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The Hobbit Tea Party - Readathon Livestream · Mythmakers

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Hello everybody and really huge welcome to our celebration of the Hobbit, our tea party
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or the Hobbit.
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Do it all right.
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So how are we going to do this just so you know what we're planning to do?
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We won't keep you long.
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We're going to enjoy the fact, enjoy the Hobbit basically.
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We're going to have a quick recap of the history of the Hobbit and the influences
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and that kind of thing.
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It's a reader.
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It's a reader locks it.
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I'm just going to mute the people.
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No, yeah.
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I'm going to mute you.
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Let me just mute.
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Yeah, I think it's a live thing.
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Yeah.
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Whoever that is chatting, I need to mute you.
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There we go.
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Let's try that again.
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What's the print names here?
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I'm really interested in some of these names.
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Everybody greeting chat about that later.
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Okay.
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So when we will love to have your feedback, but when we do that, if you could do that by coming off mute
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and saying your piece and going back on mute, it just makes the soundtrack tidier for people.
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Lovely.
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We're going to start off by just having a little recap on how the Hobbit got written.
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And I've got something very special to show you.
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Then we're going to do a round of everybody to say their favorite moments in the book.
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We'll just do one each.
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And see what people, you know, have to say about that.
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Then we'll do any questions if anyone wants to raise a question for the group or.
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Just generally give their a pine.
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And then we'll do a quiz and the quiz says 15 questions.
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And we'll be looking for a winner.
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And the winner will get some a prize, which will be.
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From our shop, which will have nice fantasy related stuff.
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So.
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Right.
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I'm just having to also put people on mute.
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Lovely.
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Okay.
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So Jacob is joining me.
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Jacob, do you want to say a little, well, I'll introduce myself.
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How about that?
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I'm Julia Golding.
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I run the center, the Oxford Center for fantasy.
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So I'm sort of behind all of these initiatives.
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Myself and my trusty coworker Joyce.
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We're a little tiny little charity, but we have managed to.
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Got a big reach now because we're doing all sorts of classes with tutors teaching creative writing.
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We're doing a podcast.
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We've got a center that's going to be open in September, which.
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I can tell you more about if you want to ask.
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It's a page about it on the website where people can come and stay in Oxford.
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So there's all sorts of things happening.
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But the other half of my life, as you can see behind me, that actually behind me is a bookcase of my books.
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I'm also a writer still being published.
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I published under three names Julia Golding, just sterling at eVedwards.
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And I've been working today on my next novel with Harper Collins, for example.
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So I also keep my foot very much firmly in the world of carrying on publishing.
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I wish I think it's important if I'm claiming to teach creative writing.
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I should still be doing it.
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But fundamentally, I'm here because Tolkien was the writer who.
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Flick that switch in me to be a writer myself.
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And I absolutely adore his books.
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And I go back to them.
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They are my touchstones.
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And I've imagined I'm talking to a whole load of people for whom that is true.
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Otherwise, it'd be odd that you were here.
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So over to you, Jacob.
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I'm going to tell you about yourself.
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Yeah, just really quickly, Jacob Renaker, a scholar of the fantastic world mythology, the dark arts, et cetera, et cetera.
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I'm a writer and author and my full time of profession right now is involved in doing narrative design for Ravensburger games.
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You know those big brushes for cows.
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Thank you.
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Right, let me just.
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So I'm also thank you.
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Thank you.
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And I just muted us.
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Lovely.
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So let's just think a little bit about the context in which the Hobbit came out.
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Now I've had two.
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Five of his in my life, the first is I've sat in the room, where the Hobbit was first told so.
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Next door to the house in which he actually wrote the book down.
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And the Lord of the Rings he lived next door at number 18.
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What's at number 22?
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next door to 20 Northmore Road and that's before his family grew, out grew that house and
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it was in that house they started telling a scene story and so as a bedtime story and
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so when I went to see the neighbors there we sat in the room they said this was where,
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the room where it happened to Borough phrase and then of course I've also been in next
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door in 20 Northmore Road where he then wrote it down. But also I have here in my hand
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a first edition of the topic, I've got this because my husband's granddad was an academic
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in Leeds where Tolkien was and they played squash together, Tolkien was very sporty
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which you may not have factored in because you always see the older Tolkien don't you?
