The Conspirators of Bag End
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- čas přidán 15. 10. 2023
- Explore the best of fantasy and sci-fi in depth, with analysis of the worlds of Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Witcher and more.
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Frodo: I'm doing this alone!
Merry, Pippin and Sam: of course you are! And we're coming with you!
...and Fatty Bulgur! He's a brave man and a good friend
I quite like it when you cover LOTR events outside of movies
It brings up a good point that the films in extended form are already very long and if they had included everything in the books it would have been possibly twice as long? I mean the Scouring of the Shire feels like it could be at least an hour itself.
@@thechairman74shame they didn't add everything tbh, I'd have still watched it multiple times a year as always.
Indeed
Rather better said that Jackson’s movies are outside of the Lord of the Rings. The more you know about the source material the more you realize he is telling a very different, and inferior, story.
@@thechairman74I’ve always felt that it should have been 6 movies, since each of the 3 books has 2 half “books” inside it. That way you get the full story without any one movie being too long
I was ten when I read LOTR for the first time. My dad bought me the set and every day for a few weeks in the summer I would go out into the woods behind my house where my dad kept a pop-up camper. My friends and I would sleep in it during sleep overs, and it generally became like a secret boys fort. But that summer, it was just me and tolkien and the sounds of the woods as a backdrop. I remember the scariest moments were reading about their escape from the shire. Because the woods I was in became the woods in the shire. I, like every boy, wanted to live at bag end. But I also wanted to live at crickhollow. And at dusk in the woods reading by lantern light about the black riders at crickhollow sent cold shivers in my skin. Good memories.
Sounds awesome
Beautiful video as usual. I would only add that it is rather amusing that Fredegar Bolger's nickname is "Fatty", but when Frodo and company return to the Shire which has been taken over by "Sharkey", it is said that Fredegar had been thrown in a hole and starved and was "Fatty" no longer. This was a testament to Tolkien remembering that Fredegar was heroic and made enemies of evil even though he himself did not go on the quest to destroy the ring.
Fredegar also has his little moment of heroism when he escapes the Nazgul to alert the Bucklanders of the presence of enemies.
Fifth -Beatle- Fellowship Hobbit
This! So much this!
Friendship is not so easily turned ..
Even Friendly Enmity .. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins who stole Bag End - but also opposed Sharkey, was imprisoned, was heartbroken over Lotho's murder, and gave money to the Hobbits who had lost their homes ..
I was spouting some lore to a friend of mine last week, when I realized that Gollum's tortured admission in Mordor would probably draw the Black Riders to the Sacksville-Bagginses, depending on the timing. Ha!
One of the little details missing from the movies that make all the hobbits better. Not vital to the story, but vital to those characters.
Because it's vital to the characters, it is vital to the story.
We talk a lot about the character assassination of Faramir in the films, and it's certainly warranted, but not enough about the hobbits. Merry, especially, is probably the cleverest of the four, and in the films he was done SO dirty! He loses both the beginning, where we see how smart he is to figure out Frodo's plans, the Ring, and so forth, and also the ending, where Merry and Pippin bravely lead the Shire in rebellion against Saruman.
Your LOTR videos are always fantastic, and this one is no exception!
On the other hand, they gave him a spot in the final battle rather then have him spend that time in the house of healing.
@@snerdtergusonwhich actually makes no sense, as Merry was exposed to the Black Breath just as Eowyn and Faramir were. There’s no way he could possibly recover faster than they did.
Hobbits are surprisingly resilient creatures - particularly against evil. It makes sense that (with the king’s healing hands) he can recover faster from this curse than even one so noble as Faramir.
I feel like the movie pushed Merry and Pippin's moments to the Council when they insisted on going and when at the Falls where they realize that Frodo's going to Mordor, so they deliberately get the orcs' attention so that Frodo can get away.
But I do miss the conspirators. It showed their intelligence in a way that nothing did in the movie.
