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ach-sss-no · 15 days

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someone asked why i loudly asserted that the stewing rabbits bit of lotr is the opposite book vs. movie and i think it is time to move off of the giant reblog chain i'm making

The Premise: Sam, Frodo and Gollum are all doing the opposite of what they are doing in the book in some fashion or another

(first off: in the movie they abandon the stew and don't eat it. the book takes a lot longer with all of this, and they do in fact eat the stew, and I definitely understand the movie couldn't be as expansive with the pacing but it's just. funny to me. they don't eat the stew vs. they do eat the stew, there's your first opposite)

now. THE SCENE: Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit

(Small disclaimer/disclosure: I referenced the script instead of a movie clip for this, so there may be some nuance missed in visuals or whatever but I don't think it would be enough of a difference to matter and hopefully you will soon see why not)

Frodo

Starting with him because this is simplest.

In the movie, Frodo is just sitting there minding his own business when Gollum dumps dead rabbits in his lap. (Then he doesn't interact with the ensuing conversation at all)

In the book he's asleep when Gollum brings the rabbits and does not participate in the scene. Okay, so he's awake vs. asleep. Easy.

(Also, book Frodo didn't witness the conflict between the other two characters and had no opportunity to intervene, which creates an interesting 'what could have been', but I am digressing. We are only 10% of the way in. buckle up)

Sam

In the movie, Sam is passive and reacting. Gollum dumps dead rabbits in Mr. Frodo's lap oh no what do I guess we'll cook them

In the book, Sam is active and orchestrating events.

Sam decides of his own accord that he wants to address their dwindling supplies:

Sam had been giving earnest thought to food as they marched. Now that the despair of the impassable Gate was behind him, he did not feel so inclined as his master to take no thought for their livelihood beyond the end of their errand; [in case you forgot. Earlier on Sam was like 'we won't have enough food for the way back' and frodo essentially responds with 'the way back. oh you sweet summer child'] and anyway it seemed wiser to him to save the waybread of the Elves for worse times ahead.

Note: This is all very good reasoning by Mr. Samwise and an excellent example of why he's so necessary to the quest! Yes, staying alive is step one.

But Where to get food? In both movie and book Sam is taking advantage of his resources (dead rabbits acquired via gollum), but in the book he's way more proactive about it:

An idea struck him and he turned to Gollum. Gollum had just begun to sneak off on his own, and he was crawling away on all fours through the fern. 'Hi! Gollum!' said Sam. 'Where are you going? Hunting? Well see here, old noser, you don't like our food, and I'd not be sorry for a change myself. Your new motto's always ready to help. Could you find anything fit for a hungry hobbit? ' 'Yes, perhaps, yes,' said Gollum. 'Sméagol always helps, if they asks-- if they asks nicely.' 'Right!' said Sam. 'I does ask. And if that isn't nice enough, I begs.'

In this point in the book Sam has now:

Decided of his own accord that he has a problem and that he wants to actively solve it

Arrived at a solution to the problem without any outside help or suggestions

Commanded Gollum to go hunt

In the point in the movie Sam has done:

Nothing

I'm not exaggerating. In the movie the scene hasn't started yet.

In both book and movie, rabbits are acquired a little while later. In the book this is a nonevent because Sam requested and expected rabbits. In the movie, the rabbits unexpectedly appear, and Gollum says they are for the hobbits to eat (Sam doesn't even come up with the idea to eat them on his own!)

They are young. They are tender. They are nice. Yes they are! Eat them! Eat them! [He bites and tears into the raw meat.]

GOLLUM SHOWED HIM HOW TO EAT THEM LIKE A MOTHER CAT.

Anyway, in the movie, we just cut to Sam stewing the rabbits after that.

But in the book, Sam isn't done arranging things:

He thought for a bit, while he took out his knife, cleaned and whetted it, and began to dress the rabbits. He was not going to leave Frodo alone asleep even for a few minutes. 'Now, Gollum,' he said, 'I've another job for you. Go and fill these pans with water, and bring 'em back! '

'Sméagol will fetch water, yes,' said Gollum. 'But what does the hobbit want all that water for? He has drunk, he has washed.' 'Never you mind,' said Sam. `If you can't guess, you'll soon find out. And the sooner you fetch the water, the sooner you'll learn. Don't you damage one of my pans, or I'll carve you into mincemeat.'

So now Sam has:

Decided of his own accord that he has a problem and that he wants to actively solve it

Arrived at a solution to the problem without any outside help or suggestions

Commanded Gollum to go hunt

Lovingly watched Frodo sleep

Collected rabbits after they were provided and begun skinning them

Assigned Gollum to fill his cook-pans

Gollum leaves to do this new errand and Sam starts building a cook fire.

He was just stooping over his fire, shielding it and building it up with heavier wood, when Gollum returned, carrying the pans carefully and grumbling to himself. He set the pans down, and then suddenly saw what Sam was doing. He gave a thin hissing shriek, and seemed to be both frightened and angry. 'Ach! Sss -- no!' he cried. 'No! Silly hobbits, foolish, yes foolish! They mustn't do it!' 'Mustn't do what?' asked Sam in surprise. 'Not make the nassty red tongues,' hissed Gollum. `Fire, fire! It's dangerous, yes it is. It burns, it kills. And it will bring enemies, yes it will.'

Sam has just been given a completely sane and rational reason why a fire is a bad idea (they are in a dangerous area and can't risk attention!) (as well as a reason that is less pertinent- it looks like Gollum is afraid of fire, and he may have sensible reasons to be afraid of fire because it is dangerous, but this is not Sam's problem)

Sam addresses the 'it will bring enemies' thing

'I don't think so,' said Sam. `Don't see why it should, if you don't put wet stuff on it and make a smother. But if it does, it does. I'm going to risk it, anyhow. I'm going to stew these coneys.'

And Sam is like, nah.

Now Gollum gets upset that he's 'ruining good meat' by cooking it

Now Sam de-escalates

Now, now! ' said Sam. 'Each to his own fashion. Our bread chokes you, and raw coney chokes me. If you give me a coney, the coney's mine, see, to cook, if I have a mind. And I have. You needn't watch me. Go and catch another and eat it as you fancy -- somewhere private and out o' my sight. Then you won't see the fire, and I shan't see you, and we'll both be the happier. [He still managed to slip in a 'get out of my sight'] I'll see the fire don't smoke, if that's any comfort to you.'

In the movie he just insults the quality of the meat:

SAM What's to ruin? There's hardly any meat on 'em.

...which I suppose is fair in this alternate universe where the rabbits were just dumped in his lap, unwanted.

Then in the movie they skip to the taters conversation, but in the book, there's more!

Back to the book:

Gollum withdrew grumbling, and crawled into the fern. Sam busied himself with his pans. 'What a hobbit needs with coney,' he said to himself, 'is some herbs and roots, especially taters -- not to mention bread. Herbs we can manage, seemingly.' 'Gollum!' he called softly. 'Third time pays for all. I want some herbs.'

Gollum says no.

'Sméagol'll get into real true hot water, when this water boils, if he don't do as he's asked,' growled Sam. 'Sam'll put his head in it, yes precious. And I'd make him look for turnips and carrots, and taters too, if it was the time o' the year. I'll bet there's all sorts of good things running wild in this country. I'd give a lot for half a dozen taters.'

Now Gollum asks what taters are, gets a cryptic answer, and is offered a kind of food he has just expressed he does not want (cooked food) and again ordered to fetch herbs. Gollum declines.