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And so the family knew about Tolkien so when their family friend started publishing these
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children books this was the book that my mother-in-law was given and I was looking at today it's
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the first edition, it's been much read and as I was saying to Susan before you arrived
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it's got the old version of the riddles game in it so there you are everybody, it's a
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beautiful edition, it's lost, it's dust cover but it does have the original illustrations
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and what have you. So it's published in 1937 just before the Second World War Jacob do you want
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to tell us a little bit about the kind of sources from mythology that Tolkien's drawing on?
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Right yeah and these are you know it shouldn't be no surprise to readers of any of Tolkien's other
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works either academic or fiction that he's drawing from his you know deep personal investment in
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Norse mythology right Germanic languages into European lots lots that he's drawing from that kind
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of stew story that he's dipping from so you have in around the same time that you have the
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Hobbit published you also have his famous electron Beowulf that Beowulf the monsters and the critics
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and so you see a lot of kind of echoes there especially in smoug right as this kind of cunning
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intelligent dragon not just a kind of brute who breeds fire and knocks over buildings although he
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does and can it does do that but kind of the more like wily almost kind of serpentine
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sort of dragon so that's yeah so that's really fun to see to see that appear in the text the names
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of the different dwarves are largely evocative of the poetic ed a pros ed as well you do have some
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I think some some brothers grim kind of folk tales dramatic folk tales that are kind of I think
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uh peeking in a little bit in how the dwarves act uh particularly in again the Grim's fairy tale
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versions of say snow white rose red um those sort of stories um but yeah so those are just kind of
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a smattering of them but again just tying into Tolkien's personal kind of a immersion in more
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by your Norse old english and dramatic languages and literature you just kind of see echoes of that
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here yeah and also just to say um that Tolkien's not only influenced by the past which I
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suspect most of you coming here has sort of had awareness of this as a great book by Holly
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Ordway who I'm interviewing next week um called Tolkien's Modern Reading which talks about the
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contemporary things he was reading like Nesbit, Kipling, J.M. Barry and you can see the sort of
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nursery tales should we call it the influences is very strongly felt in the Hobbit because
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he's reading books to his kids so when he writes a book for his kids he's got that
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narratorial voice in his head um which I think is why um you know it's a very it feels very
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different from Lord the Rings doesn't it um there's there's things like looking at it as a writer
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there's things where he compares stuff in the book two things that outside the world or the book
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like um smalg whistles like a steam engine or something there's one of those and that's much
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more because it's from a nursery setting so um that explains the origins of those it's within
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a certain trend it makes sense in 1930s to be telling a story this way the other thing about it
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that I think is worth telling is I think the book shifts as it goes along a bit like Lord the Rings
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did but in in a way the world starts very small and then it becomes enormous as his imagination
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goes on this you know the battle of five armies which I probably you all when you reread it
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was it smaller than you remember because it's a bit like um the battles in Narnia you read them as a
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child and they're enormous but then you go back and look at the text and it's like a paragraph
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you know it was sort of happening so um but you can see that he's opening it out to more and more
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um different peoples coming into that big sort of showdown at the end um so that's a little bit about
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the hobbit um but I thought now because we've just all had a fun rereading it um we'd have a
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little round of our favorite moments so what would really help me is if you want to
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give us a favorite moment is use the hands up icon which if you look down the bottom of zoom
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sits somewhere down there um just take your mouse down to the bottom and um I think it's under
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reactions yeah I think it's under there um so just put your hands up so starting with you Jacob
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have you got favorite moment from the hobbit uh yeah well this at least this time around uh rereading
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it you know just a few weeks ago uh it was the reconciliation of Thorin and Bilbo that was just
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really really beautiful you know this there was as much levity as there is and joking around here