I think the film still showed the loyalty & bravery of Merry & Pippin very well. After being almost discovered on the road & running for their lives, Merry & Pippin could've taken off the other direction. When Frodo says he has to get to Bree, the scene showing Merry coming to the realization of the severity of what's going on & almost instantly making the decision to help "Right...Buckleberry ferry! Follow me!" always felt like he made a very solid decision & it wasn't an accident or a whim to continue on.
I absolutely love how Merry and Pippin are all about calls to action. Seeing both in their respective banners by the end was the icing on the cake.
Before watching the directors cut I always thought they were just tag alongs but they both played a pivotal role in Frodo & Sam being able to make it
Yes. Films always have to make compromises to keep to a reasonable running time. I thought that having Merry & Pippin bumping into Frodo and Sam (while trying to pilfer from Farmer Maggot, no less), was a very good compromise which retained the spirit of the book.
Personally, I hope for an extended book accurate series adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, similar to what happened to Fullmetal Alchemist and the later Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.
"After being almost discovered on the road & running for their lives, Merry & Pippin could've taken off the other direction"
But we never SEE them make that decision, we never see them consider alternatives, they just tag along and leave the audience scratching their heads why. That's why this is really poorly done by Peter Jackson.
Great video... Frodo and Sam just bumping into Merry and Pippin in Maggot's field was always one of the most annoying changes that the movie made. Also the fact that there is no Fredegar
I love the Conspiracy section of the book. The part you mention at 2:54 contains one of my favorite genuine laugh-out-loud moments from the series, when Pippin points out how goofy Frodo's been lately. The whole idea of Frodo wistfully wondering aloud whether he will ever look down into that valley again and yet believing that somehow his friends won't know something's up is such hilariously clichéd protagonist behavior, and of course his pals wouldn't dream of missing the opportunity to take the piss. It's so perfect, I love it.
Clearly Frodo has the Shakespearean mindset of expressing every thought he has out loud, even when it would make things quite messy if someone was around to hear it. (Take Romeo waxing poetic about Juliet right in front of her hotheaded cousin and thus ruining his disguise.)
The book says "mumbling to himself" or something like that. As in, he said the words, but he said them quietly and indistinctly, so only a person standing close and paying attention could overhear them. Might be that Sam, Merry and Pippin had been some distance from him, were coming towards him, and they´d already come closer than he´d thought by the time he mumbled those words, lost in his thoughts as he was.
I would argue getting out of The Shire was the most perilous, most desperately dangerous part of the whole trilogy! First, you had five completely inexperienced hobbits unarmed, untrained, and mostly unaware of what was really going on, and they were up against the Nazgul who knew right about where Baggins should be and generally where he was going. There were a couple of very close calls there, and we know that was not the only danger they faced just in getting to Bree not so far away that a few hobbits didn't make the trip often enough that the Prancing Pony would have accommodations specifically for them.
From there they had though the breaking of the fellowship, Frodo was guided by Aragorn and Gandalf, and from Rivendell onward the Hobbits received some training by the warriors, and they'd all learned just how perilous the journey was and what was at stake.
Still for all of that to have happened, they had to get out of The Shire, and as great as the danger would be for the rest of the path to the Cracks of Doom, it was rarely greater than it was from the beginning when they were least prepared to face that danger.
It was quite gripping to read the entire trek to Rivendell as a kid. (I REALLY thought Bombadil was going to show up in Mordor later.) The fight with the Barrow Wight was something that I wish they'd fit into the movie. Especially since the daggers they got there were so important later. (Glossed over in the movie.)
Frankly, the Old Forest and the Barrow Downs, as much as they nearly killed the group, were both pretty key to reaching Bree. If they'd stuck to main roads, the Nazgul would almost certainly have caught them.
I think A Conspiracy Unmasked has to be my favorite chapter of the entire trilogy!
Its certainly a make or break point of the book. Either you love your characters sitting down and talking, chatting, reflecting on what has happened and planning on what they are going to do next, or you just stop right there and read no further word.
I think my favourite is the scouring of the Shire but you can't have the payoff of scouring the shire without the setup of the conspiracy
I remember listening to this very chapter, for the first time, when out walking my dog through late summer meadows and woodland, many years ago.
It's not something I'm likely to forget easily.
