The Fellowship of the Ring: Ch 5-8

[00:00:00] Who gave them their swords in the movies? Was that... Well, I think that must still be coming, right? Yeah, Aragorn does, right? And then at some point the elves give them other gifts, but then that might be later. But these are the swords that they have, right? And that's it for the rest. They're just like, cool, we're set. I mean, it's pretty cool. I'm like, who is Tom? Greatest question ever. You guys talking about him? He just comes out of nowhere.

[00:00:26] He's the only character that I knew was coming, but I didn't think he was gonna be like this. But you don't know anything about him still? No, and I still, I was like, was he in The Hobbit? I think he was. He's like older than the forest or something. Yeah, I'm like, I just thought he was like a jolly dude. Now I'm like, he's... And then you sing his song and he saves your life. I'm like, this is great. And the funny thing is no one who knows Lord of the Rings, I was listening to some people today and they say no one really knows who Tom is. Like, it's not an allegorical thing of like, this is like God or the... because he's already created all that stuff.

[00:00:56] Tom is just some old dude. Someone was telling me that Tom was based on Tolkien's like son's or daughter's doll. Like there was a doll in like the room that looked like this old jolly man. He's like, I'm gonna put this guy in my story and make him older than any other person on all of Middle Earth. Is he a hobbit though? No, he's a man. I don't know, maybe he's... No, because he's smaller than men. Like what size is he? He's bigger than a hobbit. He's smaller than men. He's a dwarf.

[00:01:26] And then he felt very like elven to me with all his knowledge. He was so annoying. Really? I love him.

[00:01:35] The singing. Well, maybe it was just because of the audio book, but I was like, dude, can you give me a straight answer, please? Yup. I was like every single thing that happens in this book. And then he's just laughing at it. He's like, well, maybe not even a straight... Yeah, well, yes, a straight answer. But there's also a point where everything that they say, he sings something back to me. If I'm sitting and eating dinner,

[00:01:55] he asks my host a question and goes, whoa! I'm like, no, no, shut up. Hold on. I don't want you to sing this back then. Can you just tell me this straight up?

[00:02:05] When I read it, I rap it mentally. So I love it. And it just gets over faster. And then the rhythm is great.

[00:02:14] Oh, that's funny. So Tom's pretty cool in my mind. I'm just saying. Yeah, you know, fair. I was reading it much quicker and an audio book might have driven me nuts.

[00:02:23] It was nuts. Was it slow singing?

[00:02:24] It was just like he performed.

[00:02:26] Oh, wow. Because like hearing this song does nothing to me. Like I don't need that. I can just read it and I get the same. It's like a poem, you know? Right. I like maybe... Spoken word. Yeah, I like that. He's doing... Spoken word would not be... Slam poetry.

[00:02:39] Can you imagine if he does a slam poem every single time someone asks? That would be more annoying than someone singing to me. I would still love him.

[00:02:56] Yeah. He's like a weird character to me. At first, it felt like he didn't care about anything. Yeah. But then by the end, I liked him. I could tell he cared deeply about people or like hobbits in this case. But it almost felt like he had so much control and awareness that he just wasn't worried. Yeah. He's like, oh, I'll get you out of this thing. I'll just sing a little tune. No big deal.

[00:03:18] It's because that's you. But it was annoying where I'm like, lives are at stake. I feel like we're watching them almost die twice. There's no big deal. Yeah, he's just singing around. That would be you.

[00:03:29] Oh, TV, but it was weird. It's fine. Everything's fine. Don't worry. And the dancing and the whole thing. Like, I think I wanted him to be more real, but he just didn't feel real. Yeah.

[00:03:44] And so in the end of this, we were talking about dreams before. This feels like it could have been a dream of theirs. You know what I mean? Like if they didn't in a few days, if they didn't have the swords given to them, they might look back and think none of that was real because it just felt so crazy.

[00:04:04] Yeah, that whole thing was just weird.

[00:04:07] Yeah, it felt crazy and felt weird. If I'm just reading this, I like know because I know some Lord of the Rings stuff. I know Tom is a good character. He's like pure and good. He's okay. But I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who doesn't know anything about Lord of the Rings.

[00:04:22] And when I was reading this chapter or listening to this chapter, I was so suspicious of him. I'm like, he seems so shady. He comes in.

[00:04:32] I didn't trust him for a while.

[00:04:33] Yeah, and the forest essentially leads them to Tom. It leads them to a willow tree and the willow tree eats them and then Tom's just singing through the forest and they're like, help, help, help.

[00:04:43] And then I feel like the forest leads them to Tom. Tom is like forcing the forest to take them to this tree. He rescues them. He brings them to his place. And I'm like, this could be like a powerful sorcerer who's putting some kind of spell over them.

[00:04:57] And keeping them locked up in this thing. And I didn't know about this too. When he puts on the ring and doesn't disappear, I was like, I'm so at odds.

[00:05:08] I thought he was like a full-blown wizard at one point because I was like, he's not being affected by any of this.

[00:05:14] I still don't know. I'm like, what happened there? But that was like over the line. But that first night when they were going to bed, I'm like, what's going to happen?

[00:05:22] Sleep is when I opened. And they, cause they were all falling into like a super deep sleep. They were like so at peace. And I was like, this is the point in any story when they're so at peace.

[00:05:31] That's like the red wedding. Everything's going perfect. And all of a sudden everything goes terrible.

[00:05:35] And this is about to be like the third time in just a few chapters that they fall asleep when they're not supposed to. They almost die.

[00:05:43] We're going to keep talking about this in a bit, but welcome to the podcast. I'm John, Jen, Danny and Lizzie.

[00:05:48] And this is the fellowship of the first time readers.

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[00:07:18] And I hope you enjoy this podcast, which is just chapters five to eight of Harry Potter, of Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring.

[00:07:30] All right. There. Yeah, there's a lot about Tom that I want to talk about.

[00:07:34] But chapter five is a conspiracy unmask.

[00:07:37] What is the conspiracy that they're unmasking? What happens in this chapter?

[00:07:40] Let's do summary. We forgot to do something before. Sorry about that.

[00:07:43] Let's do summary of this one.

[00:07:45] Frodo and company debrief at his new house and make a plan to leave by morning.

[00:07:53] Fatty stays behind.

[00:07:55] So the conspiracy is good old Fatty Bulger.

[00:07:59] Again, a character not in the movies, didn't know he existed.

[00:08:02] And kind of a loyal dude doing the hardest job, just waiting around for a bunch of black riders to come along.

[00:08:08] Yep.

[00:08:10] So the conspiracy was Frodo and the Ring, basically.

[00:08:14] Yeah.

[00:08:14] And unmasked.

[00:08:15] I think the book gave...

[00:08:18] It's giving so much more depth to Merry and Pippin.

[00:08:22] Oh my gosh.

[00:08:22] They're just so great.

[00:08:24] And they're so much smarter than they come across in the movies.

[00:08:28] And you need comic relief.

[00:08:29] I get that.

[00:08:30] And Peter Jackson does a great balance of comic relief through fighting and whatever.

[00:08:34] But I love that they're on top of this.

[00:08:38] Yes.

[00:08:38] And that they picked up on this.

[00:08:40] And they already picked up on it with Bilbo, even before Frodo.

[00:08:43] And that it was already discussed.

[00:08:44] And they're in.

[00:08:45] They're going with him.

[00:08:47] And in the movies, they just bump into them in the field.

[00:08:50] And it's just funny.

[00:08:52] Do you remember any of the stuff from the movies?

[00:08:54] Oh, a little.

[00:08:56] Because, yeah.

[00:08:56] It just feels like it's reshaping how I view the character.

[00:08:59] Because they meet him in Farmer Maggot's crop.

[00:09:03] And they just randomly bump into him.

[00:09:04] But, yeah.

[00:09:05] The books flesh their characters out so much better.

[00:09:07] They're so much more loyal.

[00:09:08] They're so much smarter.

[00:09:09] And I also love...

[00:09:10] We'll talk about this later.

[00:09:11] But that Tom gets his information from Farmer Maggot.

[00:09:14] It made Farmer Maggot such a more interesting character.

[00:09:17] All of a sudden, he's a boss.

[00:09:18] I know.

[00:09:19] I'm like...

[00:09:20] He's hanging out with Tom.

[00:09:21] Tom respects him?

[00:09:22] Whoa.

[00:09:23] It was like Farmer Maggot was just a grumpy person in the movies.

[00:09:25] Now, I'm like...

[00:09:26] I don't even remember him in the movies.

[00:09:27] Put some respect on his name.

[00:09:28] I didn't know he existed.

[00:09:29] You maybe don't even see him.

[00:09:30] You just see...

[00:09:31] That's it, right?

[00:09:31] Like something in the field.

[00:09:33] And they're running away from it.

[00:09:34] Because you know that Mary and Pippin stole a bunch of stuff.

[00:09:37] Because they've got armfuls that they drop.

[00:09:39] And Sam's like,

[00:09:40] You've been into Farmer Maggot's crops.

[00:09:42] Yeah.

[00:09:42] And then they go running off.

[00:09:43] Wow.

[00:09:44] You know this one.

[00:09:44] But it's...

[00:09:46] Yeah.

[00:09:47] Just a funny dynamic that is totally shifting.

[00:09:49] And I love seeing that in the book where characters now change.

[00:09:52] Yeah.

[00:09:53] So are getting to see new characters or characters that are now deeper and better.

[00:09:59] And so far, every character is better than I pictured them.

[00:10:02] Yeah.

[00:10:02] Same.

[00:10:03] It's great.

[00:10:03] I want to talk about Frodo specifically almost at the end when they're kind of like fighting

[00:10:08] through something.

[00:10:09] Because he makes a decision in his mind, which is really, I think, a fascinating one for writing

[00:10:14] perspective.

[00:10:15] But on writing perspective, I say the one thing that kind of threw me off, and I want to hear

[00:10:18] your guys' opinion on this, is all the perspective shifts.

[00:10:21] Like in the beginning of chapter five, when they're unmasking this conspiracy, you're in Sam's

[00:10:27] perspective for a little bit.

[00:10:28] And then it switches back to Frodo's.

[00:10:30] It throws me off a little bit, especially coming from Harry Potter, where it's you're

[00:10:34] only in Harry's mind.

[00:10:35] And there's very few chances where you're not in his mind.

[00:10:37] And I think this book's going to necessitate that you're out of one character's mind more

[00:10:41] often.

[00:10:42] But it does throw me out of the story a little bit more.

[00:10:45] I feel like there was a moment where the writing threw me out of the story, but I don't

[00:10:49] even remember where it was.

[00:10:50] So now I'm curious when those moments happen.

[00:10:52] Did you notice?

[00:10:53] I was thrown so far out that I didn't even know it.

[00:10:57] Like I don't even know what happened.

[00:10:58] I was saying my worries.

[00:10:59] I don't think it bothered me.

[00:11:01] I didn't really notice it.

[00:11:03] But I noticed like way later when they're all dreaming that it like, I forget what it was

[00:11:10] called, but it was like, this is what Frodo dreamed about.

[00:11:13] This is what Pippin dreamed about.

[00:11:14] And it like went down the line.

[00:11:15] Like that I liked because it's like spotlighting everyone still at the moment.

[00:11:20] Yeah.

[00:11:21] Yeah.

[00:11:21] But I don't think it bothered me because I feel like I've read other things apart from

[00:11:26] Harry Potter.

[00:11:27] It's the only thing I ever read.

[00:11:29] Okay.

