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1 vote
0 answers
166 views

Why does Gandalf question Thorin after he had found the note?

Why does Gandalf question Thorin about their orc hunters, AFTER he had already found a note in black speech offering payment for Thorin's head and showing him this in the tavern. Gandalf and Balin ...
Emma's user avatar
  • 27
12 votes
2 answers
732 views

Which plant was used as Athelas in LOTR / Hobbit movies?

There is already an exquisite thread concerning the plant described in the book link here and its relative real life counterpart, but my question is about the one actually used in the movies . Any ...
Mars_87's user avatar
  • 131
36 votes
2 answers
4k views

What does the inscription on the pot of gold in "A Conversation with Smaug" say?

Tolkien painted a watercolour picture of "A Conversation with Smaug" for the cover of The Hobbit. In the lower left corner there is a pot containing a pile of gold with an Elvish(?) ...
WOPR's user avatar
  • 20.1k
2 votes
2 answers
302 views

Is there any backstory for the "extraordinary luck of widow's sons"?

“Gandalf, Gandalf!  Good gracious me!  Not the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came undone till ordered?  Not the fellow who used ...
JoshuaD's user avatar
  • 323
16 votes
3 answers
5k views

What two things did Bilbo say that Gandalf interpreted as asking for an adventure?

I mean, you used to upset things pretty badly in these parts once upon a time.  I beg your pardon, but I had no idea you were still in business.”    “Where else should I be?” said the wizard.  “All ...
JoshuaD's user avatar
  • 323
1 vote
1 answer
777 views

Who was buried at the High ­Fells of Rhudaur?

I was recently rewatching the Hobbit movies and one thing stood out to me. From reading the various answers here, it was discussed that: The Nazgul are not undead but just wraiths (i.e. faded due to ...
Arun Balasubramaniam's user avatar
20 votes
2 answers
9k views

Did Gollum eat an orc child?

While looking for answers to another question about orcs on Quora, I read an answer that referred to Gollum killing and eating an orc child in the Hobbit, but I don't recall coming across that when I ...
Nu'Daq's user avatar
  • 26.5k
-6 votes
1 answer
366 views

Did Tolkien ever address Gandalf's propensity to take risks? [closed]

Gandalf wanted to get rid of Smaug, fearing that Smaug could eventually become an ally and tool of Sauron. But at the time of The Hobbit, Smaug was slumbering in Erebor. Gandalf explicitly discouraged ...
Keith Payne's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
4k views

Compass/magnetic directions in Middle-earth

Maps in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit have North/South/East/West marked on them, and I am wondering if anyone can tell me what these directions mean and how they are determined in-universe. The ...
MissMonicaE's user avatar
  • 2,749
29 votes
1 answer
3k views

Had Bilbo with Thorin & Co. camped before the rainy night or hadn't they?

From The Hobbit, chapter 2, "Roast Mutton:" In the Lone-lands they had to camp when they could, but at least it had been dry. Then in the sixth paragraph later: They decided in the end ...
Lesser son's user avatar
  • 3,873
24 votes
4 answers
7k views

Do we ever see a hobbit use their natural ability to “disappear”?

The Fellowship of the Ring prologue contains the following information about hobbits: They possessed from the first the art of disappearing swiftly and silently, when large folk whom they do not wish ...
Darren's user avatar
  • 7,167
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Where do Saruman's loyalties lie during the events of The Hobbit?

In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Thorin's company comes to Rivendell. While there, Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman privately brace Gandalf to inquire about his activities with the dwarves. (~1h35m)...
Tom's user avatar
  • 923
33 votes
1 answer
11k views

Does everyone always eat, drink and sleep for free everywhere in Middle-earth?

Maybe it has to do with the specific and unique circumstances in which the characters we follow in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings find themselves, but it seems to me that everyone always assumes ...
Boromir's user avatar
  • 413
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

Did Bag End have a second door?

This is a map of Bag End from The Atlas of Middle-earth (found here.) There's a door at the end of the tunnel. Is it mentioned in the books? Or is the map not accurate?
Eugene's user avatar
  • 2,201
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why was this speech by Bilbo added to the Hobbit movie?

After the goblin ordeal, when the dwarves and Gandalf are waiting and wondering where Bilbo is, in the movie, he shows up after taking off the Ring and gives a great speech something along the lines ...
Balin's user avatar
  • 61

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