@@deeayenn I would’ve loved to be with you on that walk that day!
It is extremely cozy
I did miss this in the films. I understand why it was passed over, along with many other things that had to be left aside for time constraints, but there was something heartfelt and important here that got missed. True, deep friendship like this is never to be taken for granted. The world always needs more.
That is what so much of that book is about, too. The only thing that keeps all of them going throughout was their devotion to each other
I think it is one of the main weaknesses of the films that they skip the parts the parts that tell us most about Hobbits. The conspiracy, the journey to Bree, which is them out alone, and the scouring of the Shire. There has to be choices, everything can't be there, but it's good to remember them. The Hobbits are ordinary people, and those scenes are seeing them coping as ordinary people in adversity would.
As long as there is time to add new stuff PJ made up to the movies that isn't in the books, I don't accept the "everything can't be there" argument.
@@frankvandorp2059So if it was you instead of P.J you would never have convinced the Studios in 1998 to make 4 Movies or make each Movie 5-6 Hours long. So the movies would never have been made and millions of people would not have gotten the chance to read Tolkiens books. I found tolkiens work because of P.J and he will always have my respect for that.
Disagree. It was the weakest part of the book and seemed like an afterthough. It would have been bad for the screen. The movies were long enough for the casual viewer.
@@MasterGhostf The migration to PJ's screen changed the characters of Merry and Pippin drastically. They [like the dwarves] became unbearably comical - the hobbits comical and perky, and the dwarves comical and coarse. It's an ongoing thorn in my side.
PJ (and his colleagues Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens--responsible for many non-Tolkien additions to the dialogue, and tale) actually GOT IT RIGHT, revealing aspects of the story which--if the Master had lived to see the LotR trilogy--would have given his own seal of approval (and even if his son Christopher disagreed!).
So glad this movie series was made, even if crucial data was omitted: so many now know these stories, and were inspired to read the books as a result. More power to PJ! :D
Your love of Tolkien and knowledge of the lore shines through so much in your videos. You never fail to do an excellent job.
Wonderful video. Whenever we talk about Lord of the Rings, my dad always finds a way to bring up Fatty Bolger and how nobody realizes he was the key to Frodo escaping the Shire.
I really like Fatty. He's probably my favorite Hobbit after Sam. Posing as Frodo was taking on such a massive risk, and if things had gone differently he could have easily been killed by the Black Riders
Sam was stupid, probably on the spectrum.
Um, lol, what?
@ALTDOK667 from the books. Fatty agrees to pose as Frodo in Crickhollow, in order to delay suspicions that Frodo had in fact left the Shire
@ALTDOK667 this was explained in the video and in the book
@@jamesbrealg I replied to the comment before I had finished the whole video, and it's been 35 years since I read the books. 🙂✌️
I need to read the books.
You won’t regret it, I promise.
I hope you do! There would be no movies if they weren't awesome to begin with.
Merry was clearly the brains behind the conspiracy
I’ve always liked Merry and Pippin being more “adult” in the books. They are serious, loyal and brave. Far cry from the childish troublemakers shown in the movie.
Well, Pippin is still a teenager by hobbit standards. so that checks out pretty well. And Merry is always the more level headed one.
Yes, the book versions of them are awesome. I still enjoy the movie versions though. Not bad, just different.
Like most movie changes, it worked out well for the story Jackson was telling, but they were pretty great in the books too. Both told their own version of the story as well as they could.
I couldn't agree more. I find myself defending them.
I will not fault Jackson for anything to do with LOTR. I really don't think it could be done better, but it is not quite the same story.
I recently read the books for the first time and the topic of this video is one of the main highlights of the books compared to the movies to me. It was such a heartfelt moment when the conspirators revealed their scheming to Frodo. I understand why they skipped it in the movie since it requires quite a bit of exposition, character knowledge and changes in perspective; all of which are harder to execute in a compelling way on screen than in writing.