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just the fact you know that the author you know the the narrator points out that this is strange
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right so after they give their final farewell Thorin kind of water into the bridge they're sorry
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uh sorry about how this played out Bilbo was sorry they're both sorry but they're both happy that
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they're uh that now that right before Thorin's death that they've kind of buried the hatchet if you
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will um and kind of become friends again and then it says Bilbo turned away and went by himself
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and sat alone wrapped in a blanket and whether you believe it or not he wept so this is you
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unexpected to see Bilbo kind of sitting there weeping because that's not what we've seen in him before
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so it's this kind of this is where I think one of the the times that you see Tolkien's larger themes
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of sorrow and joy kind of intermingled uh of a beautiful example of that in this tale that just
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kind of tugged at me a little bit more reading it this time around yeah absolutely I'm for me
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probably enough my favorite moment came right at the end because I don't think I've ever given it
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much attention um because it's the last page but I don't know somehow I've never actually
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pondered it um Bilbo says to Gandalf then the prophecies of the old songs have turned out to be true
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after a fashion because he suddenly realized he's been a character in a bigger tale which is a
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bit like that bit with Sam and Frodo in the Lord of the Rings and I love Gandalf's response which is
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of course and why should not they prove true surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies because
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you had a hand in bringing them about yourself you don't suppose do you that all your adventures
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and escapes were managed by mere luck just for your soul benefit and then they sit down and
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smoke a pipe together and I love that idea of that sort of perspective on the tale which I
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think I've always rushed before and actually this time I really appreciate it okay we have a
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hand up from Andrew hello Andrew it's lovely to talk to you um he's that I know Andrew he's
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down in Australia so what was your favorite part of the story hello Julia I know everyone it's
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great to be here and oh so many moments but my favorite would have to be the the trial scene
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um and the reason it's it's that perfect uh you know that oh no they're in danger quick
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well what's going to happen but then you know with with the trolls insulting each other and and
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mistaking what Bilbo was it was telling them you know what's a burrow of it what's that it's just
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that perfect blend of oh no tension and humor uh I find yeah thank you and uh and audio uh audio
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wise Martin Shaw's rendition in particular is fantastic yeah Andrew and I we've talked about
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audio books a lot because uh Andrew gets his from the audio um opportunity there's now an anti-circus
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version as well I imagine oh yes that's very good too good so if you want to know anything about
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audio books ask Andrew um Melissa you've got your hand up what would you like to tell us about your
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favorite bits yeah hi um it's it's just it's mostly a sentence it's on for me what a page 197
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I I guess that's not very helpful but um in chapter 12 and he says uh you write going on from
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there was the bravest thing he ever did um and he fought the real battle in the tunnel alone and
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I just thought um the book shifted for me there like it just was kind of opened up in a weird way
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and I was like oh this is a moment and it's also a moment I feel like we've all had in some way
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um maybe in our lives there there are certain places in the book where I feel like it's either
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very personal for him or he's looping us into a very human thing um like when he talks about he was
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tired tired or then he'd ever been before and I just I don't know it just that part hooked me
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the kind of world opened up for Bilbo he definitely takes more agency doesn't he I suppose that's
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saying it um yeah and he gets and you're right that is the moment he also has a bit of that when
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he decides not to back away from the trolls and choose trolls but I think that moment is a bit
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hazard he's kind of making a lot of mistakes whereas that when he's on his own it's the first time
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he's really on his own um right which is great thank you Melissa um Cara you've got your hand up
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I think my one of let me just tell you is about Cara Cara sits in South Africa and she's one
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of the amazing team who helped me deal our social media and she helped organize this so well done
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Cara uh Cara but she's also a fan oh yes so which was your favorite bit Cara um my favorite
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has to be when they've just escaped the goblin tunnels and they're climbing up the trees and
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it's just that whole concept of out of the firing pen into the fire I it's I think it's