'You couldn't say no to that.' 'Yes, yes we could. Spoiling nice fish, scorching it. Give me fish now, and keep nassty chips!' 'Oh you're hopeless,' said Sam. 'Go to sleep!'

The movie finally has some of the same words in almost the same place:

SAM PO-TAY-TOES! Boil 'em. Mash 'em. Stick 'em in a stew. Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish…. SM�AGOL [i'm not fixing it blah] [Sticks out his tongue in disgust] Pbbbttt!! [so now he's just devolved into making fart noises] SAM Even you couldn't say no to that. [He takes a sip of the stew] SM�AGOL Oh yes we could! Spoil nice fish... [scrambles up close to Sam] Give it to usss rrraw... and wrrriggling! [That line is not in the book. every time i see it quoted i age a year] [Makes sickeningly happy face.] You keep nasty chips. [Hops away] SAM You're hopeless.

The scene here ends in the movie.

In the movie, Sam has:

Watched rabbits be thrown at Frodo

Started cooking them after being all but commanded to eat them

Had some banter with Gollum

Left the scene without eating his stew

Sam is a passive character who is not orchestrating events, but rather reacting to them. A character being passive is not in and of itself a bad thing. I am only pointing it out because it is different from the book and a big change to this specific character (wanted to mention that because some people really don't like passive characters in general, I think they have a place. Frodo is rather passive in this scene but he obviously has a purpose.)

...In the book, Sam stews the rabbits for an hour and then eats the stew with Frodo

Frodo yawned and stretched. 'You should have been resting Sam,' he said. 'And lighting a fire was dangerous in these parts.

Wow! Was it? I feel like someone mentioned that earlier.

'Gollum! ' Sam called and whistled softly. 'Come on! Still time to change your mind. There's some left, if you want to try stewed coney.' There was no answer. 'Oh well, I suppose he's gone off to find something for himself. We'll finish it,' said Sam. [...] We don't see eye to eye, and he's not pleased with Sam, O no precious, not pleased at all.'

Whyever not?

To sum, book!Sam has:

Decided of his own accord that he has a problem and that he wants to actively solve it

Decided he's going to assign Gollum to the problem (This also demonstrates Sam's interpersonal intelligence. He notices what Gollum's capable of and understands intuitively how it can be turned to something industrious and useful) (Sam has made some missteps in other areas which are in the next section)

Commanded Gollum to go hunt

Collected rabbits after they were provided (according to his request), and began skinning them

Watched Frodo sleep

Assigned Gollum to fill his cook-pans, specifically because he does not want to leave Gollum and Frodo alone together, which is sensible

Threatened to carve Gollum into mincemeat, while holding a knife

Watched Frodo sleep and reflected on his poor health

Skinned the rabbits and put them in stew

Been told a cook fire is a bad idea and declined to stop what he's doing. A character being told to stop doing something & continuing with it anyway is another way for that character to show agency.

Asked Gollum to fetch herbs and potatoes (was refused)

Foraged a few herbs himself

Eaten lovely stew (while lamenting that there are no onions in it, and no bowls to put it in ;_;)

Offered Gollum stew long after (hours after) Gollum got angry and left

...all because Sam initially decided he wanted to acquire and cook food, and then took every necessary step to make that happen of his own accord.

Sam is an active character with high agency.

He is also showing more care for Frodo here (watching him while asleep and fretting over his health, lamenting that he somehow made rabbit stew from nothing by using his resources (which do here include another character- people are also resources!) but he can't put it in a nice bowl for mr. frodo- there's just a lot more here, which is natural because prose is a more detail-rich medium. Not all of this would have fit in the movie and I'm not saying it should have.

Even allowing for time, however, I do think there would have been a way to collapse this scene to the needed time requirement and still have Sam in charge of it instead of Gollum.

The scene finally ends on:

Then he noticed a thin spiral of blue-grey, smoke, plain to see as it caught the sunlight, rising from a thicket above him. With a shock he realized that this was the smoke from his little cooking-fire, which he had neglected to put out.

Did anyone foresee this?

Gollum

In the movie, Gollum is foisting a gift on Frodo and forcing social interaction that he doesn't want.

In the book, Gollum wants to go away somewhere so he can eat and is pressed into reluctant manual labor instead

Gollum is a little different from the other two characters in that his personality and motivations are also completely different here. (Where as Sam at least still has the same goals of looking after Frodo and making food.)

The scene is in Sam's POV so what Gollum is thinking and feeling has to be inferred from his actions/words/tone, but he's not exactly subtle.

The movie scene starts off with Gollum turning up with rabbits. He dumps them in Frodo's lap. He makes a spectacle of himself. He starts mauling the corpses.

The book scene starts off with Gollum trying to slip away somewhere to eat in private.

That's another thing. Gollum doesn't demonstratively bite into things Gollum always slips away somewhere to eat in private. Earlier:

It was actually not long before Gollum returned; but he came so quietly that they did not hear him till he stood before them. His fingers and face were soiled with black mud. He was still chewing and slavering. [He didn't bring food back on purpose. He's still chewing because he only has six teeth.] What he was chewing, they did not ask or like to think. 'Worms or beetles or something slimy out of holes,' thought Sam. 'Brr! The nasty creature; the poor wretch! ' Gollum said nothing to them, until he had drunk deeply and washed himself in the stream. Then he came up to them, licking his lips. 'Better now,' he said.

(Emphasis added.. Imagine you just recruited a serial killer to your D&D-party-in-real-life and he silently turns up covered in mud and won't talk to you. It looks like he's been eating bugs. He won't speak. he won't tell you what he's eating.)

Back to the scene in question: Gollum's leaving. Sam flags him down and asks him to hunt.

'Hi! Gollum!' said Sam. 'Where are you going? Hunting? Well see here, old noser, you don't like our food, and I'd not be sorry for a change myself. Your new motto's always ready to help. Could you find anything fit for a hungry hobbit? '

He asks in an insulting and confrontational way. ('old noser' + 'Your new motto's always ready to help' reeking of suspicion)

To be clear, I'm not criticizing Sam whatsoever for disliking and being suspicious of the known murderer he's traveling with against his will. but the way he talks to Gollum does have consequences.

'Yes, perhaps, yes,' said Gollum. 'Sméagol always helps, if they asks -- if they asks nicely.'

Gollum is reluctant and asks to be treated politely. I don't find this response disproportionate or unreasonable. Consider what would happen if anyone talked to LOTR-era Bilbo Baggins the way Sam just talked to Gollum. The ash would still be falling from the sky.

Anyway Sam's response is to mimic the way he talks.

'Right!' said Sam. 'I does ask. And if that isn't nice enough, I begs.'

Gollum leaves, and is gone a long time. While he's gone, Sam gazes lovingly at Frodo, and - this is not directly relevant but I wanted to note it:

Gollum returned quietly and peered over Sam's shoulder. Looking at Frodo, he shut his eyes and crawled away without a sound. [Seeing that Sam and Frodo are occupied, Gollum slips away without interrupting, which is also a different vibe from 'assaulting Frodo with rabbits while he's just sitting there.'] Sam came to him a moment later and found him chewing something and muttering to himself

Look! There's a character arc happening in the background [but not in the movies] It will reach fruition at Cirith Ungol [in the books]

Anyway, Gollum is chewing on something so he's clearly taken time out to hunt for himself as well (note for context: He's disastrously underweight and has been complaining of hunger).