Thank you for writing about the "conspiracy", it's one of the things from the books that I missed in the films. Knowing that Frodo's cousins and friends were looking out for him, and were prepared to face what ever they needed to face made so much more sense than Merry and Pippin just stumbling into the whole thing. And something had always bugged me; in the books, they all got their swords from Tom Bombadil from the barrow, but in the films Aragorn gives them their swords. But how would he have known to bring four, when he was only expecting to meet up with Frodo and Sam?
A very important part of the story to remember. I'd all but forgotten it, since the movies are so overpowering. Thanks for the reminder and analysis.
I'd also forgotten about it. I've really got to read the books again. It's been at least 20 years... I heard that Andy Serkis narrated an excellent audiobook version.
When I started reading the books and got to this part, I knew I was in for something special 😍 and I wasn’t wrong, the books are just stellar!
I think it's unfortunate that I watched the movies long before I read the books. I remember a lot of differences but the story cadence of the movies sticks to my brain more than the books do. Pointing out the differences, they really are drastic in how each is portrayed.
I remember watching the Fellowship movie for the first time and feeling (however briefly) that the move to Crickhollow and Fredegar didnt appear. Fredegar running in terror from the Nazgul to warn the rest always stuck with me from the first time i read the book. Damn...that was a long time ago.
i have loved the books since i started reading them in 89(somthing you never forget reading tolken for the first time) and i really love the times you tell book only stories, makes me feel at home (im reading forgotten tales II atm again, i have a whole tolken shelf and its not enough)
'89 is when I first read them too. I was given a beautiful edition of LOTR for Christmas that year by my grandfather, who had loved the books since they were published, and knew I would too. I've still got those books, and I read them at least once a year. I admit, I don't have an entire Tolkien shelf (yet), but I'm working on it...
My first reading was over 20 years earlier LOL - 1967 or '68.
im not that old, i was given the hobbit when i started school, i was a good reader before i started school@@frankhooper7871
These Tolkien videos are absolutely golden, thank you.
I appreciate that you remind us that the books are there, and that the books have so much more lore than the movies, as good as they are, can ever contain.
Everytime I see the movies I get a huge urge to read the books again. It is a necessary balancing act. There is so much more in the books that I shudder at the thought that there are people out there who saw the films and never read the books thinking there is no need to bother. As majestic and wonderful as the films have been, people have to know that the books are far better. Thanks for making content to show them the way.
Thank you for all of your videos covering LOTR & The Hobbit. They've really been helping me getting through a difficult time.
Absolutely the greatest movie of all time. I have never Watch a Movie over, over and over agian and it never gets old. Its NEVER GETS ME BORED, every times its feels like the First time, an new adventure 🙂
My uncle and I watched Fellowship several times in theatre before he passed. He read the books almost as soon as they came out, so he had been waiting for something like this way longer than I had and was so excited :D one of my best memories
You left me wanting more of Fredegar Bulger.
Having not read the books I find your videos absolutely fascinating thank you for your hard work
This is delightful artwork 3:40.
Loyalty & love. That's what defeated Sauron.
This was the most heartwarming moment of the book for me.
The Conspirators is one of the elements that makes LOTR an epic tale. Tolkien weaves many small details together forming an amazing back story as a strong foundation for the main story.
Thanks for the video. I love this aspect of the books.
On ‘Fatty’ Bolger’s behalf; I have it in my head canon, that at some point King Aragorn II Elessar aka Strider, in one of his tours through his reunified kingdom, would have set up on Men’s side of The Brandywine. And during many happy reunions a special ceremony would have been made specifically to recognize and honour Fredegar’s notable, and very brave, efforts to secure the escape of The Ringbearer, and so launch the Quest that saved Middle Earth.
Fatty deserves it for eveything he went through and suffered.
One of Merry, Pippin or Sam would certainly have mentioned it in a letter to Gondor updating The King concerning The Scouring and the Battle of Bywater (and Saruman’s fate).
Been many years since I've read the books. Thank you for the refresher. The books are immeasurably better.
I love your videos, your voice is soothing and has a touch of dignity that I feel Tolkien videos deserve. God bless John and Christoper Tolkien.