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partly nostalgic for me because my introduction to Tolkien was my brother and I um he's much older
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than he's 12 years older than me so when I was about 10 he listened to the Hobbit audiobook with me
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and that was my introduction to Tolkien and I just remember that section of the book in particular
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was just so it's like burned into my brain because it's just like shame they've put Bilbo he's been
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through so much he didn't even initially want to go on this adventure he's just been through
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such an ordeal with Golem and everything and then now the wugs are meeting in the field and the
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goblins are after them and it's just it's such an epic image of the Eagles coming down to save
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them as well because like you're wondering how could they possibly get out of this situation
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and it was just such an amazing piece of writing to me and it's just partner soldier apart just
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Tolkien's brilliant so I love it so much thank you anybody else want to tell us their favorite part
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okay nobody else putting up their hands but that's fine oh you'd say oh yes they are um so
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Carrie hello Carrie you need to let me unmute you so I can
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ask to unmute there we go I think you need to press the spacebar or something
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Carrie can you find a way of speaking to us
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if you go onto your screen and hover over it you should be able to see in the top
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right hand corner there's a little blue lozenge where it says you should be able to speak to us
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actually try speaking now you're unmuted but I think you might have your your microphone might
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be down or something okay whilst um Carrie is sorting out her technical issues um I'm going to
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go to Dario Dario would you like to tell us your favorite bits um good evening um my favorites
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well it's a meeting on the key for Gandalf and and and Bilbo when they first meet because that's the
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the point when the entire adventure starts and it's a live changing um let's say event
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for Bilbo and so I think that this is the most epic scene in the in the hobby because that's the
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the point when everything begins and that's a live changing event for him and then he he
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doesn't want to be part of that adventure it's beginning but then he realized maybe that that
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was a big thing for him to be part of that yeah and and the comedy of it because he's trying to be so
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polite yes but absolutely he's really really annoying he basically wants to tell him to go away
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become bring himself to say that and then there's funny exchanges about good morning is it a good
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morning to be good on you know all that stuff great fun thank you you're welcome um Simon you've got
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something a favorite favorite moment yes it's a piece really right at the beginning of the book
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it's the unexpected party um when I sort of first read the book it's a long many years ago now um
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talking paints uh this quiet village life things go along very very smooth there's no problems at all
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everything works really well uh he he lives in his he's a little hobbit hole he likes doing
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cooking and things like that and gardening and all those sort of things and and then suddenly
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something comes to disrupt this he's met with Gandalf which sort of thrown Gandalf away
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and then he has a knock on the door and unexpected uh i think it's sorry is it foreign who comes
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in first and uh he he he's completely taken by surprise but he has to um show respect and uh
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courtesy and things like that and uh very very very hospitable and um he um he um he does all those
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things and and then there's there's another knock on the door in and by the time we've got 13 doors
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there all banging about things like that actually he's rashing around trying to get cakes and things
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of everybody rush off his feet and i i thought like the contrast um from his sort of quiet little
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life to um what's you know suddenly took place and that for me was a really like nice start of the
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story and as we know it develops into other things but it's really lovely yes and and you can tell
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he kind of gets disassembled doesn't he so he starts off or sort of buttoned up
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then gradually and like trying to be the host and then as the book goes along he loses his buttons
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he gets ragged and you know basically by the time they get to um uh late town they're pretty much
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reliant on handouts i love that he's sort of getting more and more rakeish as he goes along more
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and more piratical we've got a couple of um people talking in the chat so he got Christina saying
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she'll write her response one of my favorite parts of the hobby is when Bilbo fights the spiders
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in Merquette i feel like this is when Bilbo's bravery really begins he jumps into his two-kiss
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side and not only that but he names his sword right after at this point he has accepted the adventure