[00:11:30] I read more than one book actually.

[00:11:33] But I will say that if you have a story like this, it is, I think it's going to be more

[00:11:38] engaging if you're in one character's mind, which is, I mean, Tolkien's dead.

[00:11:42] He can't rewrite this, but I think it would be interesting if you just wrote this from like

[00:11:45] Sam's perspective or from Frodo's perspective only.

[00:11:49] You're, it's impossible because.

[00:11:51] I feel like I'd get bored of it.

[00:11:53] For different reasons, but maybe.

[00:11:54] Yeah.

[00:11:54] I also think that maybe this is necessary too, because the fellowship is like a completed

[00:12:00] unit.

[00:12:00] And so you have to see all their different perspectives through.

[00:12:02] It's like Canterbury Tales, almost.

[00:12:05] Which.

[00:12:06] Oh gosh.

[00:12:08] It's like each character has their own song.

[00:12:11] I only remember a little bit.

[00:12:12] So I think, I think this is going to be good, but it just does throw me off a little bit

[00:12:16] coming from other stories.

[00:12:20] What do you guys think of Hobbits?

[00:12:25] I like them.

[00:12:26] Yeah.

[00:12:27] You love them?

[00:12:28] I love them from the movies, but I love them even more in the books.

[00:12:33] They're cute.

[00:12:37] Because even, I mean, part of the reason why I'm asking that too is.

[00:12:40] They seem like innocent.

[00:12:42] And like they want to do the right thing.

[00:12:44] Yes.

[00:12:45] And that's kind of what I think too, like I'm driving at.

[00:12:48] They seem like they do the right thing more often than not.

[00:12:51] Like, yes, some of the Hobbits are grumps, but like the hosts that we have, like there

[00:12:55] was one line that was so touching.

[00:12:57] Is you can trust us to stick you through, stick with you through thick and thin to the

[00:13:03] bitter end.

[00:13:04] And you can trust us to keep any secrets of yours closer than you can keep it yourself.

[00:13:08] But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone and go off without a word.

[00:13:13] We are your friends, Fredo.

[00:13:17] I love that.

[00:13:19] It doesn't even seem real though.

[00:13:21] Yeah, seriously.

[00:13:21] Seriously.

[00:13:22] I'm like, who says that?

[00:13:23] Yeah, it doesn't.

[00:13:25] But it's like, that's such a good point.

[00:13:27] It's like more quaint about friendship.

[00:13:29] It's like.

[00:13:30] Like, if you're going to die, I might not be with you.

[00:13:35] But I do love how he writes about friendship here.

[00:13:37] It's like these people are sticking with him, sticking by his side for anything.

[00:13:42] Or even like keeping the secret.

[00:13:43] That was sweet how they said it.

[00:13:45] Yeah, seriously.

[00:13:47] Like we'll keep your secrets even better than you can keep them yourself.

[00:13:49] Wow.

[00:13:51] I, the same reason I like hobbits, I don't like them.

[00:13:54] Like they're very predictable, even with like just being well fed and then like taking

[00:14:01] naps in the sun.

[00:14:02] Like I know that that's going to come back and be like really annoying or like that's

[00:14:07] going to get them in like a situation they don't want to be in.

[00:14:10] Like I just feel like they're so innocent and like simple in that way that like that's

[00:14:17] going to be frustrating.

[00:14:19] Because like then they're the ones that are like bearing the burden of the ring, getting

[00:14:23] it all the way back.

[00:14:24] But yeah, I mean the loyalty.

[00:14:27] Like I underlined that whole thing that you just read.

[00:14:30] I love that.

[00:14:32] I don't know.

[00:14:33] I think they're just like nice and enjoyable.

[00:14:35] Yeah.

[00:14:36] And I trust them.

[00:14:37] Like the whole little crew right now.

[00:14:40] True.

[00:14:41] I feel like it's Hagrid trust for me.

[00:14:44] Where it's like I trust them to have good hearts, but I think of them as being clumsy

[00:14:50] or not so street smart.

[00:14:51] Yeah.

[00:14:51] Um, it said they don't lock their doors in the Shire.

[00:14:56] And so it feels like again that same thing.

[00:14:58] They're like, oh, a tree.

[00:14:58] Let's just take a nap.

[00:14:59] Let's hang out.

[00:15:00] And I am worried that's going to get them in more and more trouble because it already

[00:15:03] is.

[00:15:04] I think Tom even says that at the end.

[00:15:05] He's like, I'm sticking with you now because I don't trust you guys to get out of this

[00:15:09] domain.

[00:15:09] So he's like sticking with them until they get to this one spot.

[00:15:13] Um, so they're not like, you know, the best navigators, but again, I'm excited for

[00:15:17] parts of this story because I think we're seeing some of what Tolkien wants

[00:15:21] us to see.

[00:15:22] And like, there's flaws in these characters already.

[00:15:25] And how is the rest of the fellowship going to fill in some of their flaws?

[00:15:29] So far, this book seems like such a great commentary on friendship.

[00:15:33] I'm like so into it because like they're great friends right now, but they still have things

[00:15:38] that are lacking and like it's okay.

[00:15:40] Cause they don't really need it.

[00:15:41] They don't know any different really, but like their loyalty to each other and their

[00:15:46] like devotion to one another and how they're there through like thick and thin and they

[00:15:51] understand each other.

[00:15:52] I'm like, I'm so into it right now.

[00:15:54] I think this is so great.

[00:15:55] And I think it's, it's deeper too than just all good.

[00:15:59] They have that, um, like a banter.

[00:16:01] That's kind of fun.

[00:16:02] Yeah.

[00:16:02] And even I like that Sam was their little spy because it's so great.

[00:16:09] It a little bit bothered me and it almost felt not unloyal, but a little like, oh,

[00:16:15] they're, they're, they're mischievous.

[00:16:16] Yeah.

[00:16:17] And, um, I think it again came from a good place and they care deeply about Frodo.

[00:16:22] Um, and then Sam was face scarlet up to the ears.

[00:16:26] So like he does feel guilty.

[00:16:28] He knows he shouldn't have been doing that.

[00:16:29] So I do feel like there's a lot more depth to it.

[00:16:32] Um, it's playful.

[00:16:33] There's banter.

[00:16:34] They're good friends.

[00:16:35] Um, they get moody, but they're okay with it.

[00:16:37] It just feels like great.

[00:16:38] I love this.

[00:16:39] Yeah.

[00:16:40] I'm with you.

[00:16:43] What else do you guys have in this chapter?

[00:16:45] Cause I have one question at the end.

[00:16:47] I don't have a ton.

[00:16:48] I have like three questions for each chapter that I came up with.

[00:16:51] Um, Bilbo wasn't that careful.

[00:16:54] Um, Mary said he never left the book about, um, talking about Bilbo.

[00:17:00] Yeah.

[00:17:00] Is that like the book where he was writing like there and back again?

[00:17:04] Okay.

[00:17:05] I think so.

[00:17:05] And he wanted to read that book, but he never got to.

[00:17:08] So they only heard some of the tales that he told about the story.

[00:17:13] Okay.

[00:17:15] Yeah.

[00:17:15] I think that was, I think that's what they're referring to.

[00:17:17] I caught that and I was like, yeah, that has to be it.

[00:17:19] Cause they were talking about like, yeah, some of the tales that Bilbo had been on.

[00:17:22] So I'm pretty positive.

[00:17:23] Okay.

[00:17:24] Yeah.

[00:17:24] That makes sense.

[00:17:24] And I, in the prologue, I was getting confused cause it felt like they mentioned like three

[00:17:28] different books that were history things and yeah, but yeah.

[00:17:33] Okay.

[00:17:33] So let's be a, let's be dream interpreters here.

[00:17:36] Cause Frodo has a dream.

[00:17:37] It says when at last he had gone to bed, Frodo could not sleep for some time.

[00:17:42] His legs ached.

[00:17:43] He was glad that he was writing in the morning.

[00:17:45] Eventually he fell into a vague dream in which he seems to be looking out of a high window

[00:17:49] over a dark sea of tangled trees down below among the roots.

[00:17:53] There was a sound of creatures crawling and snuffling.

[00:17:56] He felt sure that they would smell him out sooner or later.

[00:17:59] Then he heard a noise in the distance.

[00:18:01] And at first he thought it was a great wind coming over the leaves of the forest.

[00:18:03] Then he knew it was not leaves, but the sound of the sea far off and a sound he had never

[00:18:11] heard in waking life.

[00:18:12] Though it had often troubled his dreams.

[00:18:15] Suddenly he found he was out in the open.

[00:18:17] There were no trees after all.

[00:18:19] He was on a dark heath and there was a strange salt smell in the air.

[00:18:23] Looking up, he saw before him a white tower standing alone on a high ridge.

[00:18:28] A great desire came over him to climb the tower and see the sea.

[00:18:31] He started to struggle up the ridge toward the tower, but suddenly a light came in the sky

[00:18:36] and there was a noise of thunder.

[00:18:41] What the heck was this dream talking about?

[00:18:44] Well, I wrote in the margins, what does this dream mean?

[00:18:47] I don't know.

[00:18:49] But I'm projecting some of the movie on it and I'm trying to think like there are some scenes

[00:18:56] where they jump into other things and show you things that are brewing.

[00:19:03] So my first thought, well, I don't remember first thought.

[00:19:06] My thought as you were reading it now was that this is where orcs are being like built up, made.

[00:19:15] And I'm thinking of a scene, but I think it was in the second movie where it's below Isengard

[00:19:20] and they're like in the caves down there and you're seeing like an orc birth out of the mud basically.

[00:19:28] That is what it felt like.

[00:19:29] Isn't that that white tower that the wizards fight in?

[00:19:31] Yeah.

[00:19:32] But then white tower is weird too because the elves have a white tower near the sea.

[00:19:37] Didn't they say that?

[00:19:38] Like if they were near the shire.

[00:19:40] This is by the sea too.

[00:19:41] So then I feel like the dream shifted and then he all of a sudden,

[00:19:44] that would be like the gray haven like elf thing.

[00:19:48] But then that's not something we saw in the movie that I remember.

[00:19:52] So it feels like we're seeing two different things maybe.

[00:19:56] So like the beginning of this to me, like the foreshadowing,

[00:19:59] the creatures crawling and stuff like underneath.

[00:20:01] I'm like, that seems like the Barrow Downs,

[00:20:03] the tangle of trees down below the roots, the creatures crawling.

[00:20:07] That seems like the Barrow Downs.

[00:20:08] And I was like, oh, okay.

[00:20:09] When I reread the stream, I was like, that makes sense.

[00:20:12] But the rest of it, I don't know if this is like a foreshadowing of everything they're going to see.

[00:20:16] But the sea part throws me off because I'm like, do they ever really go to the sea?

[00:20:20] Right.

[00:20:20] I don't think they do.

[00:20:21] I don't know.

[00:20:23] So I'm going to check the map.

[00:20:25] Yeah, I know.

[00:20:25] I know.

[00:20:26] I need a big map here.

[00:20:27] I forgot about that.

[00:20:28] I was thinking Isengard 2 just because it's like a tower.

[00:20:31] Yeah, yeah.

[00:20:32] And then I don't know the timeline, but I was like, maybe it was white at the beginning when he was like a good wizard.

[00:20:38] Ooh, that's interesting.

[00:20:39] Or like a normal wizard.

[00:20:41] And then everything turned dark.

[00:20:44] And this could be, because again, it said below the roots of the tree.