I read the books many years ago and I only remembered that getting to Bree was around half of the first book (out of 6). I'm reading them again now and it's so sad that this chapter was completely skipped in the movie. I had completely forgotten about it but wow! did it make me happy reading it. How they spoke to Frodo so openly about how naive he had been just made me smile and gave so much more respect for all of them.
The movies are great and all, but of course it was impossible to include all the chapters and they took some creative liberties. So thank you for your video, and LOTR videos in general. I really like your covers on the passages that were not included in the movies
What do you mean the first book out of 6? Which other books are you counting? Or did you have a version that broke them up?
@BaldingClamydia the lord of the rings is separated in 6 books. The fellowship of the ring contains the first 2, the 2 two towers, book 3 and 4, and the return of the king, books 5 and 6. In all the editions I've seen, they are separated like that. I thought that was always the case 😳
I meant that arriving to Bree is way in the book but in the movies is in the first minutes. A lot had happened in the books before getting to Bree
@clarita_ve I was on the wrong page. 😄 I was thinking book as in the physical item, like Fellowship, Two Towers, etc. I understand now, thanks for replying!
And yea tons of stuff happens before Bree
Bravery and Love is what always saves the day.
It took an audiobook listen for me to understand how important the begin time before leaving the shire
Wow I'm super early love your channel keep up the great work lad
I love Crickhollow. The last familiar place before the Hobbits enter Faerie.
Four friends (plus Fredegar) reinforcing their bonds of loyalty and fellowship before they embark on the darkest of journeys. I can't help thinking of his friends in the Tea Club, and their last meeting in December 1914. John Garth (Tolkien and the Great War) tells us - They were very idealistic young men, who had been determined to change the world for the better; later on JRRT came to see this meeting as a turning point in his own ideas about the future-a future that was, of course, thanks to the War, so uncertain.
Chokes me up at times.
The more your read about Tolkien's experience in WWI, it really brings an another dimension of weight and tragedy to the books.
3 years ago my parents sold my childhood home and bought a bigger house with me and my girlfriend. Wanting to look out for them as they get up into their 70s and retire I think it’s the best choice I’ve ever made. That older home was all I knew growing up so when my parents asked me to come up with a name for the new place I instantly said Crickhollow.
First thing I did on my first evening living here was take a hot bath and get the floor all wet while listening to that particular chapter. My favorite part of the entire trilogy is the slow build up and journey to leaving the Shire. The newer Andy Serkis audiobooks have my soul right now. I adore them. Especially Fellowship and the Silmarillion.
To have One true friend in life like Sam, Merry, or Pippin is worth more than all the Mithral in the world! 🖖😁🤘🇨🇦❤️
Well spoken Ser Robert, as always.
Great insight, as usual. Also, thank you for crediting your artists.
Absolutely love these chapters of the book and I've often wondered what slightly mischievous but well intentioned ways the conspirators worked! So pleased to see you cover these passages and clarify, beautiful video as always! 😊 👌
"Fatty" Bolger was the unsung hero of the Fellowship, and he deserves much credit for his courage and resourcefulness.
Honestly, this is my favorite part of the books. The intersection of the mundane and the fantastic that takes place here, along with the mystery, is something I’ve really loved. Thank you!
How did I miss this? Must read it again!
You & me both, don't remember Fatty Bolger at all.. it's eons since I last read them...think my kids were still young....you have to start them off right in life 😁
Thank you for making this video! So many people who've grown up with the movies and haven't read the books have missed out on some great story, now they can experience at least a little of it.
Thank you for bringing this to greater attention. It's some of my favorite chapters of the books and it's very touching how loyal they are to their friend.
This is beautiful, I never knew the extent of of the conspirators from the books as I never read them. What a great dialogue Frodo had with his friends when he allowed to come with them. Thanks for making this video.