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yes you're right i i i'd uh i've been i sort of knew that was the moment but it was good reading
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again to see that um Jacob i don't know if you want to read the mysteriously named ipad
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to everybody yes okay uh our anonymous mysterious appropriately mysterious uh
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the contributor here says one of my favorite parts is actually the beginning when all the dwarves
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are arriving unexpectedly at Bilbo's house i empathize with him i am kind of an introvert and it
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would probably throw me for a loop if all these folks just showed up on my door and i beg agree uh
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i feel like i'm also part baggins and part took and can relate to Bilbo struggle with himself
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plus it's fun to see all the different personalities of the dwarves so yeah that is a very fun part
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yeah yeah definitely so Carrie can we hear you now
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you hear me yes hooray great hey um something that continues to fascinate me as always
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the encounters with the elves just throughout the book um when they i mean it's not till chapter 8
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you know when they they're almost chasing the elven lights through the forest and and it's just
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out of reach because when i was a kid i always felt magic was just out of my reach like if i
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just went around that corner or just stood in that that ring of toad stools that that it would be
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and so the elves were always fascinating to me and when i was a kid i would read i would sometimes
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read through the songs quickly but now being older i read through them and listened to them
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um as done by the token ensemble and a couple others then they've done some really beautiful
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renditions of the songs and i really enjoy those so for me the elves were always a favorite
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oh um so if you've got a link to any of those do put them in the chat because i think the
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okay the elven songs in the hobby aren't as good as the ones in the Lord of the Rings i don't think
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no actually the two at the very very end are really pretty but i'll see if i can find a link
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okay lovely thank you Carrie um also i think one of the interesting things i've noticed reading
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this time through is how um that the the woodland elves there is very much echo of the wild hunt
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the folkloric wild hunt which is something which you don't see it again this idea of a hunt that
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goes on in the distance um that you that you know you glimpse in the woodland is very strong there
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which is an old folkloric thing from the british ills i hadn't noticed that before but it's
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definitely reference uh Jacob's nodding so i i've got that right didn't i Jacob yeah he's saying
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yeah yeah you did yeah as a back Kathy Heinzmann would you like to say what your favorite part is
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hi hello hi Kathy yes hey um i think one of my favorite parts and of course i grew up on this
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book too and it's inside me like everybody else here i'm sure but i really loved the um
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um the encounter with smog and the whole cat and mouse and the psychological kind of richness of
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those scenes um and one of the favorite parts is when they're going back and forth and he says um
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and smog finally kind of laughs at him and says and how are you think you're going to get all this
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uh treasure out of here anyway how are you going to remove it and it says now a nasty suspicion began
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to grow in his mind at the doors forgotten this important point too or were they laughing in their
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sleeves at him all the time that is the effect that dragon talk has on the inexperienced
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billbo of course ought to have been on his guard but smog had rather an overwhelming personality
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and i just love the whole kind of david and galaeth kind of uh but in a psychological way and in a way
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it feels to me like it always felt to me like billbo he um he uses all of his resources but mostly his
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his feelings and his intelligence um as well as the reins invisibility to um to get the better of smog
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yeah thank you kathy i mean that smog the the several smog moments are just um wonderful
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so the other thing i thought would be worth raising now as we got um we've just done a reading
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of the hobbit is just to have a little moment to express your views about the adaptation of it
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uh because i'm reading it this time i thought i'm really enjoying this i'm also enjoying the way
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some things are dialed down so for example the master of late town is very different
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um and some of the sort of diversions the the film version went on are not there so i was really
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enjoying sort of the young you know reading it in the original version um so if you want to say
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anything you might be a real fan of the movie versions film versions um do do shout out but if there's
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anything that you appreciated more having seen the films perhaps it's your last time you read it
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by going back to the book that would also be good to hear jacob if you got uh a view on this