[00:20:49] I'm thinking this is when there's still the forest there because in Two Towers is when he's like cutting the forest down.

[00:20:56] And then there's like a blank spot.

[00:20:57] And then that's where the orcs are really starting to.

[00:20:59] So this could be like the earliest foreshadowing of Isengard being like built into something evil now.

[00:21:05] Yeah.

[00:21:05] And I didn't even think of it being potentially a white tower before.

[00:21:09] And I mean, it could look different from movie to book too.

[00:21:11] So maybe this is the movie depiction of it.

[00:21:13] Or the book depiction of this.

[00:21:14] Maybe it's always white.

[00:21:14] Yeah.

[00:21:15] Because isn't he wears white, right?

[00:21:18] Yeah, he does.

[00:21:19] Yeah.

[00:21:21] Either way, I didn't take the dream to be good.

[00:21:25] Yeah.

[00:21:25] It wasn't good news.

[00:21:27] I was like, and there was another dream, I think, or maybe even two more.

[00:21:31] But then, of course, one of them was like a fake dream.

[00:21:33] Yeah.

[00:21:33] But yeah, so I feel like when dreams come up, I'm always skeptical.

[00:21:37] Oh, no.

[00:21:37] Never mind.

[00:21:38] This reminds me like the elves in the Rings of Power.

[00:21:46] Because they're out at the sea.

[00:21:47] When they're out at the sea and then the light comes and they're like going to the next world.

[00:21:53] Yeah.

[00:21:53] Like they graduated being a soldier or something.

[00:21:56] Yeah, yeah.

[00:21:56] Right, right.

[00:21:58] It's like one of the first scenes in Rings of Power, yeah.

[00:21:59] I don't know.

[00:22:01] Is there a noise?

[00:22:02] Or it could be the eye looking for the ring, the light.

[00:22:07] I thought it could be that too.

[00:22:09] Maybe they're like leveling Mordor right now, like cutting out all the trees in it or something like that.

[00:22:15] I don't know.

[00:22:16] But next chapter is chapter six, which is the old forest.

[00:22:19] What happens in this one?

[00:22:21] I'm happy to keep doing summaries, but also if anyone else wants to.

[00:22:26] All right.

[00:22:26] Old forest.

[00:22:29] I didn't write one.

[00:22:31] This one's actually kind of simple.

[00:22:32] They walk through the woods.

[00:22:33] Yeah, they walk through the woods.

[00:22:34] They get to Tom Bombadil by the end of this one.

[00:22:36] The forest is like shifting and changing like the staircases of Hogwarts.

[00:22:39] It's the only book I ever read.

[00:22:40] Nice.

[00:22:41] They come to this willow and then the willow is eating them.

[00:22:48] Makes them all get sleepy.

[00:22:49] And then all of a sudden they call out because Tom Bombadil is coming singing through the forest.

[00:22:54] You okay, Chad?

[00:22:56] Classic.

[00:22:57] Yeah, Lizzie's line was so great.

[00:22:59] I read other things in Harry Potter.

[00:23:01] That's what you're laughing.

[00:23:03] Yeah.

[00:23:03] And then I'm thinking I'm only reading her spinoff.

[00:23:07] So I read Harry Potter and Robert Galbraith.

[00:23:10] You only read one author.

[00:23:12] It's okay.

[00:23:13] It's our foray into books.

[00:23:15] Oh, no.

[00:23:15] I read Demon Copperhead too.

[00:23:17] There you go.

[00:23:18] And then they finally meet Tom in the end of this.

[00:23:22] The forest is so much darker in the books.

[00:23:25] Like the trees are actually like actively attacking people.

[00:23:29] And I feel like in the movie they were just like, oh, like we deserve respect.

[00:23:34] And like we're a sacred forest.

[00:23:38] That's Fangorn.

[00:23:38] That could be different from this one.

[00:23:40] So yeah, that's what's weird too.

[00:23:42] Like are they going to have different personalities?

[00:23:44] And then like.

[00:23:45] Oh wait, is Fangorn a tree?

[00:23:47] Yeah.

[00:23:48] Okay.

[00:23:48] Each forest is a different fraction of how they.

[00:23:50] Now I got to look back at the map.

[00:23:51] It's a different culture.

[00:23:53] Maybe Fangorn treats people nicely in the old forest.

[00:23:57] There are a bunch of snooty grumpy trees.

[00:24:00] Were the maps only at the end?

[00:24:01] No, there was one at the beginning too.

[00:24:02] Because I'm with you.

[00:24:02] This forest like and I think Lord of the Rings actually does that well because I was looking

[00:24:06] at this with Mirkwood or something like that in The Hobbit.

[00:24:14] That forest seems so dark.

[00:24:18] Yeah, true.

[00:24:19] Don't seem like Fangorn doesn't seem quite as dark.

[00:24:21] This place seemed like it was manipulative.

[00:24:24] It was like gross.

[00:24:26] Like it just like took you in further and further and further.

[00:24:29] And then finally Frodo's like we need to follow the road then.

[00:24:31] This is getting terrible.

[00:24:32] This forest seems dark.

[00:24:34] And I think they mention this forest in the movies too.

[00:24:37] Oh, this is all the shire.

[00:24:40] Okay.

[00:24:40] So they, oh, old forest.

[00:24:41] Okay, cool.

[00:24:42] So they cross the river.

[00:24:45] Old forest.

[00:24:46] Pretty intense.

[00:24:48] And there's the river.

[00:24:51] Yeah, that is a strange one.

[00:24:54] I also feel like I am always assigning, well, I feel like the book is leading us there,

[00:25:00] but there's like an emotional element or when Tom Bombadil was singing,

[00:25:06] it's like you have to treat the forest well if you want it to treat you well.

[00:25:11] And so the one song Frodo sings, I'm like, what are you doing?

[00:25:17] He's like, just like, ha, ha, ha, let's burn the forest down.

[00:25:20] Or what did he say?

[00:25:21] Oh, and the song ends with for east or west, all woods must fail.

[00:25:26] And I'm like, why would you sing a song that says all woods must fail in it?

[00:25:32] When you're in it.

[00:25:33] Yeah.

[00:25:34] So it's just kind of funny.

[00:25:36] And it's about, what says despair not?

[00:25:38] So I don't know how it is, but all woods there must be end at last is another line in that song.

[00:25:45] So I'm just thinking, hey, Frodo, what are you doing?

[00:25:48] At least sing a happy song about how lovely trees are.

[00:25:53] Yeah, right?

[00:25:53] Do something.

[00:25:54] Because there's got to be some relationship here.

[00:25:56] Some kind of magic.

[00:25:56] I don't know if they didn't realize it at the beginning.

[00:25:58] Hopefully they did by the end.

[00:26:00] And maybe they'll learn their lesson in the future.

[00:26:02] But they weren't putting good vibes out into the forest.

[00:26:05] I know.

[00:26:06] Especially because song seems, or poetry, however you want to interpret it, seems like it has such an integral part of this story.

[00:26:15] Like Tom seems.

[00:26:17] Music is something more important.

[00:26:18] Love that.

[00:26:20] Shoot, we did it again.

[00:26:22] Like Tom is going singing throughout the woods.

[00:26:24] Because, and again, I think, yeah, like how you create things like poetry and song in these books has implications on how the rest of the world responds to you.

[00:26:36] I think it is interesting.

[00:26:37] Like the way that Frodo is talking about these things in the forest, it seems to like suffocate them even more from it.

[00:26:42] Right.

[00:26:43] Yeah, this forest seemed very responsive to them, which is creepy.

[00:26:48] Didn't it like dump him into the stream too?

[00:26:53] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:26:54] Sitting on it.

[00:26:55] And I guess good thing too, because that maybe, wait, no, how did he get out of that one?

[00:26:59] Sam.

[00:27:00] Did he just wake up or did Sam pull them out?

[00:27:02] No, somebody grabbed him out of it.

[00:27:04] I thought Sam grabbed him.

[00:27:04] So Sam didn't fall asleep yet.

[00:27:06] Sam pulled them out.

[00:27:07] So plus one point for Sam.

[00:27:10] Or he gets credit for saving all of them.

[00:27:13] Yeah, so that was good.

[00:27:15] Because otherwise they would have just all died right there.

[00:27:18] Yeah.

[00:27:20] I feel like there's going to be a lot of points in this book where they're like pretty much dead and one character probably just saves them.

[00:27:24] Yep.

[00:27:24] Because that was kind of Frodo waking up in the next two chapters.

[00:27:28] Bear our downs, yeah.

[00:27:28] Yeah.

[00:27:28] And that was another point.

[00:27:29] When we get to that chapter, Frodo wins by singing.

[00:27:32] He feels better by singing.

[00:27:33] It's like song and poetry really have an impact on this story.

[00:27:37] Yeah.

[00:27:38] Which...

[00:27:40] Oh, yeah.

[00:27:40] That's interesting in real life, yeah.

[00:27:42] Like if someone...

[00:27:43] If I'm in someone's house and all of a sudden they just break out in song.

[00:27:46] I'm like, take a step back.

[00:27:48] Yeah.

[00:27:48] Hold up.

[00:27:49] Yeah.

[00:27:50] What are we doing here?

[00:27:50] Wait, don't you like that?

[00:27:52] No, almost never.

[00:27:54] Just because I grew up with it doesn't mean...

[00:27:55] I was like that.

[00:27:56] His family is like a musical.

[00:27:58] Yeah.

[00:27:59] They all agree.

[00:28:00] At some point, everyone's whistling or humming a different song throughout the house.

[00:28:03] I love that.

[00:28:04] I'm like, oh my goodness.

[00:28:05] Or someone says something and they start singing like...

[00:28:08] And it triggers a song.

[00:28:09] Yes.

[00:28:09] A song that has that word in it.

[00:28:11] I don't mind that.

[00:28:12] Different songs.

[00:28:13] But if I say something to someone and their response is immediately, well, let me tell you.

[00:28:19] That couldn't happen.

[00:28:21] I'm like driving...

[00:28:21] Goodbye.

[00:28:22] I'm like, dude, stop.

[00:28:23] Yeah.

[00:28:23] Come on.

[00:28:23] Goodbye.

[00:28:24] I will see you when you're done with your song and you can tell me straight up.

[00:28:27] And that's why Tom felt annoying.

[00:28:29] Yeah.

[00:28:30] That's probably the only reason why he felt annoying.

[00:28:31] That's why he wasn't in the movie?

[00:28:32] Because he wasn't serious?

[00:28:34] But I also felt like this felt childish to me.

[00:28:37] Yeah.

[00:28:38] In a weird...

[00:28:40] Or sing-songy.

[00:28:40] By the time we got to the end of it, there was like innocence to it.

[00:28:43] And he felt so whimsical that I can't imagine him being in the movie because it would change

[00:28:50] the tone of everything so much.

[00:28:52] And I mean, I know we've said this before throughout all of Harry Potter, but now I'm

[00:28:57] like, if they were to make this into a movie, it would have to be a TV show and it would

[00:29:01] have to be 12 episodes long for one book because they've already covered so much more

[00:29:06] than we've seen in the movies.

[00:29:08] I thought it was interesting too that all of these songs are in the movies in some way.

[00:29:14] Like there was one that they sang that was like, Cold Bee Travelers Far From Home or something

[00:29:19] like that.

[00:29:20] And Gollum just says that line.

[00:29:22] Interesting.

[00:29:23] And then most of the ones that the Hobbits sing are in other points, but they incorporate

[00:29:28] them in better ways.

