodded along, describing everything and getting bogged down in detail that didn't feel necessary to the plot. I remember there's a point in the last section of The Two Towers where I just have to skip ahead to Return of the King.The Malumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12971459955701026406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-86743882651352331072021-01-08T06:39:58.655+08:002021-01-08T06:39:58.655+08:00Fits right in with OD&D, if you choose to DM i...Fits right in with OD&D, if you choose to DM it that way...Reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09761229490262589438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-67636113913739588742021-01-07T22:39:01.162+08:002021-01-07T22:39:01.162+08:00Yes, there's a few posts there with the Wilder...Yes, there's a few posts there with the Wilderlands tag, in his latest one he's said he's going to try putting things together into a zine. There are some nice ideas, like character 'classes' as diagetic, so more like organisations you can join or titles you can obtain, and there's a magic system which is quite flavourful if a little fiddly.Tall Tales and Short Storieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09324534612592542669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-48086461397021444132021-01-07T21:12:53.779+08:002021-01-07T21:12:53.779+08:00The Animal Fantasy aspect isn't entirely gone ...The Animal Fantasy aspect isn't entirely gone from LotR. From Chapter 3:<br /><br />> A fox passing through the wood on business of his own stopped several minutes and sniffed.<br /><br />> ‘Hobbits!’ he thought. ‘Well, what next? I have heard of strange doings in this land, but I have seldom heard of a hobbit sleeping out of doors under a tree. Three of them! There’s something mighty queer behind this.’ He was quite right, but he never found out any more about it.Simon Brunninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11012816105795393796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-5845114600195632732021-01-07T12:45:32.233+08:002021-01-07T12:45:32.233+08:00You can have all these things, but the realist and...You can have all these things, but the realist and systematizing mindset of D&D would work against the naive sense of wonder fairytales often have, by ultimately wanting everything to fit into a sensible coherent world, with a naturalistic ecology and magic as a form of science & technology. Ghasthousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07401924351959645260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-75735246479910817272021-01-07T04:44:00.785+08:002021-01-07T04:44:00.785+08:00If u meant #18 (accusing Thorin), then yes... But ...If u meant #18 (accusing Thorin), then yes... But #30 got me thinking, it depicts some farewell after the Battle of Five Armies, but the mounted guy in the half-moon helmet can be anyone, maybe the king again? Btw clicking through all these images (instead of perusing the book on the shelf a step away) brought to mind again how anthropomorphic these beings were for the illustrator, and perhaps it's not too far-fetched to assume that at this early stage of develepment, to Tolkien as well. Even the goblins look like nasty-scrawny humans, the trolls like fairy-tale giants. And the elven vintners on #19 really do look like a pair of drunken hobos! Voljahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08826776454392269862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-26777891757834280802021-01-07T04:03:55.163+08:002021-01-07T04:03:55.163+08:00Yes, I know that post. Has he put up any more stuf...Yes, I know that post. Has he put up any more stuff?noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-11547797306271655512021-01-07T04:01:19.893+08:002021-01-07T04:01:19.893+08:00The wood elf king must be this guy? https://tolkie...The wood elf king must be this guy? https://tolkien.com.pl/hobbit/collection/hobbit-hungarian-1975-1st.phpnoismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-36785710374095165702021-01-07T02:19:27.408+08:002021-01-07T02:19:27.408+08:00That would be good. Talking animals, capricious fa...That would be good. Talking animals, capricious fae, folk magic... now there's an idea for a setting.Tom Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00512219290892896310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-40473446155794684382021-01-07T00:43:41.471+08:002021-01-07T00:43:41.471+08:00Actually one can check all the illustrations out o...Actually one can check all the illustrations out on a Polish fanpage. Gandalf is easy to sort out, but can you spot the Wood Elf King? (If anybody is wondering about the title, yes, even the "hobbit" got translated to "babó", a word invented just for that purpose. Later editions had the somewhat lackluster "hobbit" properly.)<br /><br />https://tolkien.com.pl/hobbit/collection/hobbit-hungarian-1975-1st.php<br /><br />See the reinterpreted maps on an Italian page here:<br /><br />https://tolkieniano.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-babo-prima-edizione-ungherese-dello.html?m=1Voljahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08826776454392269862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-72891614171342359442021-01-06T23:52:47.670+08:002021-01-06T23:52:47.670+08:00I came here to say all these things, and you beat ...I came here to say all these things, and you beat me to it. Grand.Joshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11103061574208320331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-48900026832230826882021-01-06T23:36:08.704+08:002021-01-06T23:36:08.704+08:00This blog is gradually putting together a setting ...This blog is gradually putting together a setting called Wilderland based on the conceit that The Hobbit existed in isolation:<br /><br />http://riseupcomus.blogspot.com/2017/09/1937-hobbit-as-setting.htmlTall Tales and Short Storieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09324534612592542669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-58467126820231000472021-01-06T22:22:16.058+08:002021-01-06T22:22:16.058+08:00Nice. 70s illustration for kids' books is univ...Nice. 70s illustration for kids' books is universally so creepy.