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yeah i mean
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it's a whole as a whole candle worms but i think but i think yeah like any any adaptation like
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it's its own thing and so you really have to look at it as kind of a separate more of an inspired by
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than uh a actual full retelling even though that's what it's built that but it can't be so
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yeah i do i mean the visuals are astounding and so i think like the colors that it provides right
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it just kind of the the cinematography these kind of sweeping landscapes especially like the um
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billbo kind of emerging at the top of the tree right when he's when he's coming up to take a look
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around to see where they are in the forest and the butterflies just like that scene is just
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gorgeous and so i think that that that image really kind of captured a sense of magic i think deep
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magic that the hobbit evokes as a whole um so yes in terms of like moments that was one that i
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think was was really nice that i think amplified that so i couldn't help but think of that scene
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now rereading the hobbit when billbo's coming up and just kind of seeing the light you know how
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how it was you know uh touching the different leaves and then yeah the kind of uh the the the
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you know the chorus of butterflies because i'm not actually saying anything but uh moving in concert
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if you will uh the butterflies coming up so that's one that kind of springs to mind for me
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yeah anybody else go through they want to say about that
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it's andry i've got something oh andry off you go
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um i i quite like uh you know a lot of people have mixed emotions about the movies but i quite like
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them um for the adaptation of the the book itself that they do but then i really like how they've
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expanded upon it and gone well we know that you know gandalf and the white council went off to fight
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the necromancer okay saeron but we don't really hear about it in the book and i just really like how
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they sort of gave the movies more depths and sort of went well what if that had been written you know
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and it yeah it was really fun seeing them explore that thank you andry um yeah i agree that it was
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nice to have an idea what the white council might have done before um kirsten you got your hand
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up kirsten is another of our wonderful South Africa i actually can't remember if it's in the book i
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can't remember if you know sometimes your mind gets kind of switched between what's actually in the
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movie and what's in the book but i just thought a really beautiful part of the movie even though
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there's a lot that i don't like about it was where the the dragon gets covered in gold i just
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it's such a beautiful scene and it's my favorite and i'll go back and watch that scene over and
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over when it comes up so i do love that scene that's that's not in the book okay well i think that
30:44
was a good a good addition then i thought it was really really cool uh and kara we've got you um
30:53
also wanting to i actually i recently rewatched all of the movies because i mean i was working on
30:59
the readathon and like posting everything and it just got me into a hobbitish mood
31:04
and the first movie like the first sort of half of the movie i like i remember going to the
31:09
cinema to watch it i love it i still love it and then it just what gets me every time is when
31:15
there's this introduction of like the dwarf elf romance it just it grates me every time it's just
31:24
i can even excuse maybe even the whole azog
31:28
hide story because there there's a lot in the book that sort of happens like without context
31:33
so i can see why they would need to like maybe fill some gaps for a movie audience that isn't
31:38
actually into the books and all of that but the that romance is just unnecessary it just leaves
31:44
a bad taste in my mouth and it yeah i don't know that's the one part of the movies that just i can
31:49
excuse a lot of others don't but that just like really really gets me okay i'm sure you're
31:55
you're perhaps echoing or giving voice to some people's fuser um we have another hand up from
32:03
Dario Dario off you go well um obviously it's not easy to to film the the hobbit because of all
32:12
grease and what they're seeing but one of the most beautiful in my opinion is when when they go
32:18
into Beon's house because there you see all the carving and the wood carving there and it's just
32:24
amazing because it gives you an idea of the Anglo-Saxon word um in which they are the last day the
32:31
the hobbit and the lord of the rings were set so you have these wonderful carvings and they give you
32:37
um well you do not find them in the book by the way so it's not described the all these carving and
32:44
this is a wonderful setting um they're just reminding you that they say something which has to do
32:49
with the northern mythology and then this is just a particular word and uh and i think that's
32:56
just amazing and you see the the the old north style house there and that's great
33:03
thank you yes let's be fair because they did an amazing job on just you know taking on such
33:09
them and also the other thing of course is they're making it after having made lord of the rings so
33:13
they started it the other way around i think tonally different choices would have been made
33:18
probably um so that that was like part of what was going on there and Susan you got your hand up
33:26
i just am wanting to say i've never seen the movies oh well there you go
33:31
but it seems to me that everybody who is saying what they like in the movies is all visual
33:36
and of course movies are a visual medium whereas the book plays in your mind and you can create
33:44
what you want which is what i've done which is why i never saw the movie that's all it was just a