On the ground beside him lay two small rabbits, which he was beginning to eye greedily. 'Sméagol always helps,' he said. `He has brought rabbits, nice rabbits. But master has gone to sleep, and perhaps Sam wants to sleep. Doesn't want rabbits now? Sméagol tries to help, but he can't catch things all in a minute.'

Gollum has brought rabbits on command, and he's reluctant to hand them over. This is the direct opposite of bringing rabbits of his own accord out of nowhere and forcing them onto somebody.

'Now, Gollum,' he said, 'I've another job for you. Go and fill these pans with water, and bring 'em back! ' 'Sméagol will fetch water, yes,' said Gollum. 'But what does the hobbit want all that water for? He has drunk, he has washed.' 'Never you mind,' said Sam.

That was a reasonable question, asked politely and prefaced by 'yes I'll do it'. There's no call for a 'never you mind' and there's certainly no call for this:

`If you can't guess, you'll soon find out. And the sooner you fetch the water, the sooner you'll learn. Don't you damage one of my pans, or I'll carve you into mincemeat.'

Gollum does the work and is careful with the pans as requested.

He was just stooping over his fire, shielding it and building it up with heavier wood, when Gollum returned, carrying the pans carefully and grumbling to himself.

He set the pans down, and then suddenly saw what Sam was doing.

Gollum discovers that 'Never you mind' meant 'I am going to do something you find dangerous and terrifying' i'm pretty sure this is what he's seeing in his POV

He gave a thin hissing shriek, and seemed to be both frightened and angry. `Ach! Sss -- no!' he cried.

Gollum gets angry.

At this point in the movie, Gollum has:

Dumped rabbits in Frodo's lap

Told him to eat them

Played with the dead animals in front of Frodo

there's a cut to Sam cooking the rabbits- Gollum makes no comment at all on the safety or feasibility of a fire, but gets right up close to it to peer into the cookpot, so he must not be too scared of it.

In the book, Gollum has:

Tried to slip away, presumably to eat, because he's hungry. Or maybe he just wants alone time! Shelob is not in visiting range. He's not being dastardly. Leave him alone

He's been flagged down to do additional work, and interrupted from whatever he wanted to do

Went off somewhere. Caught two rabbits (with his bare hands, I assume??) Also caught at least one other thing, because he's chewing something when he comes back

Came back with rabbits

Left Sam to his tender moment with Frodo and went off for more alone time

Gently floated the idea that perhaps Sam doesn't want these rabbits anymore, surrendered the rabbits when asked

Agreed to another errand that is probably difficult for him to do, after hunting down at least two rabbits Up to this point Gollum has been called 'old noser', had his speech patterns parroted at him in a mocking way, had a polite question refused, and been told he will be 'carved into mincemeat' if he damages the cooking pans (does Gollum even know what a cooking pan is? When was the last time he's seen one? Was he just handed some foreign object and told 'put water in it and don't break it' 'of course! why?' 'stfu') Gollum has a whole long complicated history that would reasonably make him very prone to difficulties with emotional regulation. Severe trauma and centuries of social isolation are involved.

He only just now gets angry, now that he thinks Sam is going to start a forest fire and summon orcs and the first word out of his mouth is a relatively restrained 'Ach!' a word that doesn't even start with an F!

Gollum says fire is harmful and will draw enemy attention. Sam says essentially 'probably not but if it does that's too bad'.

Another bit of context is that Gollum has been presenting himself as the 'wilderness survival guy' and has obvious pride when he's talking about finding his way through the marsh. Sam isn't just being dismissive of Gollum, he's particularly dismissing something Gollum has real knowledge of and takes pride in that has nothing to do with being a corrupted evildoer.

Then Sam says he's going to cook the food.

'Stew the rabbits!' squealed Gollum in dismay. `Spoil beautiful meat Sméagol saved for you, poor hungry Sméagol! What for? What for, silly hobbit? They are young, they are tender, they are nice. Eat them, eat them!' He clawed at the nearest rabbit, already skinned and lying by the fire.

After all of that, we are at 'They are young, they are tender, they are nice. Eat them, eat them!' In the movie, the scene started with this line, apropros of nothing, and it's just. Yelled at Frodo. It's an invitation.

In the book: The same line is a cry of frustration. This isn't a non sequitur, this is a last straw! Gollum is hungry. He's been chronically hungry for a long time. The rabbits are exactly the kind of thing he likes to eat. They must smell amazing to him because now they're skinned. He had to turn them over to Sam after going to the work of hunting them (he didn't have to do this, he could have just not come back, or pretended he didn't find anything- whether or not his motives are pure, and they probably aren't, he's doing what he promised).

In return: Sam told him to do more work, and then started a fire- which Gollum seems to genuinely think is idiotic and puts his own safety at risk because he's stuck with these hobbits for the time being- Sam won't listen to reason and put it out, and to add insult to injury, that meat he insisted on?

HE'S JUST GOING TO RUIN IT

Imagine you were hungry and you brought someone an oreo (also you had to wander around in the woods and find the oreo and then surprise it from behind and break its neck), and that person just! scraped off the cream filling and replaced it with spray cheese! after that person called you a jerk and set a fire in a trash can! Maybe that person loves spray-cheese oreos! Maybe everyone but you loves them! I think you'd still be frustrated! (If you're the person who loves spray cheese oreos, pretend it's something else.)

On my first reading of the book this is where I got that sinking 'I am feeling a mite sympathetic to the horrible murderer that I know is just going to stay evil and die in the end' feeling. Gollum is being dreadfully annoying, but he's been pushed past his ability to self-regulate. It feels like the dynamic of antagonizing someone until they melt down and then criticizing them for melting down (Sam is not intending to do this, and doesn't even seem to notice that's what's happened, but the result is the same.)

Sam smooths things over and lets Gollum leave! until

Until

'Gollum!' he called softly. 'Third time pays for all. I want some herbs.' Gollum's head peeped out of the fern, but his looks were neither helpful nor friendly.

WHYEVER NOT?

'A few bay-leaves, some thyme and sage, will do -- before the water boils,' said Sam. 'No! ' said Gollum. `Sméagol is not pleased. And Sméagol doesn't like smelly leaves. He doesn't eat grasses or roots, no precious, not till he's starving or very sick, poor Sméagol.'

(Gollum was retching at the scent of flowers earlier. He may be annoyingly dramatic but I have no cause to doubt that they really did make him feel ill)

(also, I'm out in the weeds speculating now, but I just noticed Gollum is starting to spout off talking about himself and how he feels after Sam pooh-poohed his fretting about the fire, and it feels like a bid for recognition, did you notice Sam has not been calling him Sméagol? Sam isn't using his real name.)

The response:

'Sméagol'll get into real true hot water, when this water boils, if he don't do as he's asked,' growled Sam.

Gollum is here under duress and is cooperating with a quest that is in every way opposed to his personal interests and survival.

'Sméagol won't go, O no precious, not this time,' hissed Gollum. 'He's frightened, and he's very tired, and this hobbit's not nice, not nice at all. Sméagol won't grub for roots and carrotses and -- taters. What's taters, precious, eh, what's taters?