You should read them! There's so much good stuff in there you miss from the movie (I love the movies too though). If you're not a reader, find the audiobooks, I'm sure there are some great versions. The guy who played Gollum did a reading for at least one book, and it was on YT for a while
I like how you shine a light on the hobbits in their flight from the shire. If it wasnt for outside influences, it could very easily have been that the whole mission to destroy the ring failed even at that very early stage
...so grateful for you, Robert, to keep the heritage of the original books alive... no offence to Peter Jackson's brilliant adaption, but the books are unavoidably more complex and deeper, as this little episode shows... there's also Farmer Maggot (one of Tom Bombadil's most important sources of information about the ongoings in and around the Shire...), the Golden Perch, which apparently serves the best beer in the East Farthing, the Mayor of Buckland (and the story of it + the character differences of its habitats), Goldberry, the barrow-wrights, the history of Bree (and why it once was so much more important) and its neighbouring villages Combe, Staddle and Archet (and their compository mix of hobbits and men)... if you move from the movies to the books, there's so much more to discover... I did it the other way around, having discovered the books in the seventies, and I'm glad, that I know them...
There is a LOTR adaptation that keeps the conspiracy in the story line, and does a very good job with it, IMHO. It is the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation, featuring Ian Holm as Frodo and Bill Nighy as Sam.
It's my favourite adaptation. As much as I love the films, only Sean Astin, Christopher Lee and Ian McKellen come anywhere near the quality of the radio actors. Robert Stephens will always be Aragorn for me. David Collings' Legolas is light years ahead of Bloom's, more wooden than Fangorn, turn.
"Frodo, we're worried about you, this is an intervention..."
Could you do a summary of the infrastructure of Middle Earth? The roads, the bridges, the harbors and docks, the less-well-known guard towers and walls... who built them, who maintained them, and why so many of them fell into disrepair or became unused over the years.
Thanks much!
That's pretty much asking for a History Of Middle Earth.
Excellent video! Thank you for it!
love this take; great insight on an often overlooked part
This is a fantastic review. Well done all round
Excellent. Thank you
Incredible video! Sketches were so wonderful! Incredible insight and highlighting the early stages that as you pointed out are too often overlooked!
Nice that Fredegar's character shouted out! He literally held down the Fort despite being terrified and alone!!! His bravery bought the others much needed precious time to get ahead of the Nine!
I love seeing you cover book-only LOTR content, or things they only briefly mention or are alluded to in the extended cuts without giving any real detail or context.
I can’t pretend to be a lore expert but I have read the hobbit, LOTR and the Silmarillion many, many times and adore the wider world not shown in the films.
I love the Hobit and the Fellowship of the Ring, wonderful books, and Peter Jackson did a great job of bringing it to film.
Wonderful video, thank you for sharing it.
Marvelous video! Thanks 🍷
Your videos are all amazing! This is, I think, my favorite!
It's somewhat funny that you posted this video I've just completed the Fellowship of the ring on audible for the first time Andy Serkis narrating I absolutely loved it and looking forward to the next 2 books 😁
They are just as good. I'm up to the "Mount Doom" chapter. Check out the Audiobook (unabridged) by Rob Inglis as well - it is excellent. And he narrates the Appendices!
I'm sure you have it planned, but would love to see a video on Fingolfin someday. Great video as always :)
As always, thoughtful interesting and well presented.
beautiful artwork, my compliments to the artist.
Wow! This channel has really grown since last visiting!!!!
Definitely my favorite channel
Even though I read the book, I had forgotten all about this! Cool video.
Ooohhhh quite good! I found this so interesting in the book!
Great video!
Very good! Very good indeed!
Such a great video!
Bro you've been in high gear with your videos of late, kudos to you sir.
And herein lies why I dislike the movies so much; they miss the heart at the centre of Tolkien's stories. Although visually alluring and even breathtaking, they are all about the big moments, the battles and the frenetic action scenes. Understandable for a visual medium, but those things, IMHO, were never the point of Tolkien's words. There's a reason that perspective always shifts to the Hobbits when there are battles and big events. They are the heart of the narrative, their loyalty, friendship, bravery are what make Middle Earth so special and not just another fantasy story. Thank you for these videos. I have only just discovered them and am enjoying them immensely.
It does seem unfair that Sam gets most of the credit in helping Frodo. It took a whole village of conspirators to get him out the door and half-way down the road. Good video!
Pippin causes multiple events that save Gandalf in the end, Merry is why Faramir survives, among other accomplishments.
