A Most Unusual Dwarf - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Boromir88 · 04-29-2005, 11:19 PM

I tend to agree with you Mormegil. The Hobbit started out as a bedtime story, LOTR is in more depthful thinking with deeper meanings. There is a thread somewhere around here, I'll try to find it, where davem comments that Tolkien tried to go back and fix The Hobbit, because it created too many problems with his other books. He felt the characteristics between people/races were too dramatic, for instance, he wanted to change Gandalf's character in The Hobbit, because he felt like it didn't fit well with his character presented in LOTR.

I don't think one could compare The Hobbit, and LOTR, because they are just written for two different audiences. As good as The Hobbit is, it was a bed time story to his kids. That's why we get the "shifts/changes" in character from one to the next. I read The Hobbit as an entertaining book, but I don't think you could compare a race/person's actions/characteristics from The Hobbit to LOTR, since they are just different mediums.

However, even if we are to forget these differences, I would still disagree with you lmp. I believe there is some mentioning of Thorin's party, and their ancestors as "owing" Bilbo A LOT, for all that he did. I take it more as Gimli is such a committed member, and travels with Frodo for as long as he can, because they owed Bilbo so much, and to repay him Gimli commits himself to Bilbo's heir.

04-29-2005, 11:19 PM	#3
Boromir88 Laconic Loreman Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: USA Posts: 7,521	I tend to agree with you Mormegil. The Hobbit started out as a bedtime story, LOTR is in more depthful thinking with deeper meanings. There is a thread somewhere around here, I'll try to find it, where davem comments that Tolkien tried to go back and fix The Hobbit, because it created too many problems with his other books. He felt the characteristics between people/races were too dramatic, for instance, he wanted to change Gandalf's character in The Hobbit, because he felt like it didn't fit well with his character presented in LOTR. I don't think one could compare The Hobbit, and LOTR, because they are just written for two different audiences. As good as The Hobbit is, it was a bed time story to his kids. That's why we get the "shifts/changes" in character from one to the next. I read The Hobbit as an entertaining book, but I don't think you could compare a race/person's actions/characteristics from The Hobbit to LOTR, since they are just different mediums. However, even if we are to forget these differences, I would still disagree with you lmp. I believe there is some mentioning of Thorin's party, and their ancestors as "owing" Bilbo A LOT, for all that he did. I take it more as Gimli is such a committed member, and travels with Frodo for as long as he can, because they owed Bilbo so much, and to repay him Gimli commits himself to Bilbo's heir. __________________ Fenris Penguin Last edited by Boromir88; 04-29-2005 at 11:25 PM.