He hasn't had any rest because he was immediately sent off to hunt. I'll bet he is tired

Gollum is still willing to stop being angry because he saw a shiny new word, let's see how this goes

`Po-ta-toes,' said Sam. 'The Gaffer's delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly. But you won't find any, so you needn't look. But be good Sméagol and fetch me the herbs, and I'll think better of you

Sam gives a cryptic answer and demands more work. 'I'll think better of you?' Lies! Gollum just did two errands and received nothing but more verbal abuse. Sam did not even thank him. This was where on my first reading I was saying to myself 'oh no Sam is mishandling this really badly and doesn't even notice'

I'll cook you some taters one of these days. I will: fried fish and chips served by S. Gamgee. You couldn't say no to that.' 'Yes, yes we could. Spoiling nice fish, scorching it. Give me fish now, and keep nassty chips! ' 'Oh you're hopeless,' said Sam. 'Go to sleep!'

Gollum doesn't understand what chips are. He just said he doesn't like plants or cooked food. He's tired and hungry and has been ordered around all day. He did everything asked up to now and in return he gets called hopeless.

Sméagol willingly, nonconfrontationally, successfully did two out of the three tasks, and when he refuses a third task after being demeaned and dismissed, he's called hopeless.

So Gollum leaves. That's the end of his involvement in this scene. he didn't hit anyone, bite anyone, or call Sam anything worse than 'not nice', 'silly' and 'foolish' (He does not call Sam a 'stupid fat hobbit', that appears to be a movie invention as well)

In the movies, he threw dead animals at frodo and some of this dialog was said without any of the context. haha funni.

The takeaways from the book version are that Gollum can understand and follow verbal commands and do errands (this is important because Gollum needs to be somewhat sane and lucid in order to satisfyingly be held accountable for his crimes), will cooperate when asked, communicates poorly, has trouble controlling his temper, and may at any time be in physical distress and not show it. (He doesn't give outward signs of fatigue.)

The takeaways from the movie version seem to be that Gollum is hyperactive, doesn't understand facial expressions, and finds cooking to be an alien custom. No one tried to ask him to do anything, so I have no idea whether he can understand requests and do tasks or not. May or may not be lucid.

Can we at least agree that Sam saying 'You're hopeless' after this:

Give it to usss rrraw… and wrrriggling! [Makes sickeningly happy face.]

is a different vibe from Sam saying 'You're hopeless' after hearing this?

'[Sméagol]'s frightened, and he's very tired, and this hobbit's not nice, not nice at all.'

Summary

Why is this scene the opposite?

Frodo has gone from being asleep but serving as an emotional anchor (both Sam and Gollum look at him and have some kind of emotional revelation, although the latter has his in private and we don't ever know what it is, the cad) to being awake but doing nothing and leaving. (He does go and find Faramir when the scene ends, but at that point, we are moving on to the next scene. so I don't count it.) Frodo has gone from affecting events while asleep to having no effect while awake

Sam has gone from being in charge of what's happening to passively reacting to a chaos gremlin

Gollum has gone from following orders until he can't take it anymore and suffering to being a chaos gremlin who does whatever he wants and seemingly having a good time? he's dancing around

The stew goes from eaten to uneaten

The overall purpose of the original scene appears to have been mainly to establish character and relationship dynamics. The movie scene... is doing the same, I suppose, but it's so brief and stripped of context that it almost feels like an homage more than a real scene, like it's there because they couldn't get away with entirely cutting it. And as every character is behaving contrary to what they used to in one form or another, the overall effect is:

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Ask me about the waterfall scene next

#long post #never ask me about the waterfall scene

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theglassofmiddleearth · 2 years

Text

Imagine being in the mines of Moria with the fellowship.

Pippin: Are we lost?

Merry: No

Pippin: I think we are

Merry: *shushes him*

Y/N: Gandalf's thinking.

Frodo: *notices Gollum* Y/N, Gandalf! There's something down there.

Y/N: *turns to Gandalf* You wanna take this one?

Gandalf: *mutters* Not unless you wish to tell me the way.

Y/N: *grins* When in doubt Gandalf, when in doubt.

Turns to Frodo

Y/N: My dear, that would be Gollum.

Frodo: Gollum?

Y/N: Yes, I think he’s been following us for three days now. Probably set free from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. He wants what you carry upon your neck.

Frodo: The Ring?

Y/N: Yes, he will spend the rest of his life following where the ring goes, for he loves and hates the ring. Just as he loves and hates himself.

Gandalf: Sméagol’s story is quite a sad one.

Frodo: Sméagol?

Y/N: Yes, that was what he was called. Before the Ring found him, and drove him mad.

Frodo: Pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance.

Y/N: Pity? No my dear boy.

Gandalf: It was pity that stilled Bilbo’s hand.

Y/N: *grits her teeth* Many that live deserve death

Legolas and Gimli : *both look at Y/N and frown*

Gandalf: And some that that die, deserve life. Can you give it to them Frodo?

Y/N: Do not be too eager to deal out death and judgement dear one. Even the very wise cannot see all ends.

Gandalf: *narrows his eyes at Y/N before turning back to Frodo* My heart tells me there is still some part for Gollum to play whether for ill or for good.

Y/N: The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many.

Frodo: I wish the ring never came to me. I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not up to them to decide.

Y/N: All we can do, is to decide what to do with the time that was given to us.

Gandalf: There are other forces at work in this world and out of it Frodo, *glances at Y/N* besides the will of evil.

Y/N: Bilbo was meant to find the ring, and therefore you were meant to carry it. *grins down at Frodo* Now isn't that an encouraging thought?

Gandalf: Ah its that way!

Merry: He’s remembered!

Gandalf and Y/N: No.

Gandalf: But the air doesn’t smell so foul down here.

Y/N: *grins at Gandalf* When in doubt my friends, follow your nose.

Legolas: I thought it was follow your heart.

Aragorn: As did I

Y/N: Now now my dear friends, your heart goes third and your nose goes second!

Legolas: *puzzled* Then what goes first?

Both grin and look at each other

Aragorn: Her stomach.

Y/N: My stomach.

Sam: Quite wise of you miss Y/N.

Y/N: Thank you Sam.

All walk through the tunnel.

Legolas: *to Aragorn* Do you know what Y/N likes to eat?

Aragorn: Anything that she can get her hands on. Why so curious Legolas.

Legolas: *hurriedly* Just want to know what fuels such a dwarf sized human.

Y/N: I heard that.

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invisiblewashboard · 4 months

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Small Child’s Thoughts on “The Taming of Sméagol”

Oh, we are back with Frodo and Sam now. I almost forgot all about them because they were gone for so long.

Sounds like they are on a bad hike, don’t you think?

If Frodo wants to go quickly, they just need to run really quickly and destroy that Ring. It will be better if they go fast.

Gollum eats babies and that is maybe the worst thing I have ever heard of. Frodo hates these hills and I hate Gollum.

This is a really long hike.

They are doing too much talking about climbing and not doing enough climbing.

Uh oh, if they are outside and there’s thunder, they are in danger. What if they get struck by lightening.

Did Frodo die from that fall? (Let’s keep reading, then we will find out.) No! I want you to tell me now, I am scared Frodo is dead!

Oh. Frodo is not dead. That’s good to know.

Oh no, no! Is the hail big? Is it as big as gold balls? Will they get hit on the head?

Sam is being rude calling names like that. I do not think it’s good to call even yourself bad names like that.

Those black riders can fly, we know that because we read it already. But Frodo and Sam don’t. This makes me nervous. I wish they knew the same things we knew.

At last they are doing real climbing and not only talking or falling.

Hobbit fingers are strong even though they are small. My fingers are small. But I wish they were stronger.