The quest to save the hobbits is what drives Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli to get where they needed to be in time.
Everything actually hinges on the actions of four hobbits, not just one.
Beautiful video! You’ve inspired me to read the books and I’m exactly at the part!!
Robert, do keep up your wonderful work… such a help and a pleasure as I revisit yet again Middle Earth. Cheers!
thank you!
Well well, I have caught you at last!
To business then.
This is a perfect summation of the vital role of the Hobbits in the beginning of the events of the Great Year.
And I agree, poor Fatty simply does not get enough credit. While he might have sung like a canary had the Nazgul gotten their mitts on him, (after all, he was babbling uncontrollably, "I haven't got it" when he made it to the nearest homestead) he was still courageous enough to make a run for it while he was able to slip out the back door, trusting that he wasn't surrounded and at least knew the neighborhood. And since he was nearly as round as he was tall, it was an amazing feat of strength and speed to deadrun the mile or so to the nearest neighbor, collapsing as if he was the first marathon runner. Fatty was nominally an average Hobbit. Related to both Bilbo and Frodo, and likely a bit to the Tooks and Brandybucks (tho Bilbo didn't think all that much of the Bolgers' thinking skills) he was of a respectable family and became a leader of the insurrection, which took both bravery and smarts and organizational skills.
Most Hobbits were bewildered and frightened, until they were able to get leaders to figure out what to do. Even the local Sheriffs were too lost to be much help to their people until the Travellers arrived, making Fatty's rebel cell even more astonishing.
All hail Fatty Bolger, for helping to preserve something until help could arrive.
And even Fatty's babbling can be forgiven. The Nazgul strike terror even into the battle-tested hearts of the soldiers of Gondor.
To follow such a close shave by becoming a leader of the rebellion says quite a lot about his bravery and fortitude.
This is why I love this story.
I’d love to see you guys cover the Spellmonger Series
Boy howdy did Pippin get Flanderised in the films.
Sam doesn't jump down a dragon's throat to save Frodo, only because the Fellowship doesn't encounter a dragon, though they bump into nearly everything else, including but not limited to; Nazgul, wargs, The Watcher-in-the-water, orcs, a Balrog, orcs again, Gollum, Shelob, more orcs, Gollum again, even more Orcs and finally Gollum for the last time.
You left out Trolls (cave and mountain) and Oliphants (and Old Man Willow & Barrow Wights, before they were part of the Fellowship)
Sam vs Shelob was probably the closest equivalent to Sam 'jumping down a dragon's throat'.
I love the books (and appreciate all adaptations) - having read them at an impressionable age (9-11), they have formed an important part of my moral compass ever since... My children are now discovering the stories at a similar age, and are also enchanted by them, much to my delight.
In Deep Geek - thank you for your analysis that adds even more colour to these foundational stories, and as a result makes me appreciate them even more and, in a way, gives me a more nuanced and sophisticated perspective on (my) life. I will certainly share your videos with my kids - and expect they will lead to some fun deep and geeky discussion around the dinner table! 😀
When I encountered LOTR, (junior high) I was not in a state of confusion about what was right and wrong, just on the brink of despair about me ever being an agent of the good. A hike with the boys is as good of an immunization against moral despair as can come in paperback.
What I wouldn't give for just one friend like this.
I'd call them the "Crickhollow Conspiritors" myself, but fair play.
I love how you use the LOTRO game for the occasional artwork
Excellent
I love that you covered this topic! It is something I felt the movies should have included. The hobbits really are heroes and did so much for such small folk. The great powers and kingdoms of middle earth often squabbled and only thought of their own borders....but these hobbits knew what was at stake...they knew the danger and they undertook the mission anyway.
I think adding this to the films would have made the scene when Aragorn says, "My friends? You bow to no one." that much more impactful. It was already a powerful scene watching the King of men and his subjects bow to 4 small hobbits, but just adding that layer of them planning it the entire time and succeeding that much more significant. And the ending when Frodo leaves middle earth even more tearful and sad as they would have been more closer to "brothers in arms" (like Tolkien intended). But I still love the films and books.
That is one of my favourite parts of the book.