33:50
comment no and that's a good point as well it's um when you watch something of a beloved book you
33:56
know you're sort of and sacrificing something of you know other images coming in um i would just
34:04
say that i would do a shout out for performances i thought that martin freeman is very good as
34:12
Bilbo it's got really really interesting actor and obviously you know Ian McKellen as gander kind of
34:21
you know i can't have anyone doesn't like that yet um and also Richard Armitage is
34:30
Thorin i also well i enjoyed the duels i know they're annoying in some ways because there's so many of
34:35
them but being it was a very difficult role to pay but they actually they're i think the
34:40
performances are good is what i'm saying um okay so everybody thank you so much for that
34:48
we're now going to do our quiz because i promised i wouldn't keep you long um so how the quiz works
34:53
is it's uh it looks like a pole so um there it's in two sections and you can i will read it out but
35:01
you can work your way through in your own time um and then i'll give you the right answers and i'll
35:06
need you to tot up your own correct answers if you don't mind i haven't got some fancy chemency
35:13
thing that will do that for me so we're doing it on an honor system and i'm sure you're all
35:17
honorable folk um so let me just find uh
35:29
here we go can you all see so this is a test of if you've been listening
35:37
in what year was the hobbit first published 1934 1937 1944 on 1950 to
35:47
um i'm just going to abuse that yeah so if you're if you're talking at home i will just mute you
35:55
so that we don't hear the answers read out but the people have come as family groups
36:00
okay so can everybody see the pole any problem to seeing the pole
36:05
the quiz and you can just input your answers if there's any problem with the tech let me know
36:10
because we did test this and it seemed to work okay number two which dwarf arrives first for the
36:16
tea party is it thoring is it feely otherwise known as one of the hot dwarves is it barlin or is it
36:26
dwelling so i'm not going to tell you the difference between those other dwarves
36:39
number three is which dwarf plays a harp because i've forgotten that actually they bring their
36:51
own instruments into the tea party when they arrive is it thoring is it feely is it keely who's the other
37:00
hot dwarf or is it orry and i'm by the way all of these are about the book they're not to do with the
37:09
film except for the reference to the the relative hotness of the dwarves which Susan won't know
37:17
but they managed to suggest that younger dwarves were better looking might you i'm of a rich red
37:24
armoured-titch person myself who are no what are the names of the trolls this is one you've got
37:31
to really scratch your head is it william bill tom bill henry tom tom bill but or but tom henry
37:42
question number five is which ray round do dwarves organise their maps i hope people
37:56
to do with making games about lord the rings know this is east at the top is it west at the top
38:00
is it south at the top or is it north at the top
38:03
what number six what does orchrist mean does it mean fo hammer goblin cleaver fo smiter or elf
38:16
companion who kills the great goblin is number seven is it gandalf is it billbo is it thoring or
38:25
does the great goblin himself fall to his death
38:33
number eight what is the answer to the first riddle told by golem is it teeth eggs wind or mountain
38:41
number nine is who does billbo hold onto to escape the flaming pine trees is it dory is it gandalf
38:56
is it the lord of eagles or is it bumber and the last one in this little the first ten is what
39:08
does billbo dream about on the second night of bion's house i love talking streams by the way
39:13
they're scattered throughout um his stories and they always got real resonance does he dream about
39:19
bag end does he dream about honey cakes does he dream about enormous bees or does he dream about dancing
39:27
bears right so um i'm going to end the poll in a moment and give you the answer to the first
39:37
ten questions but i'm just going to wait for everybody to have a chance to think their way through
39:45
that okay so um ten nine eight seven six five four three two one that's it end of poll i'm going
40:11
to now tell you the answers so this is why i need you to count how many you got right the hobbit was
40:19
first published in 1937 so well done 16 people got that right number two which dwarf arrives first
40:32
this is splitters hasn't it um the right answer is dwelling it goes dwelling then barling and then
40:41
i couldn't tell you after that thorin is actually one of the last lot to arrive so well done the nine
40:48
that picked while in number three is which dwarf plays a harp um majority of you got this right
41:01
it is thorin well done kind of a i'd like that that's in detail they could have put in the film i think
41:07
it'd be nice to see a little you know one of those well sharp types small ones not a great big thing
41:13
that'd be nice uh number four what are the name of the trolls um this was just to confuse you
41:20
wasn't it this was us because basically there's sort of all similar names and i think the majority
41:26
of you got this right it's tom bill and bird um so 19 of you got that right the funny thing about
41:33
this is i've been asking myself is why are trolls why are they called such english names
41:44
but there you go i'm actually yeah sorry if you wanted people to see their answers they're not
41:51
they're not popping out for us just in case let me share the results oh thank you sorry it's just
42:00
i'm reading it i'm reading it out from the screen sorry everybody thank you i'm glad i've got someone
42:04
keeping it on me um there we go so which way round do dwarves organize their maps again we were
42:15
split on this but uh we had a majority went for east yes correct and if you're wondering what
42:21
on earth is this about it's at the beginning um in the in the frontus piece it says at the top
42:29
points east at the top um and i was reading in the holly ordway book i mentioned that he actually wanted
42:36
to have a a map produced separately that you could actually pull out that was all kind of
42:42
a proper like look like the map so you could actually take it out as a kid but they weren't able
42:49
to do that i suppose it's cost probably but i like the idea that he actually wanted everyone to
42:54
have this dwarven map um what does orcris mean again it looks like the majority of you know it's
43:04
goblin cleaver i think pho hammer is um gandalf's one yeah um it's the the the the meaning of it
43:15
so anyway orcris is goblin cleaver and i also notice on this read through um that he only gets
43:23
throwing only gets orcris back after death um because the king um the elf king gives it to him when
43:31
well that's part of his funeral because it is taken from him when he's a prisoner who kills
43:39
the great goblin i tried to trick you there um it is gandalf everybody um r ip barry humpford who i
43:49
think played in the film the great goblin um what is the answer to the first riddle
43:57