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-84031226403178698732021-01-06T22:20:50.745+08:002021-01-06T22:20:50.745+08:00I thought it likely - nice to have it confirmed. H...I thought it likely - nice to have it confirmed. He wasn't a bad artist actually.<br /><br />Regarding the Hobbit movies, I found the first one so boring and the tone so wrong I couldn't stomach the other two. I would have loved to have seen it get the Guillermo del Toro treatment.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-62297898944085868762021-01-06T20:39:35.414+08:002021-01-06T20:39:35.414+08:00I prefer the free-spirited tone of the Hobbit to t...I prefer the free-spirited tone of the Hobbit to the dead serious wording of LOTR with all the implied preaching. The first Hungarian edition, published in 1975 in an Eastern Bloc country completely oblivious to western fantasy lit (pulp or otherwise) had many names translated, so Gollum was called "Nyelem" (literally "I swallow it"). I wish I could show the quirky illustrations by Tamás Szecskó, a prolific children's book illustrator of the era. Here's Bilbo threatening Nyelem (pants shown):<br /><br />https://kep.cdn.indexvas.hu/1/0/260/2607/26073/2607354_23b95c85125f032b086e56851520a947_wm.jpgVoljahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08826776454392269862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-35178488317367101502021-01-06T18:43:18.631+08:002021-01-06T18:43:18.631+08:00You are correct, the cover is by Tolkien
http://w...You are correct, the cover is by Tolkien<br /><br />http://www.tolkienbooks.net/php/details.php?reference=21350Avihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13610875805082523366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-37533671100768591072021-01-06T12:15:40.791+08:002021-01-06T12:15:40.791+08:00Do you have any more information on that cover? It...Do you have any more information on that cover? It almost looks like the work of Tolkien himself, but the piece itself is unfamiliar.<br /><br />I agree that there should be more goblin/dwarf evil teamups. Glamdring getting sharper in the presence of the goblins is an interesting interpretation - I'd always just read it as that the sword was That Sharp. Similarly, I think I've always pictures Gollum's "pocketses" as being more like a pouch than anything we would think of as trouser-like. But your reading certainly gives it a unique spin, and that can be a good thing. Like in the middle Hobbit movie when the spiders' speech was re imagined as being an effect of Bilbo wearing the ring - that was possibly the best reinterpretation in those movies.Simon J. Hogwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07709835550452996449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-89185911192454840142021-01-06T12:14:18.758+08:002021-01-06T12:14:18.758+08:00I think modern fantasy gaming could do wit more fa...I think modern fantasy gaming could do wit more fairytale inspired elements, such as talking animals that are still animals. Unfortunately D&D realism doesn't really like this sort of stuff. So instead of animals acting like humans in some ways while still remaining animals, we now have humans with animal features (cat people, wolf people...). They look like human-animal hybrids but are fundamentally human, much like the men-in-rubber-suits aliens you find in Star Wars.Ghasthousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07401924351959645260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-6734577700834992062021-01-06T11:33:23.779+08:002021-01-06T11:33:23.779+08:00That's right. I own a facsimile copy of the 19...That's right. I own a facsimile copy of the 1937 printing of The Hobbit, and Gollum is less wicked therein (though he is still unsavory). <br /><br />My favorite illustration of Gollum is that by Tove Jansson. I find her Gollum much more interesting than the pukey little fellow nearly everyone else draws.Geoffrey McKinneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00042661843714609025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-73104070960454077342021-01-06T11:31:36.757+08:002021-01-06T11:31:36.757+08:00Retconning a NPC to be more evil because the PC di...Retconning a NPC to be more evil because the PC did something mean to them— what a DM’s trick!!Jason & Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08382538007150266805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-23574492121022895902021-01-06T10:47:56.528+08:002021-01-06T10:47:56.528+08:00That is correct. I own a facsimile of the 1937 pri...That is correct. I own a facsimile of the 1937 printing of The Hobbit, and Gollum is not as bad therein.Geoffrey McKinneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00042661843714609025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-34911918275589377642021-01-06T04:46:30.276+08:002021-01-06T04:46:30.276+08:00Yes, I agree. Although I think he did update it a ...Yes, I agree. Although I think he did update it a bit after LOTR came out. I remember reading somewhere that he 'retconned' Gollum to make him more evil. In the original version he was more normal and sympathetic, I believe.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.com