[00:29:29] There's one where Mary and Pippen are singing in Rohan and they're just singing together

[00:29:32] and they're singing one of the exact songs that's in this.

[00:29:35] Mary sings one of the exact songs to Denethor in this.

[00:29:39] Even Bilbo, when he's leaving, he's singing the song that they sing in The Hobbit, which

[00:29:44] is reiterated in this.

[00:29:45] Like they do incorporate them really well in the movies, but just in passing.

[00:29:48] So like, yeah, which is I think is one of the best ways to do it because you're right.

[00:29:51] If they put a lot of these just as they threw Tom Bombadil in this would have changed the

[00:29:55] whole story.

[00:29:56] Would have made this a musical rather than honestly, you can see this on Broadway right now.

[00:30:00] And he's like so beyond Mary and Pippen.

[00:30:02] Yeah, I know.

[00:30:03] They're supposed to be the funny ones.

[00:30:05] You're like, Mary and Pippen, you guys are funny, but this is like a little extra.

[00:30:09] Way too much.

[00:30:10] So, but I love how in the movies they sneak them in in certain ways where I'm sure like

[00:30:14] nerd fans look at this stuff and they're like, that's the song that was in like, you

[00:30:19] know, chapter five.

[00:30:19] That's so cool.

[00:30:21] I think they did great.

[00:30:26] Third time's true.

[00:30:28] Keep catching it.

[00:30:30] But yeah, I don't know that this is just the forest chapter.

[00:30:33] I don't I don't have too much else in this chapter.

[00:30:35] I did like when they when Tom meets somebody goes time enough for questions around the supper

[00:30:39] table.

[00:30:40] You follow after me as quick as you are able.

[00:30:43] Like it's a little rhyme that he had, but I like that.

[00:30:46] They like that.

[00:30:48] All things have their due time in this and like hobbits know that and understand that and respect

[00:30:53] the rules of that.

[00:30:54] Like they have tons of questions.

[00:30:55] They're like, let's have dinner first and then we'll ask him around dinner rather than

[00:30:59] me.

[00:30:59] And then he's like, no, no.

[00:31:01] Yeah.

[00:31:01] Yeah.

[00:31:01] Yeah.

[00:31:02] Exactly.

[00:31:03] Rather than me.

[00:31:04] Who's like, if that happens to me, I'm not.

[00:31:05] Which again is part of the lore of this.

[00:31:07] Like they're being lured into the woods by this character that we don't really know

[00:31:11] yet.

[00:31:12] Who's just singing throughout the woods who seems perfect right now, but could be really

[00:31:17] evil.

[00:31:18] And he's like, no, just wait till dinner.

[00:31:20] And in my head, I'm like, red flag.

[00:31:22] Yeah.

[00:31:22] He's going to like give them some poison for dinner and they're going to be in a sleep

[00:31:26] forever.

[00:31:28] And singing about yourself, you know, it's a song with your own name in it.

[00:31:32] It's just like a little weird.

[00:31:33] I'm just like, I'm saying it's a third person.

[00:31:37] I'm just like, even if you're just a singing guy, like you're like, it's my theme song.

[00:31:42] It really is the Tom Bombadil theme song.

[00:31:45] So yeah, just.

[00:31:48] It's so funny.

[00:31:49] I was in, I was hiking like a few months ago.

[00:31:52] I don't know if I ever told this story.

[00:31:53] And I was in, I was going around a lake and there was this guy that was singing at the top

[00:32:00] of his lungs around the lake.

[00:32:02] I was literally like probably a hundred yards away from him and he had a big boom box on

[00:32:07] him and he was belting it out.

[00:32:09] And then the boom box wasn't playing anymore.

[00:32:12] And he sat on, he, or he stood on this bridge that overlooked the whole lake.

[00:32:15] And he was singing about this girl that he really liked.

[00:32:18] It was, it probably had to be like a 20 year old kid.

[00:32:21] And I remember he, I forgot the girl's name, but he screamed at the top of his lungs.

[00:32:28] He goes, and he goes long to me.

[00:32:29] He goes, I, and he waited for the echo.

[00:32:33] Love.

[00:32:34] And then he said the girl's name, which I forgot what it was, but I was like cracking

[00:32:38] up.

[00:32:40] And then he had this big staff stick.

[00:32:43] Like he got this staff in the woods and he wasn't like walking with it, like, like a

[00:32:47] walking stick.

[00:32:48] He had it in the air and he was like doing like a baton routine.

[00:32:51] So he was like marching and singing about this girl the whole way through the woods.

[00:32:56] And it cracked me up, but he was singing about someone else rather than Tom Bombadil is going

[00:33:09] to be like, Oh yeah.

[00:33:10] And I don't know who this guy is.

[00:33:12] He's a strange guy.

[00:33:13] He's the master, right?

[00:33:15] Yeah.

[00:33:15] He's the master of the wood.

[00:33:16] How does he get like summoned by the song though?

[00:33:19] That's what I want to know.

[00:33:20] So many layers.

[00:33:22] Yeah.

[00:33:22] What?

[00:33:22] Like.

[00:33:23] Cause like, how is he hearing it?

[00:33:24] Or like, who's telling him?

[00:33:26] Like, do the trees just go tell him that somebody needs help?

[00:33:29] Yeah.

[00:33:29] Cause like he apparently can control the trees.

[00:33:32] Right.

[00:33:33] Right.

[00:33:33] Yeah.

[00:33:33] It's like faster than a cell phone too.

[00:33:35] Cause he's called like immediately and he's there.

[00:33:36] Cause like they, they like communicate with the wind.

[00:33:39] So I'm like, I wonder if they just like send a little breeze, like a little rustle.

[00:33:45] Like, I don't know.

[00:33:46] I actually love that.

[00:33:47] Cause that's like, um, it shows there's like a little bit more magic in this realm.

[00:33:52] Like Lord of the Rings, they had magic, but it's a bit like more hidden.

[00:33:58] Like I like, uh, some of the C.S.

[00:34:00] Lewis stuff that he writes and we read, um, in book club, we read, uh, what was the myth?

[00:34:07] Till We Have Faces.

[00:34:08] And there's the one scene where like the West wind seems to whisper something to a character

[00:34:13] and then like, she's finally able to see something.

[00:34:15] And I'm like, do you know all about that?

[00:34:16] Remember that?

[00:34:17] Yeah.

[00:34:17] That's the only one I finished.

[00:34:18] I kind of like the idea that, uh, um, they are singing a song and like the wind takes

[00:34:25] a responsibility and like carries it on to Tom and Tom just answers immediately.

[00:34:29] It feels like more magical maybe than the movies too.

[00:34:33] I kind of like that.

[00:34:34] I don't really remember the things.

[00:34:40] I wrote, uh, kids book stuff.

[00:34:43] Makes sense to cut him from the movie.

[00:34:45] Yeah.

[00:34:45] And this dude is weird.

[00:34:48] He is weird.

[00:34:49] Which is anything else in chapter six where we hit a seven, which is in the house of Tom

[00:34:53] Bombadil?

[00:34:54] Well, my last comment was who is the river daughter?

[00:34:58] Oh my gosh.

[00:34:58] Is she an elf?

[00:34:59] We get the answer.

[00:35:00] Uh, well actually we don't get an answer.

[00:35:01] We maybe just get more questions.

[00:35:03] Yeah.

[00:35:03] I have more questions after that.

[00:35:05] Oh, she's in the next.

[00:35:06] That's what I was going to ask about.

[00:35:07] Yeah.

[00:35:07] Yeah.

[00:35:07] What's her name again?

[00:35:09] She was mentioned in his song too.

[00:35:11] Yeah.

[00:35:11] Goldberry.

[00:35:11] Oh yeah.

[00:35:12] This is a great name.

[00:35:13] Goldberry.

[00:35:14] It made me, it only made me think of Mighty Ducks, Goldberg.

[00:35:18] Every time I read that, Goldberg is the big goalie.

[00:35:21] Wait, isn't this awesome?

[00:35:23] Oh my God.

[00:35:24] The one character bangs on the glass, the one scene and he goes, Goldberg, I bet you

[00:35:28] if that puck was a cheeseburger, you'd stop it.

[00:35:31] Here I have Goldberry.

[00:35:32] That's an unfortunate comparison.

[00:35:35] Goldberry is Goldberg.

[00:35:36] Wait, there was a cartoon on Nickelodeon, the gold or the something berry.

[00:35:41] Yeah.

[00:35:42] Isn't it Goldberry?

[00:35:43] Is it?

[00:35:44] It might be Goldberry.

[00:35:45] Maybe they got it from this.

[00:35:46] I got it.

[00:35:46] That'd be awesome.

[00:35:47] I'm going to Google it while you're talking.

[00:35:48] That, Goldberry was another person that made me distrust Tom.

[00:35:53] She seemed like she was under some enchanted spell.

[00:35:56] A spell or something, right?

[00:35:57] And like was part of his like harem.

[00:35:59] Did you catch that in the one song?

[00:36:01] Because she was like among the reeds and then he was saying that like she's going to

[00:36:05] go back and like bathe in the river.

[00:36:07] And I was like, wait, like where?

[00:36:09] Tom, what are you doing?

[00:36:10] Are you watching this happen in real time?

[00:36:12] I think it's Huckle.

[00:36:13] No.

[00:36:14] Like he knows her schedule.

[00:36:16] Yeah.

[00:36:16] Like I feel like he like captured her or something.

[00:36:18] It seems creepy.

[00:36:20] But is she an elf or no?

[00:36:21] Because she definitely feels like it.

[00:36:23] I'm reading the beginning of Fair Young Elf Queen, but I'm just trying to.

[00:36:26] Um, that was their perception of her.

[00:36:29] What'd you say?

[00:36:30] Maybe not true.

[00:36:31] It was Thornberry.

[00:36:33] Thornberry.

[00:36:34] Yeah.

[00:36:35] I thought they were Goldberry.

[00:36:37] Someone in chat is going Thornberry.

[00:36:39] Wild Thornberry.

[00:36:40] Yep.

[00:36:42] Even faster than I could Google.

[00:36:45] You remember the name?

[00:36:46] Nigel.

[00:36:46] That was a good name.

[00:36:48] But yeah, this.

[00:36:49] She seemed weird.

[00:36:50] She seemed either enchanted or in on the whole thing.

[00:36:57] Like.

[00:36:58] But then it was weird because I felt like everyone else was under her spell too.

[00:37:03] So then that made it feel more even where I was like, oh, because Frodo was like feeling

[00:37:08] his heart move with a joy that he did not understand.

[00:37:11] So I said love or relief.

[00:37:12] I don't know.

[00:37:13] Um, so it just is funny.

[00:37:16] Um, I do like in this, I mean, the movies kind of portray this as well.

[00:37:21] Obviously.

[00:37:23] Pictures.

[00:37:24] Is that what you wrote in the margins?

[00:37:25] Yeah.

[00:37:25] She's got to be hot.

[00:37:26] Isn't that like how they feel with Galadriel though?

[00:37:28] So she's hot?

[00:37:28] Question mark?

[00:37:29] Yeah.

[00:37:30] Health question mark?

[00:37:30] Definitely.

[00:37:31] Because they're all smitten.

[00:37:32] Definitely.

[00:37:34] But I don't know.

[00:37:35] Is she glowing too?

[00:37:38] Like a one.

[00:37:39] Like an elf.

[00:37:40] Like you're saying.

[00:37:41] Yeah.

[00:37:41] Cause right.

[00:37:43] They're like very, like they revere Galadriel just for being her.