Ha! Sam did not tie that knot very well!

Um, Sam is just wrong. Because rope does not have any of the five senses, so it could not have heard Sam, even if Sam did call. And Sam did not call the rope anyway.

Why did this book say “it was not wide, but it was too wide to jump across?” If it is too wide to jump across it, it is wide.

Hey, I know what adders are! We just read about those snakes in school!

I forgot that I do not like your voice you do when you read Gollum’s words. It is not a kind voice.

Gollum says very unkind things. He should not hate Frodo and Sam.

Do not bite people! That is just very, very bad to do! I would be very angry if Gollum bit me.

I think Gollum is lying. I do not think he will be nice to them at all.

Why doesn’t Gollum want them to go to Mordor? (Because he wants to have the Ring.) Well, that is just not going to be good for him. I wish Frodo would go fast to Mordor to get rid of that Ring.

Is Gollum nocturnal? Maybe that’s why he does not like the light. I like the light. The sun makes me feel warm and happy. But… it’s not very warm right now, even when the sun is shining because it is winter.

I think if Gollum is going to promise, he just needs to let his yes be yes. That is in the Bible. Just mean what you say. That’s a good way to do things.

Silence does not have any color because it is not something you see. You just hear it. Or maybe you don’t because there isn’t anything to hear. But silence just can’t be black is all that I’m saying.

#small child's thoughts #lord of the rings #lotr #jrr tolkien #the two towers #read aloud #first read through #I’ve gotten lazy with posting these #life is stupid busy right now

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middle-earth-mythopoeia · 6 months

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Top 5 favorite Frodo Baggins moments?

Oooh, thanks for the ask! This is such a good question, and it's so hard to answer! These are just the top 5 I can think of right now, because let's be real, every moment in the entire Lord of the Rings is my favorite Frodo moment!

5. When he's planning to leave the Shire and all his friends totally see through it, because he's been muttering about it to himself in a very obvious way for ages, and then he's actually SURPRISED that they know about everything AND they insist on coming with him! Also the entire Crickhollow part is just perfect. And the journey there.

4. When Gildor DOESN'T give him advice, and Frodo says, "Go not to the Elves for counsel for they will answer both no and yes." His sense of humor is so underrated! Also I love how in that part the Elves are so impressed by his ability to speak Elvish. As someone who is also fascinated by Elvish, I love that Frodo is canonically a nerd.

3. When he and Sam hold hands and sleep next to each other during the journey through Cirith Ungol. I don't know, I could pick literally any scene with Frodo and Sam, but those moments stand out to me because of what a horrifying place it is and how they take comfort in each other's presence.

2. When he has pity for Sméagol and spares his life. This is obviously a crucial element of the story for reasons I don't even need to explain... But on the same note, I think it's really important that he prevents hobbits from killing each other during the Scouring of the Shire, and it really exemplifies why he's such a good person. 1. And finally, when he volunteers to take the Ring. Is anyone surprised this is number one? I mean, it's THE bravest and most selfless thing you could pretty much ever do. I just love Frodo so much. I have to quote the scene here because it is SO GOOD:

��I will take the Ring,’ he said, ‘though I do not know the way.’ Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him, and Frodo felt his heart pierced by the sudden keenness of the glance. ‘If I understand aright all that I have heard,’ he said, ‘I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no one will. This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? But it is a heavy burden. So heavy that none could lay it on another. I do not lay it on you. But if you take it freely, I will say that your choice is right; and though all the mighty elf-friends of old, Hador, and Húrin, and Túrin, and Beren himself were assembled together, your seat should be among them.’

YES! YES! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS! I have nothing helpful to add just YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! His seat WOULD be among them!

#thank you so much for the ask <3 #this was a really good one #asks #Frodo #my writing

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trahald-the-burrower · 5 months

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Happy 20th Anniversary to Jackson's Return of the King!

In honor of the 20th anniversary of Peter Jackson's Return of the King, I drew my favorite scene in the movie!

Déagol: I caught a fish, Sméag! Sméagol! Sméagol: Pull it in! Go on, go on, go on! Pull it in!

I saw this movie in the theaters when it was released, and I was very excited to see young Sméagol!!! And shocked! I was also very incredibly disappointed because I hadn't read ROTK yet at that point and didn't know Sméagollum died. Very depressing! BUT, I'm glad at least that he didn't die miserably in the films, he finally reclaimed his precious and had a nice big smile, and didn't seem to be in a great deal of pain, he was so focused on the ring. And at least he was alive for most of the film, and very fun to watch ~

This is the order of my favorite scenes in ROTK:

1.) The Finding of the Ring (I really love that we got to see young Sméagol, see what he was like before the Ring, see Déagol and his relationship with him, see the transformation Sméagol went through! Amazing!)

2.) Gollum's Villainy (I just really love when Gollum and Sméagol talk to each other, they're very funny and it's wonderful to see them scheming.)

3.) The Stairs of Cirith Ungol (I LOVE how Sméagollum convinces Frodo that Sam wants the Ring, how close he gets, whispering in his ear, it's delicious~)

4.) Mount Doom (I love when Sméagollum attacks Frodo, it pleases me in many ways, the way he CHOKES him, mocks him! "Sméagol lied"!!! it gives me the shiveries ~ )

5.) Sam's Warning (Sméagollum knowing Sam knows he's up to something, and knowing Sam can't do anything about it, he just SMILES, and leans against the rocks looking so devious and pleased with himself, I love him so much)

6.) The Parting of Sam and Frodo (Sméagollum pretending to be asleep, so cleverly framing Sam, convincing Frodo that he TAKES things! Frodo choosing Sméagollum over Sam, YES!!!)

7.) Shelob's Lair (Sméagollum's clever plan, I love when he mockingly sings to him as he's stuck in the web, and I also love how Frodo wants to choke Sméagollum but stops himself. Sméagol's face when Frodo tells him he has to destroy it, Frodo saying "I have to destroy it for both our sakes", he cares about Sméagol even yet, beautiful!!)

8.) Crack of Doom (Sméagollum attacking Frodo, biting his finger off, reclaming the precious at last! Dancing and overjoyed! He and Frodo becoming one, fighting over the Ring, neither able to let it go!)

9.) Journey to the Cross-Roads (Wake up SLEEPIES!)

10.) Cross-Roads of the Fallen King ("We're not IN decent places..." "Come on HOBBITS!")

11.) Minas Morgal ("Full of... enemies...")

#gollum #sméagol #smeagol #the lord of the rings #lord of the rings #smeagolsfriend #andy serkis #peter jackson #lotr #the hobbit #rotk #return of the king #anniversary #return of the king 20th anniversary #20th anniversary #trahald #trahald the burrower #myart

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respectthepetty · 1 year

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I do not want the power of polls. There's too much potential for corruption. It's like giving the Ring to Sméagol. One day I'm over here giddy about colors then the next day I'm hitting your dash with:

How should Chopper kill his dad?

Shot to the heart

Push him out the window

Have Palm do it

Should Thua have outed Akk?

Yes

He could've left Ayan out of it

Should Team go to therapy?

Yes

Sí

Yes, but with Win as part of couple's counseling

Have you recovered from the red bra scene in ITSAY?

I had until you mentioned it again.

Can we ever fully recover from that personal attack?

I never moved past it. I've been stuck in that scene for three years.

How many times has Mon cried because of Sam?