the answer is mountain all of those others are answers to riddles so this was again a bit of a i'm
44:06
trying to sort of make something a bit more difficult for you all and who does billbo hold on to
44:13
when escaping the pine trees um well done it is dory so eight of you got that right um
44:22
um he doesn't actually get to hold on to an eagle at that point uh and bomber not bomber though
44:29
bomber does sort of carry him for quite a bit of it in various different ways so i know why you
44:33
said that and number ten the last in this session is what does he dream about rather delightfully
44:40
he dreams about dancing bears which i really like that okay so if you can tot up your right answers
44:50
and we will go on to um part two once you've had a chance so just making doubt of how many you got right
45:07
and oops sorry i just need to
45:13
there we are back
45:21
here is part two only five questions obviously i've done 15 questions because that's the number of
45:27
uh 13 doors for us billbo and Gandalf so question number one what does billbo see from the top
45:38
of the trees in murkwood is it thrandwell's kingdom is it black butterflies
45:45
is it the lonely mountain is it the land upon lands beyond murkwood
45:55
question number two is where does billbo get the keys to the dwarves' cells when they're in the
46:03
thrandwell's kingdom is it from the chief guard is it from the butler galleon
46:09
is it from legolas or is it off that should read hook rather than the hood sorry i didn't
46:16
proofread this off a hook on the wall
46:23
number three what title does billbo not give himself
46:29
when talking to smoug is it barrel rider ring bearer luck wearer or friend of bears
46:41
three of those he uses when he's saying who he is on one of them he doesn't
46:50
uh number four is what does billbo not get in other of my not get questions
46:57
what does he not get from the dwarves treasury does he not get a mithril coat a pearl and crystal belt
47:06
a leather helm with white gems or a stout shield with scarlet stones
47:16
okay i'm taking a lot of negatives here it was because i was told to make sure they only had one
47:21
answer so this is why it's like this um what species or race is not counted among the five armors
47:28
that make up the battle of five armors this has always confused me and this is on the
47:34
read through i saw there was actually a sentence that tells you who the five armors are
47:39
so which one isn't goblins eagles wolves men or dwarves or elves goblins eagles wolves men
47:49
dwarves elves which are which one isn't counted as a separate army or that battle
48:04
okay so um if you could put in your answers
48:14
just wait to see i can oh i can see who's who's taking part i hadn't so this is we this is the
48:19
first time we've used this way of doing it so i can see who is still thinking 70 percent of you
48:26
have put in your answers
48:36
and sue lovely to see you as well see who's just saying hi to me so it's been through one of our
48:44
courses very and as as val is lovely to see you all pitching up here as well okay um we got 28
48:52
of 36 so i'm going to do another countdown of 10 some of us may not be participating like me because
48:59
i'm the question master um so now on ever 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 okay
49:20
right you should this time you have to share see the results good
49:25
so the answer to question number 11 is actually funnily enough Jacob didn't know with the content of
49:37
this but he gave some of it away because he mentioned the butterflies there are black butterflies
49:42
that are seen um he doesn't see anything else because it's described as being in like a shallow
49:49
dish so he can't see beyond mercury he's very disputed which is different from the film
49:58
where he sees you know he sees beyond which i think was um would have confused some of us
50:08
um so where does he get the key well he gets it from the chief guard the chief guard and the
50:14
butler are having a very powerful wine that you're drinking together that that bit is so the butler's
50:21
there but it's the key is on the guard um number number three um what title does he not give him he
50:30
doesn't call himself obviously if you think about it he doesn't call himself ring bearer because
50:37
that's what proto is called but he does mention he's all the other things it is if you skip that chapter
50:46
it's worth just reading that interchange one of us was mentioning how it's one of their favorite
50:50
because his address to smalg is just so wonderful oh smalg the magnificent to smell the you know
50:58
it just gets wonderful terms very funny okay what does he not get from the treasury he actually
51:04
gets quite a lot things obviously the mithril coat that then becomes iconic in
51:09
brodo but he doesn't get shield he gets all the rest a stout shield of scarlet stones i made up
51:17
and number five um but the battle the battle of the five arm is is um the so i'm just muting a few
51:29
folk um eagles are not counted as a separate army um the actual ones described our goblins
51:40
wolves men wolves and else that's partly because eagles come later and they also come
51:45
with beyond people but they they stick with the original name for it is those people um and goblins
51:53
or you know basically sort of the all-like characters um men are from lake town and dail wolves
52:01
of the dwarves and the elves are the woodland elves are through and we'll sponge so um please can you
52:09
count up how many you got right they were 15 if you got somewhere above 10 correct would you like
52:19
to share it in the chat um and we'll have a look and see if we can um find a winner
52:30
so esp got a very decent 11
52:37
anybody else got more than 11
52:47
looks like 11 maybe our winner Jacob did you take part in that i did not oh i was going to put
52:56
you on the spot there how do you think you would have done i think i would have done decent but like
53:02
the which dwarf got there first and who is is the the dwarves yeah the questions would have just yeah
53:09
those were rough the rain says she missed she lost count we have to actually have a total
53:14
for that but well done if you got over 10 i i purposely put in oh dear carry said
53:25
zoom dropped her and didn't hit submit oh so i think um esp esp you've probably got a name
53:39
that's more than esp which we we we will mark you our winner and crown you the king or queen of
53:49
um of middle earth for today so if you would like to direct message us with your email then we
53:57
can get in contact with you about your prize but i hope everybody found the actual big prize of
54:04
this was just spending an hour with the hobbit um yeah and it's been huge fun i've really enjoyed
54:12
this readathon so thank you everybody for making it and all your lovely contributions
54:18
um we but they don't disappear our facebook and instagram they'll be there for a while
54:23
so uh thank you so much and esp don't go without telling us um who you are i will stay here so you've
54:32
got a chance to message us but everybody else thank you very much for coming
54:37
thanks for listening to myth makers podcast brought to you by the oxford center for fantasy
54:48
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