[00:37:48] That's what I kind of felt like.

[00:37:50] They were like, we didn't even say goodbye.

[00:37:52] It was Liv Tyler's character too.

[00:37:54] I feel like she is.

[00:37:55] Yeah.

[00:37:55] She's another elf.

[00:37:56] They seem to have like aura around them.

[00:37:58] That's the word.

[00:37:59] Yeah.

[00:37:59] Elf.

[00:38:00] And I like that the chapter starts and Frodo is singing.

[00:38:04] Yeah.

[00:38:04] So something about this place is making even Frodo start to sing.

[00:38:08] Um, and it's funny.

[00:38:10] It's like a song.

[00:38:12] Maybe she's making everyone sing.

[00:38:13] That just, that just came to mind.

[00:38:15] And it's like strange.

[00:38:17] Like again, these are red flags to me.

[00:38:18] Cause it's like, you're doing things outside of almost your own control.

[00:38:22] Yeah.

[00:38:22] Yeah.

[00:38:22] Yeah.

[00:38:23] Like if they're going into a forest and all of a sudden they're singing,

[00:38:25] even if they're feeling feelings of jolliness and like happiness to me,

[00:38:30] according to like ancient myths, that's when you're like,

[00:38:31] you're most susceptible.

[00:38:33] Like you go into these places and like, Oh,

[00:38:36] it puts you at ease and you're comfortable.

[00:38:38] And then all of a sudden 20 years go by and you're just like fat lump.

[00:38:42] And you're right.

[00:38:42] You know,

[00:38:43] you were so comfortable that all the years passed really fast.

[00:38:46] I'm like,

[00:38:46] they could have just chilled at Tom Bombadil's for the entire time.

[00:38:48] How long did they stay there?

[00:38:50] Cause it felt like a long time.

[00:38:52] Yeah.

[00:38:52] That is a good question.

[00:38:53] It was a whole time warp.

[00:38:54] Well,

[00:38:54] it did feel like that.

[00:38:55] At some point they,

[00:38:56] a comment was made and I was like,

[00:38:58] wait,

[00:38:58] it's been another day.

[00:38:59] I thought it was yesterday.

[00:39:00] Like,

[00:39:01] but they even said they didn't know if they'd been sitting there listening to his stories for an hour or multiple days.

[00:39:07] But by that point I was,

[00:39:09] I was calm about this.

[00:39:11] Then I was,

[00:39:11] I was in the zone.

[00:39:12] I'm like,

[00:39:13] maybe I'm being lulled into it.

[00:39:14] Cause then I was like,

[00:39:15] I trust Tom now.

[00:39:16] This is great.

[00:39:17] They're in paradise.

[00:39:19] Then I'm like,

[00:39:20] I'm picturing they're just in this great house with food and everything's awesome.

[00:39:23] And then I'm like,

[00:39:23] maybe people would sing more if they're,

[00:39:26] if they literally didn't have a care in the world.

[00:39:28] So it almost feels like the cares of the ring and all that jazz just went away.

[00:39:31] And they're like,

[00:39:32] you know what?

[00:39:32] It's pretty great here.

[00:39:34] So then I got,

[00:39:35] got into it.

[00:39:36] Yeah.

[00:39:37] Once the creepiness and I didn't think they were going to die once,

[00:39:39] once that went away.

[00:39:42] I think the only reason that it's away from me is because I know that Tom is like,

[00:39:45] and I not,

[00:39:47] he's like a good character,

[00:39:48] almost like a neutral character in this series.

[00:39:51] Like part of me was questioning.

[00:39:54] Even when he puts on the ring,

[00:39:55] he's not affected by it at all.

[00:39:58] I'm like,

[00:39:59] why doesn't he then take the ring?

[00:40:00] Right.

[00:40:01] He seems more powerful than anybody in the universe right now.

[00:40:03] Like Sauron doesn't seem like he'd be able to touch him.

[00:40:06] I'm like,

[00:40:06] is he just too good that he doesn't want to like,

[00:40:11] what is he actually put it on?

[00:40:13] Or was it just like resting on his pinky?

[00:40:15] I think.

[00:40:15] Oh,

[00:40:16] but yeah.

[00:40:16] Like,

[00:40:16] was it like on or just a little?

[00:40:18] It seemed like it was on.

[00:40:19] I have to look close when we get to that part.

[00:40:20] Cause I remember Frodo like made the comment of like,

[00:40:24] he thought it was busted after.

[00:40:25] So what he put it on and Tom seems right through him.

[00:40:28] And Tom could see it when he's invisible.

[00:40:30] So he's in multiple realms or whatever.

[00:40:32] Yeah.

[00:40:33] Yeah.

[00:40:33] That was weird.

[00:40:34] Oh yeah.

[00:40:36] And that was a good test.

[00:40:37] Cause I thought he could have just swapped the ring and stolen it or whatever.

[00:40:42] But then,

[00:40:42] and that's the other thing too.

[00:40:44] Like he puts the ring on.

[00:40:46] Frodo hasn't put on the ring yet.

[00:40:47] Right.

[00:40:48] Was this the first time that he put on the ring?

[00:40:51] Oh,

[00:40:52] whoa.

[00:40:52] That's a good point.

[00:40:54] Cause he knows what it's capable of,

[00:40:56] but yeah,

[00:40:56] he hasn't put it on yet.

[00:40:58] Cause there's the point in the movies where like the wraiths are like attracted to whenever

[00:41:04] the,

[00:41:04] someone puts on the ring.

[00:41:05] I'm curious to see if that's happening.

[00:41:07] I don't know if we're there yet.

[00:41:08] I know.

[00:41:08] That's what I kept waiting for.

[00:41:10] Or like for something to pop up saying like that it's attracting or calling or the evil

[00:41:18] people are coming after the dark horse.

[00:41:21] I feel like that's a good person now.

[00:41:25] Cause even in Tom's land,

[00:41:27] it doesn't seem like they would even be able to come.

[00:41:29] Like when you're,

[00:41:30] when you're there with Tom,

[00:41:32] I think everything is safe and you're okay.

[00:41:33] Like nothing can touch you.

[00:41:35] Is he like before time?

[00:41:36] Yeah.

[00:41:36] It seems like this is before time.

[00:41:38] This seems outside of time.

[00:41:40] Yeah.

[00:41:40] I'm with you.

[00:41:42] Which is,

[00:41:42] it's like a weird part of the story.

[00:41:44] But you know,

[00:41:45] his weirdly enough,

[00:41:47] his comment about farmer maggot feels the biggest wrench in this whole thing.

[00:41:51] Where I'm like,

[00:41:52] if it wasn't for that familiarity or like Gandalf or like,

[00:41:57] like,

[00:41:57] wait,

[00:41:57] what would he even be real?

[00:41:59] Yeah.

[00:41:59] Like this feels so strange.

[00:42:00] Like he might not be real.

[00:42:02] Yeah.

[00:42:02] But then that makes him feel like he actually is.

[00:42:05] Hmm.

[00:42:05] I don't know how to view him.

[00:42:07] But after reading this,

[00:42:09] it felt like he was going to be the kind of character who was major and was going to come

[00:42:13] back later too,

[00:42:14] you know,

[00:42:14] and have some role to play.

[00:42:16] He's not in the movies.

[00:42:18] Well,

[00:42:18] that's what I'm saying.

[00:42:19] He,

[00:42:19] he must not,

[00:42:20] but it feels like he would be a big deal because he feels so powerful.

[00:42:24] The whimsical.

[00:42:25] Cause Gandalf is,

[00:42:26] yeah.

[00:42:26] Yeah.

[00:42:27] Maybe they just don't want the whimsical part of this.

[00:42:29] Which I think is a good point.

[00:42:31] But Gandalf doesn't want to touch the ring.

[00:42:32] We know Gandalf is very powerful and according to rings of power,

[00:42:36] you know,

[00:42:37] Tom is crazy powerful as well,

[00:42:41] but Tom has to be more powerful than Gandalf.

[00:42:44] Cause Tom puts on the ring.

[00:42:45] Isn't affected by it.

[00:42:46] Gandalf doesn't want to touch it because he knows the power that he has.

[00:42:50] It's like maybe,

[00:42:51] maybe Tom is just a little pure of a character than Gandalf.

[00:42:55] Not susceptible to evil at all.

[00:42:57] But what's his power?

[00:42:58] He could talk to trees.

[00:42:59] Yeah.

[00:43:00] I don't know.

[00:43:01] Like this is the one line that you get the trees and the grasses and all

[00:43:04] things growing or living in the land each belong to themselves.

[00:43:08] Now Tom Bombadil is the master.

[00:43:10] No one has ever caught old Tom walking in forest,

[00:43:13] waiting in the waters,

[00:43:14] leaping on the hilltops under the light and shadow.

[00:43:16] He has no fear.

[00:43:17] Tom Bombadil is master.

[00:43:19] First of all,

[00:43:20] you're talking about yourself in the third person,

[00:43:21] my guy.

[00:43:22] Yeah.

[00:43:23] And,

[00:43:23] but I,

[00:43:24] I,

[00:43:24] I think one of my favorite things about him is just his like respect of

[00:43:30] all things.

[00:43:30] He seems like an observer,

[00:43:32] a watcher,

[00:43:33] like an enjoyer of this rather than someone who wants to use this.

[00:43:36] Yeah.

[00:43:36] So true.

[00:43:37] So maybe he's just the most pure character.

[00:43:39] I was thinking like,

[00:43:40] what if he already passed his test with the ring?

[00:43:43] Like in another life or like,

[00:43:45] cause he's eldest.

[00:43:46] Like he's above and beyond all of it.

[00:43:49] Cause then he was like,

[00:43:50] Oh,

[00:43:50] let me see the ring.

[00:43:51] And like,

[00:43:51] he knew what it was going to do.

[00:43:53] And like,

[00:43:53] he expected,

[00:43:54] like he could see Frodo.

[00:43:56] So like Gandalf didn't ever,

[00:43:59] like Gandalf didn't want to test himself because like,

[00:44:02] what if he fails?

[00:44:03] But then like that's in the movies where everybody has their little moment of

[00:44:06] like,

[00:44:06] right.

[00:44:07] Is the ring going to overpower me or not?

[00:44:09] So I wonder if like,

[00:44:11] I was kind of thinking he might have already just encountered the ring and

[00:44:15] just been like,

[00:44:16] no,

[00:44:16] like I don't need it.

[00:44:17] I'm just good with like my land and my,

[00:44:19] yeah.

[00:44:21] He's content.

[00:44:22] Yeah.

[00:44:22] I don't know.

[00:44:22] I'm wandering through the most content person.

[00:44:26] Seriously.

[00:44:27] Yeah.

[00:44:27] Yeah.

[00:44:27] I'm also just wondering if there's something more to the forest itself,

[00:44:33] whether it's time or other things,

[00:44:35] because if time doesn't exist in the forest,

[00:44:38] potentially,

[00:44:39] even if he was a regular character and he goes into the forest and he truly is

[00:44:44] so pure hearted that he just wants to exist there in peace.

[00:44:48] If he's kind of outside of time or outside of the world,

[00:44:51] outside of just in his own little bubble,

[00:44:53] basically there,

[00:44:53] I feel like if he never left the forest and he understands this is my zone,

[00:44:57] he's just happy there.

[00:44:59] He never is impacted by anything going on outside.

[00:45:01] He never impacts anything going on outside.

[00:45:03] And he's just happy to let people come in and out as they want.