1-3

4-6

@staff I am weak. I'll let the polls consume me. I don't want to be Gollum. Don't hand me the weapon I'll use to destroy myself.

#Never Let Me Go #The Eclipse #Between Us #I Told Sunset About You #GAP the series #Don't give me polls #I don't need assistance to ruin myself #I can do that all on my own without polls #It's too much power for the weak like me #Hide the button from me!

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fellowship-of-sleep-reads · 2 months

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Okay, now that I've finished Ch. 1. I have this little post it sticker where I'm making interesting notes as I go (otherwise I won't remember 💀). And this one thing caught my eye.

In the prologue, Tolkien describes their house structure as being inspired by their old underground holes, or smials. Now, this is interesting because it sounds an awful lot like Sméagol, who happens to live in a hole (cave). So of course I had to double check that root, and what do you know:

Sméagol apparently means burrowed, similar to Smaug's "to squeeze through a hole". I don't know if this is very old news to some of you, but I read the books a very long time ago, and these details weren't as important to me back then. I thought it was neat!

Also, here's my ✨ post-it ✨

-> "Take care! I don't care." (amazing savagery by Bilbo YES)

-> Gandalf was basically a party clown to the Hobbits and that's just hilarious to me, no matter how many times I see it

#submission #fos reads lotr

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is-it-mungojerry-or-rumpelteazer · 1 year

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'Po – ta – toes,' said Sam. 'The Gaffer's delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly. But you won't find any, so you needn't look. But be good Sméagol and fetch me the herbs, and I'll think better of you. What's more, if you turn over a new leaf, and keep it turned, I'll cook you some taters one of these days. I will: fried fish and chips served by S. Gamgee. You couldn't say no to that.'

'Yes, yes we could. Spoiling nice fish, scorching it. Give me fish now, and keep nassty chips!'

1. Okay, yeah, Sam has been super mean to Gollum all this conversation, and he kind of still is being so, but also... This is a hobbit. Offering to cook for someone. That is a peace offering if I’ve ever seen one.

2. Gollum was a hobbit, once. I think that is a sign of his corruption on par with him not liking the sun: he can’t appreciate good food. I refuse to believe his grandmother ate raw rabbit. It’s kind of heartbreaking how he has clearly completely forgotten everything that made him “human”.

3. I am now struck with the fact that hobbits have invented fish and chips. Do they also serve it on newspaper pages? Is it also a pub thing? How British can these guys get??

#lotr newsletter #lord of the rings #text posts #quotes #samwise gamgee #Gollum #lotr newsletter: march 7th

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k-she-rambles · 1 year

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'Fissh, nice fissh. White Face has vanished, my precious, at last, yes. Now we can eat fish in peace. No, not in peace, precious. For Precious is lost; yes, lost. Dirty hobbits, nasty hobbits. Gone and left us, gollum; and Precious is gone. Only poor Sméagol all alone. No Precious. Nasty Men, they'll take it, steal my Precious. Thieves. We hates them. Fissh, nice fissh. Makes us strong. Makes eyes bright, fingers tight, yes. Throttle them, precious. Throttle them all, yes, if we gets chances. Nice fissh. Nice fissh!'

This is so creepy and so sad. He's so reduced: food, the Ring, resentment, turning those things over and over in his mind. It reminds me a little of Lewis' fictional Napoleon, in the Great Divorce --he becomes "a grumble" instead of going on the buses to heaven.

#lotr newsletter #march 8

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random-jot · 2 years

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Top 15 Current Favourite Movies Tag

Tagged by @smalltownfae !!! Thank you 😸

Fair warning, this is gonna be a long’un, but here we go, starting with the top spot:

1. Jurassic Park

Dinosaur kid gang rise up! Everything about this movie is so good, as a kid I loved it because big dinosaurs make brain go brrr, growing up I grew to appreciate the direction, the cast, the storytelling element of it, the character arc of Alan Grant learning to accept the responsibilities of being a parent, with commentary on the dangers of abusing scientific progress and trying to subdue nature oh my god this movie is good. No wasted space in this movie as well, every single scene adds something, some other layer to it. God, remember when the Jurassic movies were actually about something? This movie absolutely rules.

2. The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

You do not have to follow me for a long time before realising I FUCKING LOVE Lord Of The Rings, I grew up with these movies and rewatching them - especially this one - feels like coming home. The attention to detail, the care taken in adapting Tolkien’s work, the cast, the insanely-good-for-the-time special effects (I’m talking about the Balrog sequence, not so much the Elrond’s floating head bit) the goddamn score? Howard Shore went off. These movies will always hold a special place in my heart. Buckle in, ‘cause you might’ve guessed what the next two are gonna be.

3. The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

What can I say here that I didn’t say above? Well, I love the new characters we get; Treebeard, Faramir, Éomer and Éowyn, et al. The way this movie takes time to really demonstrate the impact of Saruman’s warmongering and devastation; the Two Towers is a war movie disguised as a fantasy movie. I adore the further development of Merry and Pippin’s character arcs, forcing the two seemingly most dependable members of the Fellowship into a situation where they have to fend for themselves, allowing them both to grow. Helms Deep. Just, all of Helms Deep. And of course the absolutely incredible performance of Andy Serkis as Gollum/Sméagol is just the cherry on top of it all.

4. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

C’mon, you knew this was coming. This is one of the earliest movies I really vividly remember seeing in cinemas, feeling the sheer excitement of it all as the New Line Cinema logo fades in. The emotional payoffs in this movie are second to none. “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you” “Are you going to leave me? No Merry, I’m going to look after you” “I am no man” “My friends, you bow to no-one” “I will not say do not weep for not all tears are an evil.” Pippin’s growth as a character is incredible and not talked about enough, and the way that Frodo returns after the war but knows he is so fundamentally changed and traumatised by his experience that he can never truly return to the life he once had and aaaaaaaaaa i just really fucking love Lord Of The Rings!

5. Spider-Man (2002)

“I had a father. And his name was Ben Parker.” It’s more than just nostalgia goggles on this one; was Tobey a bit too old to play a high-schooler? Yes. Did Raimi take some artistic liberties with the source material? Sure. But do Tobey and Kirsten have amazing on-screen chemistry? Yes! Does this movie accurately reflect what Spider-Man is all about at its core? One hundred percent!

6. Spider-Man 2

It’s often said that the sequel is always worse that the original - this movie may just be an exception to that rule. It further develops all the characters in a really compelling way, especially in the bubbling conflict between Peter and Harry, but perhaps the most outstanding feature of this one is Alfred Molina’s turn as the villainous Doctor Otto Octavius. The tragic downfall of Dock Ock is one the most compelling parts of this movie, culminating in one of the greatest superhero fight scenes ever put to screen; that being the train scene. I won’t delve too deeply into behind the scenes drama, but it is something of a minor miracle that this movie was even good, let alone great, but here it stands: an iconic piece of superhero cinema.

7. Rat Race

“My grandfather used to say good things take time; great things happen all at once.” A change of pace here, no superhero’s or sci-fi antics, this is a balls-to-the-wall feel good comedy with an absolutely star-studded cast; John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopie Goldberg, to name a few. I’ve never put on this movie and had a bad time, in fact no matter how many times I watch it is always elicits a good few laugh out loud moments that never lose their impact.

