The Hobbit - Chapter 07 - Queer Lodgings

[Aiwendil]

Estelyn wrote:

Gandalf's answer on the reason for the name "Carrock" is interesting, coming from a linguist!

It seems to me that Gandalf is having a little joke here. Bilbo asks why Beorn calls it "the Carrock" and Gandalf pretends the question is why he calls it "the Carrock" instead of why he calls it "the Carrock". Reminds me a bit of Goldberry's answer to the question "Who is Tom Bombadil?": "He is", as if the question were which of the people present goes by that name.

Incidentally, I don't think Tolkien would have called himself a "linguist" . . .

Gandalf's tactic in combining a fascinating story with unpleasant facts (unwanted guests, in this case) sounds like a good example for writers, film makers, and teachers to follow. It's a fun passage to read, isn't it?!

It certainly is! Like many passages in The Hobbit (and a few in LotR), this has genuine value as humour in and of itself. I think that many people get too focused on analysing the tone of The Hobbit and concluding that passages like this make it "light", as if their only effect is to detract from the gravity of the work. Maybe they do detract from its gravity, but they also add something.

There is a much-neglected poem here, "The wind was on the withered heath..." Do you like it? Why do you think it's not as popular as many other Tolkien poems?

You know, I rather like Dwarvish poetry. At any rate, I like the few examples of it that Tolkien gives. In The Hobbit, the Dwarves always use the same form for their serious poetry (i.e. excluding "Chip the glasses, crack the plates") - four-line stanzas in what I'd call iambic tetrameter (octosyllabic, if you prefer), with a rhyme scheme aaba, and internal rhyme on "b" between the two halves of the third line. I like this form, and it seems especially suitable for the Dwarves somehow, perhaps because the internal rhyme gives it a certain rhythmic/chanting quality.

Having said that, I must also agree with much that littlemanpoet says about this particular poem. It is a bit weaker than most of Tolkien's stuff and, in particular, weaker than the Dwarvish poem in chapter 1.

JennyHallu wrote:

Some bears, such as the Panda bear, are almost exclusively herbivorous. The polar bear, however is exclusively a hunter. All bears, however, are classified as carnivores.

Well, bears are "carnivores" by taxonomic classification; i.e. they are in the order carnivora. That name for the order is unfortunate, since there are both carnivores and omnivores in it and there are also carnivores outside it. Incidentally, the classification of the giant panda as a "bear" is controversial; many believe that it is a member of the raccoon family and others place it in a family by itself (well, along with the "lesser" panda).