[00:45:06] And then that's why he never comes up again in the story.

[00:45:09] And again,

[00:45:10] he's just so content.

[00:45:11] He doesn't want to interfere with the trees or the world or wars or anything

[00:45:14] else.

[00:45:15] But I still don't know where he gets his power.

[00:45:17] Yeah.

[00:45:18] Unless the forest gives it to him.

[00:45:19] What power he has.

[00:45:21] Yeah.

[00:45:23] Or is there power connected to age automatically?

[00:45:26] Maybe.

[00:45:26] Maybe the older trees have more power,

[00:45:29] it seems,

[00:45:30] or knowledge.

[00:45:31] I think everyone's capable of being talented.

[00:45:33] But he's the master of love.

[00:45:34] Sings into the tree and then it lets Mary go.

[00:45:36] Yeah.

[00:45:36] That was so weird to me.

[00:45:38] Yeah.

[00:45:39] He's learned how to talk to them in song.

[00:45:42] Yeah.

[00:45:42] He's not like commanding them.

[00:45:43] Maybe he saved the forest.

[00:45:46] Yeah.

[00:45:46] Maybe.

[00:45:47] What's the deal?

[00:45:47] Back in the day.

[00:45:47] They kept saying,

[00:45:49] heed no nightly noises.

[00:45:50] And then there were nightly noises.

[00:45:53] They know it's a thing.

[00:45:55] We're aware.

[00:45:55] They're like,

[00:45:56] okay,

[00:45:57] just like ride it out.

[00:45:59] You might have weird dreams.

[00:46:00] It's going to be funky.

[00:46:01] You're cool.

[00:46:02] Just wait till the daytime.

[00:46:03] This did feel sketchy.

[00:46:05] Yeah.

[00:46:05] To me,

[00:46:06] this felt like,

[00:46:06] if I'm like taking a trek through the woods

[00:46:09] and all of a sudden there's like some dude on like shrooms

[00:46:13] in the middle of the woods,

[00:46:14] that has taught me.

[00:46:16] Come to my shroom farms and sing songs.

[00:46:18] And even though you hear wolves,

[00:46:20] it's okay,

[00:46:21] dude.

[00:46:21] Don't worry.

[00:46:23] We'll just sing and like kumbaya.

[00:46:24] He seems like that kind of character to me.

[00:46:26] Although like,

[00:46:27] I think there's like more,

[00:46:28] I think there's good depth to him.

[00:46:29] I think that he is,

[00:46:30] he is a fascinating character.

[00:46:33] But it does feel like the whole chapter or two

[00:46:36] could have just been a big old trip.

[00:46:39] Yeah.

[00:46:39] Where they stumbled across some of the mushrooms,

[00:46:41] the mushrooms that a farmer maggot gave them.

[00:46:44] And they talk about how much mushrooms are hobbits favorite.

[00:46:48] That's what they talk about in this chapter.

[00:46:49] So they're,

[00:46:49] they're just,

[00:46:50] they're taking a trip.

[00:46:52] And then eventually they come down from this

[00:46:55] after all their hallucinations.

[00:46:56] And then,

[00:46:58] and they're out of the forest.

[00:46:59] And honestly,

[00:47:00] was it even real?

[00:47:01] Or was it all in their heads?

[00:47:02] We don't know.

[00:47:02] Was this inside time?

[00:47:04] It goes back and forth between those things multiple times,

[00:47:07] except for the swords.

[00:47:08] Although they could have just found that in a cave somewhere.

[00:47:10] That fits so well.

[00:47:11] And then they're all just like running around the field.

[00:47:13] Yeah.

[00:47:15] Like slowly coming out of it.

[00:47:18] That's so funny.

[00:47:18] Did they eat something right before this?

[00:47:20] That like we,

[00:47:20] they had a trip through the entire,

[00:47:23] yeah.

[00:47:23] Was it the mushrooms that they eat?

[00:47:24] Yeah.

[00:47:25] I'm going to adopt that.

[00:47:26] I mean,

[00:47:26] it takes a while for them to take an effect.

[00:47:29] Right.

[00:47:29] So I don't know how long,

[00:47:30] but it's like,

[00:47:32] chapters.

[00:47:33] Yeah.

[00:47:33] They had mushrooms in chapter five.

[00:47:35] exactly.

[00:47:36] They had mushrooms in chapter five.

[00:47:37] They all went to bed expecting to wake up in the morning and go on their trek.

[00:47:40] And then their trek was they're all co-dreaming together.

[00:47:44] And they're dreaming about the old forest,

[00:47:46] the house of Tom Bombadil and the fog and the Barrow Downs.

[00:47:49] Wow.

[00:47:50] Cause that was another weird chapter.

[00:47:52] We'll talk about that in a second.

[00:47:54] That was so weird.

[00:47:56] Well,

[00:47:56] yeah,

[00:47:57] it was weird.

[00:47:57] cause then one of the other dreams,

[00:47:59] the one that Frodo has,

[00:48:00] this is where I said,

[00:48:03] there was like a vast tower,

[00:48:06] but not made by hands.

[00:48:08] Then there was a figure of a man and the moon,

[00:48:14] a light flashed with a staff.

[00:48:16] He wielded a mighty Eagle swept down and bore him away.

[00:48:19] And this felt like,

[00:48:21] again,

[00:48:21] a movie reference.

[00:48:22] And it felt like,

[00:48:23] uh,

[00:48:24] things with Gandalf escaping the tower.

[00:48:28] But then I was like,

[00:48:29] but that doesn't,

[00:48:30] I feel like that doesn't happen yet.

[00:48:32] Or when I don't,

[00:48:33] timing of everything is tough.

[00:48:34] Cause I honestly don't know.

[00:48:35] Yep.

[00:48:36] And then I just don't know what was part of the book story versus movie.

[00:48:39] So whether that was Gandalf or not,

[00:48:43] I'm not sure.

[00:48:44] Or sorry.

[00:48:44] I know.

[00:48:45] I was like,

[00:48:46] yeah,

[00:48:46] there's a lot of weird things going on in this right now.

[00:48:49] And again,

[00:48:49] it's so different from the,

[00:48:50] none,

[00:48:51] none of these chapters are in the movie.

[00:48:52] So it's like,

[00:48:53] I understand why they cut him out.

[00:48:55] They're making a different movie out of this,

[00:48:56] but it's just more confusing,

[00:48:58] which is more fun.

[00:48:59] It's like fun to theorize about this stuff.

[00:49:01] It is fun.

[00:49:02] But I'm with you.

[00:49:03] My theory is now they just had a trip.

[00:49:05] And then there,

[00:49:07] like Tom's not real compared to like trying to make sense of all of this.

[00:49:12] Do you guys have anything else in this?

[00:49:14] The actually,

[00:49:16] he was telling a story about badgers.

[00:49:18] Did you catch that?

[00:49:19] I didn't even catch that.

[00:49:20] No.

[00:49:21] Was that one in one of his songs?

[00:49:22] No,

[00:49:23] he was,

[00:49:23] it said he was telling an absurd story about badgers and their ways.

[00:49:28] Oh.

[00:49:28] And I was like,

[00:49:29] I don't know.

[00:49:30] Love that.

[00:49:30] Wow.

[00:49:30] He's a Hufflepuff.

[00:49:31] He's a Hufflepuff.

[00:49:33] That's great.

[00:49:35] I,

[00:49:36] yeah,

[00:49:36] I wouldn't love any story about badgers.

[00:49:38] Badgers are the coolest animals.

[00:49:40] Tom's words laid bare the hearts of the trees and their thoughts,

[00:49:44] which were often dark and strange and filled with a hatred of things that go free upon the earth.

[00:49:51] And then it says gnawing,

[00:49:53] biting,

[00:49:54] breaking,

[00:49:54] hacking,

[00:49:55] burning,

[00:49:56] destroyers and usurpers.

[00:49:58] And that's from the movie.

[00:49:59] It's from Treebeard.

[00:50:00] It says that.

[00:50:01] So I thought that was,

[00:50:02] again,

[00:50:03] Peter Jackson crushed it with these connections where it was a different book entirely at that point or a different movie.

[00:50:09] Yeah.

[00:50:10] Lots of connections.

[00:50:11] It's cool.

[00:50:12] Yeah.

[00:50:12] All these connections are really fun.

[00:50:14] These chapters,

[00:50:14] especially,

[00:50:15] I thought it was going to,

[00:50:16] I thought it was like overload in the first,

[00:50:17] but he really,

[00:50:19] there's a lot in here that Peter Jackson put in the movies that like,

[00:50:22] you don't necessarily know why they say it,

[00:50:24] but they're cool lines nonetheless.

[00:50:25] Like when he says that you're like,

[00:50:27] Oh,

[00:50:27] Treebeard,

[00:50:27] that's a cool line.

[00:50:28] Must've been thinking about that for a while.

[00:50:30] And he just stole that from Tolkien.

[00:50:32] Mm hmm.

[00:50:33] Um,

[00:50:35] but yeah,

[00:50:36] Tom's weird.

[00:50:37] The lady's weird.

[00:50:38] Even the,

[00:50:38] even this one section.

[00:50:39] So in this,

[00:50:41] uh,

[00:50:41] and this next one,

[00:50:43] fog and the Barrow downs,

[00:50:44] which we'll talk about in a second,

[00:50:45] but when they're leaving Frodo's like,

[00:50:48] Oh no,

[00:50:48] we didn't say goodbye to Goldberry.

[00:50:50] And she's like,

[00:50:51] hello.

[00:50:53] It's like,

[00:50:54] both of these are so,

[00:50:55] yeah,

[00:50:57] exactly.

[00:50:59] They should make a,

[00:51:00] uh,

[00:51:01] like a funny musical about this,

[00:51:02] like putting all the scenes that they missed in the actual movies.

[00:51:05] And that's the song that they're going to do it.

[00:51:07] Hello.

[00:51:09] What are you reading?

[00:51:10] What are you reading?

[00:51:10] What do you see?

[00:51:11] I'm trying to read your quote.

[00:51:12] Oh,

[00:51:13] it's the quote of when Tom and Goldberry are in the kitchen,

[00:51:18] getting ready for a meal.

[00:51:19] Um,

[00:51:20] and it says they were merry and odd,

[00:51:23] but they had grace and laughter.

[00:51:25] Um,

[00:51:26] and it's kind of like they're doing different things in contrast says yet in some fashion,

[00:51:30] they seem to weave a single dance,

[00:51:32] neither hindering the other.

[00:51:33] Oh,

[00:51:34] that was cute.

[00:51:34] That is kind of,

[00:51:35] yeah.

[00:51:36] They seem to work well together,

[00:51:37] but part of me thinks that this isn't the only woman Tom tangles with.

[00:51:41] Whoa.

[00:51:42] Like she was just here for like a time,

[00:51:44] the time being.

[00:51:45] And she's just like,

[00:51:46] has the same vibe as Sims,

[00:51:47] like two people going out on a trip together.

[00:51:48] Very good.

[00:51:49] And they just go through the woods and just have a,

[00:51:51] have a romp.

[00:51:52] And then she does what she wants.

[00:51:54] She gets up and leaves and the next woman's going to come into Tom and like Tom.

[00:51:58] Yeah.

[00:51:59] It's a weird,

[00:52:00] but I don't know.

[00:52:01] This is river daughter,

[00:52:02] but then there's sky daughter or rock daughter,

[00:52:05] tree daughter,

[00:52:05] whatever else.

[00:52:07] Wasn't he talking about another woman though that died and to like respect them?