8. Kingsman: The Secret Service

This is one of few movies, in fact perhaps the only movie, that I walked out of after seeing the first time and thought, nay, knew ‘this is one of my favourite movies of all time’ and that sentiment has stayed true to this day. The church scene is of course amazing, but the movie is so much more than just that. This movie is a masterclass in keeping tension, a loving homage to the spy movies of old with an infectious new directing style and impeccable choreography, with both a licensed soundtrack and an original soundtrack that elevate the entire experience. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I saw this for the first time, it’s got action, laughs, gadgets, style and substance in spades. It’s just a shame that the sequels did away with the substance part of that equation. I also maintain that this is the best James Bond movie ever made.

9. The Faculty

A more obscure cult movie, though surprisingly star-studded. This is the sci-fi horror counterpart to Scream, kicking off strong as it opens with The Offspring’s ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ and shortly introducing us to Casey, played by a pre-LOTR Elijah Wood no less! An unlikely group of teens team up to prevent alien parasites taking over their school and it is a gory and glorious rollercoaster ride of insanity. Like with Rat Race, I have never put this movie on and had a bad time.

10. Hot Fuzz

Absolute banger of a film. The jokes, the cast, the directing, this is undoubtedly the pinnacle of the Cornetto Trilogy, as well as being a Hoffman masterclass in foreshadowing. Edgar Wright’s unique directing style combined with the unstoppable chemistry of Pegg and Frost in the lead roles and boom! An iconic piece of British filmmaking.

11. Back To The Future

Speaking of excellent scripts, I think BTTF has one of the most tightly written screenplay’s in Hollywood, which is no mean feat for a time travel movie. Alan Silvestri’s score for the movie is fantastic, it is funny, it is tense, it is original, it’s just good.

12. Die Hard

I had heard much about Die Hard before ever watching it, and I had thought to myself ‘surely it can’t live up to the hype.’ Boy howdy, was I wrong. There is a reason this is remembered as one of the greatest action movies of all time; John McClane is a sympathetic and charismatic protagonist, but Alan Rickman’s performance as the villainous Hans Gruber is what really kicks this movie up a notch. An action movie with tension and real stakes, that doesn’t forget to still have heart and emotional stakes as well as physical ones. Die Hard is great. Also yes it is a Christmas movie.

13. The World’s End

Another one from the Cornetto Trilogy, and certainly the most underrated of the three. To be fair, it had big shoes to fill, but this is the one I find myself coming back to over and over. It is insanely funny, like it’s predecessors, has brilliant foreshadowing, like it’s predecessors, but where this movie truly excels is in the complexity of its characters. Watching this movie not as a comedy but as a character study of Gary King is where you’ll get the most out of it, watching the desperation of a man who is at his world’s end, desperately trying to cling to the past, to the last time he ever felt truly happy. The movie really takes on a whole new level when you realise that even before the alien robots attack, Gary never had any intention of surviving this night. The weaving of comedy and tragedy here is done to perfection.

14. The Truman Show

Speaking of tragedy, here is a movie that has aged like a fine wine, accidentally predicting many of the flaws and insidious aspects of Reality TV, which would rise to prominence in the following years. Your heart breaks for Truman as he comes to realise that his entire world, even down to his own friends and family, is completely fake, a facade constructed by someone else for the voyeuristic entertainment of others. This movie showcases Jim Carrey is so much more than a wacky comedic actor, but has the chops to pull off some incredibly dramatic and serious acting. This movie is excellent, and it inspired the music video for ‘If The World Was To End’ by Lower Than Atlantis, which is a fun bonus.

15. American Pie 2

Perhaps incongruous compared to my other choices on this list, but I’ll always have a nostalgic sweet spot for this movie - watching this series was a right of passage when I was growing up, and of all of them the second one was always the most feel-good, not to mention the banging soundtrack. It’s just a silly, funny movie that really makes you want to hang out in the summer with your friends. Another simple comfort/feel-good movie.

Tagging: @b-listbadboy @tazzypenguin @primatechnosynthpop @ifeelasongcomingon @meowtalhead @binders-and-beanies @blagueofchaos AND anyone else who wants to, go ahead just say i tagged ya

#tag game #thanks for the tag!!#top movies #favourite movies #jurassic park #lord of the rings #spider-man #spider-man 2 #kingsman: the secret service #rat race #the faculty #hot fuzz #back to the future #die hard #the truman show #american pie 2 #the world's end

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ach-sss-no · 14 days

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this is one of my favorite gollum moments and unlike the waterfall scene it's short and i can talk about it now before my work email starts functioning again (also, i might forget about it later)

it's such a small thing

small but full of mischief

so this is right after they left faramir's camp; Gollum is really antsy and insisting on moving as quickly as possible.

Gollum often paused, sniffing the air, and then he would mutter to himself and urge them to greater speed.

(All the quotes are from The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, Chapter 7, Journey to the Cross-roads)

He's saying that they've taken a detour and need to catch up. It's not clear to me why he needs to go so fast and whether it's 'we will be kiled by orcs' or 'there is about to be war everywhere' or 'I need to dump you guys off at my spider gf's cave as quickly as possible because I want to get back to being evil' but it doesn't really matter why, the point is that he's wanting to go as fast as possible and the hobbits have agreed to let him set the route and the pace.

But frodo and sam get tired because they've been walking a whole lot, and insist on resting:

'What shall we do? ' he said. 'We have walked long and far. Shall we look for some place in the woods behind where we can lie hidden? ' 'No good hiding in the dark,' said Gollum. 'It's in day that hobbits must hide now, yes in day.' `Oh come! ' said Sam. 'We must rest for a bit, even if we get up again in the middle of the night. There'll still be hours of dark then time enough for you to take us a long march, if you know the way.'

FYI: there have been moments all along where gollum goes 'yes we're all tired nice hobbits' and then jets ahead at 'almost a trot' and expects them to follow

Gollum reluctantly agrees to rest but makes them walk farther first:

Gollum reluctantly agreed to this, and he turned back towards the trees, working eastward for a while along the straggling edges of the wood.

Gollum fights them on where to sleep:

He would not rest on the ground so near the evil road, and after some debate they all climbed up into the crotch of a large holm-oak, whose thick branches springing together from the trunk made a good hiding-place and a fairly comfortable refuge.

Gollum goes to sleep. The hobbits don't.

Frodo and Sam drank a little water and ate some bread and dried fruit, but Gollum at once curled up and went to sleep. The hobbits did not shut their eyes.

Gollum wakes up in an unnecessarily eerie manner

It must have been a little after midnight when Gollum woke up: suddenly they were aware of his pale eyes unlidded gleaming at them. He listened and sniffed, which seemed, as they had noticed before, his usual method of discovering the time of night.

Gollum is fully awake and alert and perky. sméagol had nice nap and beautiful sleep!! and wants to start running full tilt towards mordor immediately

'Are we rested? Have we had beautiful sleep?' he said. 'Let's go!'

Sam and Frodo were the ones who wanted to stop and rest and they didn't get any sleep at all

'We aren't, and we haven't,' growled Sam. 'But we'll go if we must.' Gollum dropped at once from the branches of the tree on to all fours, and the hobbits followed more slowly. [LOTS of scrambling through rough terrain later]

At last Gollum turned to the hobbits. 'Day soon,' he said. 'Hobbits must hurry. Not safe to stay in the open in these places. Make haste! ' He quickened his pace, and they followed him wearily.

in conclusion:

Gollum is the most obnoxious person alive.

