' Delving ' into the files

Went back to the early days of the blog and found a previous entry re: the Hobbit. Here it is.

A coming of age story,  in the Third Age of middle-earth, as a hirsute footed biped sets off to seek fame and glory in a company of Dwarves. This non-romance, adventure features all the creatures you will come to know and hate / fear,  as well many comely folks banding to-gether to fight evil.

Update 2012 7/14  The movie is less than a year away. However, rumour abounds that they got Galadriel back in this thing. Hope you know, that I wanted Helen Hunt to be Galdariel, after the fact, of course.

Perhaps, this will be enough background so you need not re-read or read ' the Hobbit '. And since this sequel(s) is a trilogy, you should have oodles of time to soak up the buzz and to-do.

Did you get yesterday's quiz questions ?

Hobbit sightings  are rare nowadays. hobbits are secretive and well trained in woodcraft. Perhaps a little dumpy looking, they are in fact nimble of foot and hand.
Although not war-like or fierce, hobbits are deadly with a thrown stone.

Bilbo Baggins was a well respected hobbit but many were aware of his Took heritage. His parents are Belladonna Took and Bungo Baggins.

One morning, he wished ' Good day ' to a wizard that appeared on his doorstep.
Gandalf , an Ishtari or wizard , was well known to the hobbits. Primarily, he was viewed as benign w/ a handiness in fireworks. But held w/ skepticism b/c he was an outsider.

This particular morning he had a goal, to find a 14 th ( thus lucky number ) companion for a grand undertaking. Gandalf had been sent by a company of dwarves to select a 14 th companion who was to be the ' burglar '. 

Bilbo is age 50 at this time. He is past his tweens when frolic and silliness are acceptable in hobbit society. He is mature and settling down. Sure.

The leader of the dwarves is Thorin Oakenshield. Thorin is son of Thrain , son of  Thror - the last King Under the Mountain ( Erebor ). The dwarves were driven out by the golden dragon, Smaug. Despite what you may have been led to believe - there are no nice dragons and Smaug was big and nasty.

Your mission, Thorin , if you choose to accept it - to return to the Lonely Mountain and reclaim the throne and title ' King Under the Mountain '. Oh yeah, there's a whole whack treasure involved. As they say in Newfoundland " Billions and billions nearly a hundred "

Thorin and Thrain both escaped the Lonely Mountain during Smaug's attack.

For help Thorin enlists Ori, Nori, Dori, Gloin , Bombor , Bimbor, Bifur  , Dwalin , Balin, Winken , Blinkin and Nod ( kidding,  the last 3 are fake but I forget the other names ). 

Gloin will have a son, Gimli , who becomes a renowned dwarf for his part in the ' War of the Ring '. 

Balin ( son of Fundin ) will go on to be a short-lived, returning King of Moria , Khazad Dum (the Dwarrowdelf, the grand realm of the dwarves ).
An unknown terror drove the dwarves from the Dwarrowdelf, many ages ago. Durin's Bane was a _______ we really don't know but suspect it was a Balrog.

Durin is one of the founding fathers of the dwarves.  So long lived, he was named Durin the Deathless.

A Balrog is a whip - wielding creature, ( a minion of Morgoth ) a being of fire and cold. Deep in magic and hate, Balrogs are feared by the Elves as well.
As Gandalf says of  Moria  ' there are fouler things than orcs in the deeps of Moria '

Gandalf has had contact with Thrain in the dungeons of the Necromancer. He has for Thorin a key and a map ( of the Lonely Mountain )

I suspect the title ' the Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey ' was a) supposed to add mystery  b) and make it a longer title b/c ' Hobbit ' wasn't going to do it.

I believe Jackson might have named it  ' Once More into the Breach '.

P.S. Bungo's brother is Bingo

P.P.S.  For pure arcania - look for 3 great swords to emerge from this story.  These blades are Orcrist ( the goblin cleaver ), Glamdring ( the foe hammer ) and Sting. These Elvish swords all glow blue when evil is around.
I wouldn't have mentioned the swords but there is a promo poster for ' tH ' showing a dwarf wielding a prominent blade.