[00:52:14] Hmm.

[00:52:15] Maybe.

[00:52:15] I don't remember.

[00:52:16] Okay.

[00:52:17] So maybe not.

[00:52:18] Yeah.

[00:52:18] You're,

[00:52:19] you're probably right.

[00:52:20] There's just so much more.

[00:52:21] There was a lot packed in there.

[00:52:22] There's a lot more detail.

[00:52:23] That's where I was like,

[00:52:24] Oh,

[00:52:24] he's talking about Goldberry.

[00:52:25] How cute.

[00:52:25] And then it wasn't her.

[00:52:27] He's like,

[00:52:28] his first love or his 300th and she died and Goldberry is alive or something like that.

[00:52:36] Anyway,

[00:52:36] well,

[00:52:36] there is like a picture of the dancing.

[00:52:39] It kept saying dancing.

[00:52:40] Like I've just looked at the next page.

[00:52:42] I'm like dancing at the doorstep.

[00:52:44] Like,

[00:52:44] what does this mean?

[00:52:45] They just like doing a jig.

[00:52:46] Like I just could not picture it in any way that made sense in my head.

[00:52:50] Yeah.

[00:52:51] Every time I picture it,

[00:52:52] I'm like,

[00:52:52] it just made no sense.

[00:52:53] Like a little Irish jig.

[00:52:54] That's why.

[00:52:54] Do a jig.

[00:52:55] Just like breaking it down in the doorway.

[00:52:57] Like what?

[00:52:58] That's why he was like,

[00:52:59] nope.

[00:53:00] Yeah.

[00:53:02] Part of me.

[00:53:02] I love the language that he's using here too,

[00:53:04] because like in my head,

[00:53:06] I'm not picturing them as dancing,

[00:53:07] but I'm picturing their movements as being close to it.

[00:53:10] We're like,

[00:53:11] you know,

[00:53:11] sometimes people walk down the street and they just move with grace and they're like,

[00:53:14] Oh man,

[00:53:14] that person like is the main character in this story.

[00:53:16] And I feel like that's kind of true with Goldberry and with Tom.

[00:53:20] Like they're annoying.

[00:53:22] There'd be so,

[00:53:23] I'd be so pissed off eating dinner with them because they're just singing responses back to me.

[00:53:27] But like they're moving and they're,

[00:53:29] they move with grace through the forest.

[00:53:31] They like are singing,

[00:53:32] but like maybe the singing is an actual singing.

[00:53:34] Maybe it's just like how they communicate seems like singing,

[00:53:37] which puts me on my,

[00:53:39] on edge because I'm like,

[00:53:40] this seems like a,

[00:53:41] an enchantment.

[00:53:42] But at the same time,

[00:53:43] because I know the movie is one of my favorite parts of the entire movies is in the extended edition when,

[00:53:49] uh,

[00:53:51] Gimli is like,

[00:53:52] I asked for one hair from her golden head.

[00:53:55] She gave me three.

[00:53:56] Like,

[00:53:57] that's my favorite.

[00:53:57] Yeah.

[00:53:58] All of them are under Gladriel's.

[00:54:01] Yep.

[00:54:01] Like whatever it is,

[00:54:04] like aura.

[00:54:05] They can't,

[00:54:06] they think she's so stunning and beautiful day.

[00:54:09] As they like go away.

[00:54:10] Like none of them can stop thinking about it.

[00:54:12] It's like Vila energy here.

[00:54:13] Oh yeah.

[00:54:14] Oh my gosh.

[00:54:17] And Tom has that as like a,

[00:54:18] as a male character,

[00:54:20] which is actually interesting.

[00:54:21] Like I'm,

[00:54:22] I'm curious whether male characters is Eric one seems to have that in the movies.

[00:54:27] I don't know.

[00:54:28] Yeah.

[00:54:28] My fave.

[00:54:30] Anything else in that chance before we hit fog and the Barrow Downs?

[00:54:35] What?

[00:54:38] Sorry,

[00:54:38] I'm reading.

[00:54:40] Um,

[00:54:40] fog and the Barrow Downs is another weird one too.

[00:54:43] Where,

[00:54:44] um,

[00:54:44] can you help me,

[00:54:45] help me with this one?

[00:54:46] Cause I struggled with some of this,

[00:54:47] but it seems like they were captured.

[00:54:49] They were brought underground.

[00:54:50] Like Frodo looks over his shoulder.

[00:54:52] Yeah.

[00:54:52] That was so weird.

[00:54:52] And then,

[00:54:53] I didn't know what a white was.

[00:54:55] I didn't either.

[00:54:56] Is that how you say it?

[00:54:57] A white?

[00:54:57] Yeah.

[00:54:58] That's how,

[00:54:59] that's how they said it on the audio book.

[00:55:02] White,

[00:55:02] like the color,

[00:55:03] like a white.

[00:55:03] I'm pretty sure.

[00:55:04] Yeah.

[00:55:04] Cool.

[00:55:05] Um,

[00:55:07] yeah,

[00:55:07] a Barrow white.

[00:55:08] Yeah.

[00:55:08] Yeah.

[00:55:09] That's exactly.

[00:55:10] I don't know how to picture them.

[00:55:11] They're like,

[00:55:12] almost like race.

[00:55:13] From their departure to basically,

[00:55:14] they get out of the forest.

[00:55:16] But,

[00:55:16] ooh.

[00:55:17] Yikes.

[00:55:17] And they just look like little skeleton.

[00:55:20] Ooh.

[00:55:21] It was like long cloaks.

[00:55:23] Wait,

[00:55:24] what?

[00:55:24] Do you want to see?

[00:55:26] Yeah,

[00:55:26] let's see them.

[00:55:27] And then it showed the little hut thing that they live in,

[00:55:30] which I found very helpful because I did not understand the context either.

[00:55:35] Um,

[00:55:37] you wouldn't have Googled it,

[00:55:38] would you?

[00:55:39] Um,

[00:55:40] honestly didn't think to.

[00:55:41] I think I would have.

[00:55:43] Two standing stones like a doorway.

[00:55:45] Oh,

[00:55:45] that's creepy.

[00:55:46] This whole chapter was unbelievably creepy.

[00:55:49] Like that little thing.

[00:55:50] The two standing stones.

[00:55:51] That makes a lot of sense.

[00:55:53] Oh my gosh.

[00:55:55] Wow.

[00:55:56] That was helpful because then that's like,

[00:55:58] they like shoo them out of there.

[00:56:01] And then I'll show you the photo that I like the best.

[00:56:06] This,

[00:56:07] like,

[00:56:07] I really like this.

[00:56:08] I don't know if this is accurate,

[00:56:09] but that's the photo that I,

[00:56:11] Oh yeah.

[00:56:12] No,

[00:56:12] I like that one.

[00:56:14] It's creepy.

[00:56:16] But there's a bunch.

[00:56:17] That is so creepy.

[00:56:18] Like what,

[00:56:19] what is this place in middle earth?

[00:56:21] Oh gosh,

[00:56:23] it's terrifying.

[00:56:24] That's the same one.

[00:56:26] That's different.

[00:56:27] Ew.

[00:56:28] I've never like heard of this creature.

[00:56:29] This creature is like almost,

[00:56:30] it feels like new mythology.

[00:56:32] Yeah.

[00:56:32] That's,

[00:56:32] I was thinking the same.

[00:56:34] It found,

[00:56:34] it sounded a little bit familiar,

[00:56:37] but in a different context.

[00:56:38] I'm like,

[00:56:39] I think Skyrim had some creature like this,

[00:56:41] but I just didn't understand what its power was.

[00:56:44] Yeah.

[00:56:45] But as I was reading it,

[00:56:46] I felt like we were supposed to know.

[00:56:48] Yeah.

[00:56:48] Kind of.

[00:56:48] Where I was like,

[00:56:50] he's trying to figure it out.

[00:56:51] Assuming that we know.

[00:56:52] Yeah.

[00:56:53] I don't.

[00:56:55] That's why I had to Google it.

[00:56:57] Yeah.

[00:56:57] That's why I had to Google this.

[00:56:59] The,

[00:56:59] I don't.

[00:57:00] Oh,

[00:57:01] so like,

[00:57:02] that's what you're saying.

[00:57:03] The two huge standing stones,

[00:57:04] headless door.

[00:57:05] Yeah.

[00:57:05] Wow.

[00:57:06] Based on Norse mythology.

[00:57:09] Hmm.

[00:57:10] Oh,

[00:57:10] interesting.

[00:57:13] I can see North,

[00:57:14] more Norse mythology being a little darker and a little bit like gloomier.

[00:57:19] I don't know what that is.

[00:57:20] The final bottle available.

[00:57:21] Warm sun,

[00:57:21] the scent of turf,

[00:57:22] flying a little too long.

[00:57:24] A sleep they never meant to take.

[00:57:25] I don't know what's true.

[00:57:26] The dragon barrel enter the treasure.

[00:57:30] When,

[00:57:32] when circus was reading this,

[00:57:35] it was so creepy.

[00:57:37] Like in my head,

[00:57:38] I don't think I would have read it this creepy,

[00:57:39] but this one line that he read,

[00:57:41] I was like,

[00:57:42] I was just in my kitchen and I was like,

[00:57:45] just doing something.

[00:57:47] And all of a sudden he read this and I like stopped.

[00:57:49] Cause I was like,

[00:57:51] this is so creepy.

[00:57:54] I need to know.

[00:57:55] He says,

[00:57:55] out of the East,

[00:57:57] the biting wind was blowing to his right.

[00:57:59] There loomed against the westward stars,

[00:58:01] a dark black shape,

[00:58:04] a great barrel stood there.

[00:58:06] Where are you?

[00:58:07] He cried again,

[00:58:08] both angry and afraid.

[00:58:09] Here,

[00:58:10] said a voice deep and cold that seemed to come out of the ground.

[00:58:13] I am waiting for you.

[00:58:15] No,

[00:58:15] said Frodo,

[00:58:16] but he did not run away.

[00:58:18] His knees gave and he fell onto the ground.

[00:58:20] Nothing happened.

[00:58:21] There was no sound.

[00:58:23] Trembling.

[00:58:23] He looked up in time to see us,

[00:58:25] see a tall,

[00:58:26] dark figure like a shadow against the stars.

[00:58:29] It leaned over him.

[00:58:30] He thought there were two eyes,

[00:58:32] very cold,

[00:58:33] though lit with a pale light that seemed to come from some remote distance.

[00:58:37] Then a grip stronger and colder than iron seized them.

[00:58:41] The icy touch froze his bones and he remembered no more.

[00:58:46] Oh,

[00:58:46] that is,

[00:58:47] that was so creepy.

[00:58:48] When Andy Serkis read that,

[00:58:49] I was like,

[00:58:50] this is terrifying to me.

[00:58:51] Cause there's a,

[00:58:52] there's a few things in there.

[00:58:53] That caught my attention,

[00:58:54] I think,

[00:58:54] when I was listening.

[00:58:56] Cause he says,

[00:58:57] even the line,

[00:58:58] he remembered no more.

[00:59:00] What power do these things have?

[00:59:02] Yeah,

[00:59:02] really?

[00:59:03] These,

[00:59:03] these things like,

[00:59:04] they seemed at least in some way to wipe your memory.

[00:59:09] Because Frodo's like,

[00:59:10] his last grip was,

[00:59:13] oh,

[00:59:13] he's like,

[00:59:14] I need to sing the song that Tom taught us.