Imagine you are traveling with this jerk and you want a nap and he refuses and you have to argue him into it. Then he is picky about the spot you sleep in. then you have to watch him sleep while you have insomnia and then he wakes up and asks you if you had beautiful sleep (he may actually be talking to himself when he says that though, which is worse)

That's not even his fault. It's not Gollum's fault that he has the ability to turn his consciousness off immediately when it's sleepytime (he's done it before and apparently that's just how he functions). he was told to take a nap. he took a nap. He's not trying to antagonize anyone. he's just like that! edit: Oh oh and he has no idea they didn't sleep because he was asleep and has no idea what they were or were not doing while he was asleep

It's not even his fault that he walks fast! Gollum is driving himself at exactly the same pace as the hobbits, and is not asking them to do anything he's not doing and I don't think it's even unfair! Maybe some of this is easier for him than for them but also Gollum has this horrible warped twisted body and has to move on all fours so it can't be that easy! He's not even rude about it and he's supplying reasons (it's not safe to linger in the area. and I'm sure it isn't)! He's just so!!!! annoying! That's why it's so funny, nothing about this interaction is evil or malicious and he is just NATURALLY LIKE THAT. There is no good outcome from interacting with gollum.

How much do you think sam wants to punt him into the sun every time he says 'make haste' (he says it a lot). Mr. Frodo is tired >:(

TL;DR another circle of gollum hell: He's sometimes at his most antagonizing when he's not doing anything wrong and doesn't seem to have any desire to cause problems he's just

he's so awful

I'm not sure he even knows this is annoying

#gollumposting #long post #I started a post about the waterfall scene it is in progress #anyway that's why schordingers hobit has so many scenes of #'sméagol is happy and feeling better and wants to play' 'everyone disliked that'

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glitteringaglarond · 1 year

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And so Merry was sent to Faramir, and while that day lasted they talked long together, and Faramir learned much, more even than Merry put into words; and he thought that he understood now something of the grief and unrest of Éowyn of Rohan. And in the fair evening Faramir and Merry walked in the garden, but she did not come.

Okay I feel like there’s something very important about Faramir and his interactions with the five Hobbits in this story, and how that ties into why his romance with Eowyn is so satisfying.

First, he meets Frodo, Sam, and Sméagol. And in this encounter he demonstrates his nobility, his wisdom, and his strength of will.

Then he meets Pippin and he demonstrates his courage, his strategic prowess, and most importantly his ability to inspire Amdir, or hope through proof. And (ultimately) he demonstrates his fallibility… as he is the first of our main characters to fall in battle. (Yes, Gandalf and Boromir also fell, but that was under different circumstances).

Then he meets Merry and he demonstrates his level of understanding, and his yearning to heal that which he understands. (Because you cannot tell me that “she did not come” was not filled with intense yearning).

And all of these elements are exactly what Eowyn needs to counter the bitterness, the depression, the desperation and despair that she had encased herself in. It’s not that these attributes didn’t exist in Faramir before encountering the Hobbits, because they obviously did. But he’s able to demonstrate them explicitly to the reader, and prove fully and completely that he can provide exactly what Eowyn needs in order to heal.

Even if they had not fallen in love, they need each other right now.

#lotr newsletter #my op #newsletter march 20

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carlandrea · 1 year

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Not on it. Swear by it, if you will. For you know where it is. Yes, you know, Sméagol. It is before you.'

Oh there's so much going on in this scene. someone smarter than me can probably make sense of it but just the difference of swearing on something and swearing by it

#lotr newsletter

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middle-earth-mythopoeia · 2 years

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Give me some Gollum hot takes

I would love to! Thanks for the ask! :)

It’s not really a hot take, but Sméagol is honestly one of my favorite characters in LOTR. It’s partly because of what he represents in terms of the importance of pity and mercy in Tolkien’s works, and it’s partly because I just find him a really interesting and enjoyable character. Yes, he’s a scheming, lying murderer, but he’s not all bad, and I can’t help but feel sorry for him. He’s repulsive, but also pitiable, and somehow kind of...adorable?

Here is proof, for those that don’t believe me—a recording of Tolkien himself voicing Gollum: https://middle-earth-mythopoeia.tumblr.com/post/625469443457351680/i-cant-believe-i-just-found-out-that-tolkien-did

Just listen to the way Tolkien does the Gollum voice! Like, yes, Gollum is a murderer and a would-be cannibal, but he sounds so cute! I’m not ashamed to say I reference this scene all the time, because it’s just so fun to quote. "Is it nice, my precious? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?" Also, Andy Serkis’ version of Gollum is so clearly based on Tolkien's own Gollum impression, and I love him for that!

There are so many good Sméagol scenes, but I love the part in LOTR when Sméagol is thinking about what will happen if he gets the One Ring back, and he says, "Perhaps we grows very strong, stronger than Wraiths. Lord Smeagol? Gollum the Great? The Gollum! Eat fish every day, three times a day, fresh from the sea. Most Precious Gollum! Must have it. We wants it, we wants it, we wants it!"

It’s adorable that eating fish every day is Gollum’s only goal if he gains ultimate power. But it’s also really sad! That's all he wanted. He was corrupted by the Ring for hundreds of years, but he was still just a hobbit at heart, wanting to be left alone to eat his favorite food in peace.

A scene in The Two Towers that really gets to me is this one:

And so Gollum found them hours later, when he returned, crawling and creeping down the path out of the gloom ahead. Sam sat propped against the stone, his head dropping sideways and his breathing heavy. In his lap lay Frodo’s head, drowned deep in sleep; upon his white forehead lay one of Sam’s brown hands, and the other lay softly upon his master’s breast. Peace was in both their faces. Gollum looked at them. A strange expression passed over his lean hungry face. The gleam faded from his eyes, and they went dim and grey, old and tired. A spasm of pain seemed to twist him, and he turned away, peering back up towards the pass, shaking his head, as if engaged in some interior debate. Then he came back, and slowly putting out a trembling hand, very cautiously he touched Frodo’s knee – but almost the touch was a caress. For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing.

This breaks my heart. Poor, poor Sméagol.

Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be a sad post, it’s a Sméagol appreciation post. I think it’s really impressive that Tolkien wrote him as a character who is so sinister, threatening, and dangerous, and yet also managed to make him so wretched and pitiable.

And on a totally different note, one of my favorite things about Sméagol is the strange way he talks, not just the hissing and the "gollum, gollum" and "my preciousss" but the odd vocabulary. Like this scene in Dead Marshes:

‘No, we have got no fish,’ said Frodo. ‘We have only got this’ – he held up a wafer of lembas – ‘and water, if the water here is fit to drink.’ ‘Yess, yess, nice water,’ said Gollum. ‘Drink it, drink it, while we can! But what is it they’ve got, precious? Is it crunchable? Is it tasty?’

I love that Gollum says “crunchable” in both The Hobbit and LOTR, and they used it in the LOTR movies too! In the movies, Gollum says, “No, no birdses. No crunchable birdses to eat.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLtR5r-2YGM&feature=emb_title)

And I have a kind of embarrassing story about that. I sometimes forget that not everyone has memorized the entire script of the LOTR movies, and I (erroneously) assume that when I quote them people will get the reference, which has led to some really awkward moments... Like the time I was eating lunch outside with coworkers, and I saw some sparrows on the ground, and since the sparrows were cute, I pointed to them and said, "Ooh, crunchable birdses!" Well. My coworkers did NOT get the reference, and suffice it to say they were a bit disturbed.

#asks #Smeagol #Gollum #crunchable birdses

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