[00:59:17] And then he starts,

[00:59:18] he doesn't want to sing.

[00:59:19] He stings the first line.

[00:59:20] And then he's like brought out of the stupor and he's actually able to sing the rest of the song.

[00:59:23] Which I thought was really fascinating.

[00:59:27] Is it not the same like,

[00:59:29] time frame of,

[00:59:31] they're in the cave and he sees it with a sword on their throats?

[00:59:36] Okay.

[00:59:37] I think that came a little bit after.

[00:59:39] Yeah,

[00:59:39] I'm remembering my walk now.

[00:59:41] Period.

[00:59:42] Yeah,

[00:59:43] yeah.

[00:59:43] Locations.

[00:59:45] But these creatures seem weird.

[00:59:47] They seem like,

[00:59:49] you know,

[00:59:49] just because I have to relate everything to Harry Potter.

[00:59:51] They seem Dementor-like.

[00:59:54] Like they have you in some kind of clutches or some kind of grasp.

[00:59:58] And it's hard to like,

[01:00:00] get yourself out of this.

[01:00:02] But,

[01:00:04] Tolkien seems to write with a bit less like,

[01:00:06] over the head,

[01:00:08] like hitting you over the head kind of knowledge.

[01:00:10] He just kind of seems to be more underwritten for some of this stuff.

[01:00:14] Which I actually kind of like and I appreciate.

[01:00:16] Like you're,

[01:00:16] it may be a bit more interpretive.

[01:00:18] Hmm.

[01:00:23] I've just Googled it and I just looked.

[01:00:25] But I don't think this is spoilery,

[01:00:27] but it seems like they just inhabit like graves and other people's bones.

[01:00:34] Yeah.

[01:00:34] And then they like,

[01:00:36] kind of,

[01:00:37] I don't want to,

[01:00:37] I don't know like what's lore and what would be a spoiler,

[01:00:40] but like they,

[01:00:42] kind of like use the bones.

[01:00:43] And that would make sense for all of the other stuff that seems to be in this little thing.

[01:00:48] Yeah.

[01:00:49] Almost like a collection of bones or like leftovers from people.

[01:00:54] Hmm.

[01:00:55] That's creepy.

[01:00:56] That makes it even creepier.

[01:00:57] Because they're just a spirit,

[01:00:59] but then they get like sent into here.

[01:01:01] But they can control a little bit of,

[01:01:03] okay,

[01:01:03] yeah.

[01:01:03] Yeah.

[01:01:04] That makes sense.

[01:01:05] And they're not in the old forest anymore.

[01:01:08] Yeah.

[01:01:09] Yeah,

[01:01:09] they are.

[01:01:09] They're still in the old forest.

[01:01:11] I thought they left and they were in this like class.

[01:01:13] Because Tom Bombadil comes to get them.

[01:01:15] Oh yeah.

[01:01:16] Oh.

[01:01:17] Because I was thinking that maybe too,

[01:01:19] but I thought of then the old forest was Tom Bombadil's domain.

[01:01:23] Yeah.

[01:01:23] That's what it sounds like.

[01:01:24] So the song still worked and still brought him.

[01:01:27] So they were at least within his song zone.

[01:01:32] Song zone.

[01:01:33] Yeah.

[01:01:33] Yeah.

[01:01:34] Yeah.

[01:01:34] I don't know.

[01:01:38] Apparently Rings of Power has Barrow Whites in it.

[01:01:41] Oh,

[01:01:42] maybe I didn't get there yet.

[01:01:43] I think it's in the beginning.

[01:01:44] No,

[01:01:44] I think it's in like the very first episode.

[01:01:46] Oh,

[01:01:46] whoa.

[01:01:47] It's these like characters that just kind of pop up.

[01:01:49] They look more like the green men,

[01:01:54] but just not green.

[01:01:56] They're like skeleton looking.

[01:01:59] They're like skeleton looking.

[01:02:00] Yep.

[01:02:00] And they're like ghostly with like blue eyes.

[01:02:03] I like them.

[01:02:03] Hmm.

[01:02:04] Hmm.

[01:02:05] Very creepy.

[01:02:05] And I was wondering the connection here,

[01:02:08] whether it was just that happens to anyone when they're in a scary situation.

[01:02:12] He's thinking about Bilbo and Gandalf and he's trying to encourage himself.

[01:02:16] They thought I was the best hobbit in the Shire.

[01:02:17] And that kind of brings him back to it.

[01:02:19] But I didn't know if there was an actual connection with the power,

[01:02:25] the darkness.

[01:02:25] He felt like fear was almost physical and like in the darkness around him.

[01:02:29] And then as soon as he started viewing things in a more positive way,

[01:02:34] he like came to a little bit more.

[01:02:35] So whether it was imagined or real,

[01:02:39] it felt like then along with bravery,

[01:02:41] light seemed to be coming out of himself.

[01:02:45] That was a change in the circumstance.

[01:02:47] You don't think of who to find more.

[01:02:49] I know, seriously.

[01:02:51] Because I will say it too,

[01:02:52] at the moment when I'm reading this story,

[01:02:54] it feels oddly similar to like a Pilgrim's Progress kind of story.

[01:02:58] Where like they're walking down the road

[01:02:59] and all of a sudden they get distracted by one thing

[01:03:01] or they get caught by another thing.

[01:03:03] It doesn't seem like there's,

[01:03:07] I don't know, not like downtime.

[01:03:09] But I don't know.

[01:03:11] It just seems like to go from one thing to the next.

[01:03:13] Like they get out of one plot and the next chapter,

[01:03:15] which I mean is a good story,

[01:03:16] but like the next thing is like they go into this

[01:03:18] and the next thing is they go into this.

[01:03:19] I'm excited for when they meet the rest of the fellowship,

[01:03:21] when they get to Rivendell

[01:03:22] and then they can maybe like take a breather

[01:03:25] and we're like introduced to more characters

[01:03:26] and like they're actually more on like a journey together,

[01:03:28] I guess.

[01:03:29] Right, right.

[01:03:31] But I don't know.

[01:03:32] It seems like board game-ish to me,

[01:03:33] which is kind of fun.

[01:03:34] I actually don't mind at all.

[01:03:37] Like they're on the next little journey here.

[01:03:41] Like they're not born?

[01:03:42] Yeah, yeah.

[01:03:44] Oh, nice.

[01:03:45] Like different adventures for different things.

[01:03:48] And I will say too,

[01:03:49] I love the character's depth here as well.

[01:03:54] We were talking about this before,

[01:03:55] but there's the one moment where Frodo is singing

[01:03:59] and then it says,

[01:04:26] I was like,

[01:04:27] that's harsh by that Frodo's singing about this.

[01:04:29] But I'm like,

[01:04:30] this is such a human response.

[01:04:31] This is such a good bit of writing

[01:04:33] because it makes him so relatable

[01:04:35] because that's the first song

[01:04:36] that would go through my head.

[01:04:37] And then after that,

[01:04:38] he cast that away from his head

[01:04:39] because he's like,

[01:04:40] I cannot abandon my friends.

[01:04:41] And that's I think

[01:04:42] when he thinks of the song right after

[01:04:43] and I'm like,

[01:04:44] this is great writing.

[01:04:47] It makes these characters so relatable.

[01:04:50] Yeah, I'm really into it right now.

[01:04:54] Yeah, so much deeper.

[01:04:58] But that's all I got in this chapter.

[01:05:00] You guys got anything else?

[01:05:01] I guess Tom has to always wear the same outfit

[01:05:05] because the outfit is in his song.

[01:05:08] So it'd be pretty bad

[01:05:09] if he's a merry fellow in bright blue and yellow,

[01:05:12] but then he shows up in a different color.

[01:05:14] So he just must have a lot of yellow boots

[01:05:16] or he keeps his blue jacket real clean.

[01:05:19] He's always got to be wearing yellow

[01:05:20] because that rhymes with a fellow.

[01:05:23] So he can wear green and yellow

[01:05:25] or lilac and yellow or something.

[01:05:28] I was picturing him like,

[01:05:30] is it Paddington Bear?

[01:05:32] Yes!

[01:05:33] Because of the yellow boots

[01:05:34] with the blue jacket.

[01:05:36] So the whole time

[01:05:36] I pictured him like a big old Paddington.

[01:05:39] I was like...

[01:05:39] I didn't want to say it.

[01:05:42] So then this especially,

[01:05:43] I'm just like,

[01:05:44] he's the one who's coming to save them from trouble.

[01:05:46] I was just like...

[01:05:47] So it's so weird.

[01:05:49] Wasn't there...

[01:05:50] Whoa, that just shocked my memory a little bit.

[01:05:52] I just got brought back to high school.

[01:05:54] Didn't he take the form of a bear in The Hobbit?

[01:05:58] Oh my goodness.

[01:05:59] That sounds so familiar.

[01:06:01] I'm pretty positive he did.

[01:06:03] That's what I've been wondering because...

[01:06:05] So he is Paddington Bear.

[01:06:06] He literally is.

[01:06:08] And then he wears like a raincoat and yellow boots.

[01:06:11] That's so funny.

[01:06:11] You're right.

[01:06:12] And that's the character that I'm like,

[01:06:14] that is Tom Bombadil, right?

[01:06:16] Yeah, I think it is.

[01:06:16] It's been a while since I read The Hobbit,

[01:06:18] but he was definitely a bear.

[01:06:20] Yeah.

[01:06:20] So then that is so funny

[01:06:22] because then in this,

[01:06:23] he doesn't take other forms.

[01:06:24] Whoa, this is like really taking me by surprise.

[01:06:27] They run into his house to evade Tom Bombadil

[01:06:31] because he's the bear

[01:06:32] and he's because he's dangerous.

[01:06:33] And then Tom like wanders around the property

[01:06:35] and then by morning,

[01:06:36] I think he's back to his normal Tom self.

[01:06:39] He's not the bear.

[01:06:39] That makes sense.

[01:06:40] Like he was actually dangerous.

[01:06:41] A werebear.

[01:06:42] He's a were-Paddington bear.

[01:06:46] Wow.

[01:06:47] Wow.

[01:06:48] Wait, that's from The Hobbit?

[01:06:49] What do you get?

[01:06:50] Yeah.

[01:06:50] Yeah, this is The Hobbit.

[01:06:51] And it was like a real scary thing,

[01:06:52] but then he was totally normal.

[01:06:52] Oh, time out, time out, time out.

[01:06:54] Different character.

[01:06:54] Everyone in chat.

[01:06:55] All right.

[01:06:56] Thank you, chat.

[01:06:57] That's Beorn.

[01:06:59] Beorn.

[01:06:59] Beorn.

[01:06:59] Okay.

[01:07:00] Okay, okay, okay.

[01:07:00] Well, we lost our padding time.

[01:07:01] We just went on that whole tangent for nothing, but.

[01:07:04] Yeah, well, we're going to get to The Hobbit after all this.

[01:07:06] You got a time out.

[01:07:08] Yeah.

[01:07:09] I'll just cut all this out.

[01:07:11] So is Tom in The Hobbit

[01:07:12] or are we just making that up?

[01:07:14] Because then.

[01:07:15] I don't.

[01:07:16] Maybe we're just making that up.

[01:07:17] Maybe it was Beorn.

[01:07:17] Maybe I'm totally making it up.

[01:07:19] Why don't you Google it?

[01:07:19] And maybe what I'm picturing is him.

[01:07:21] I'm going to type a chat.

[01:07:24] Is Tom in The Hobbit?

[01:07:26] Maybe he's mentioned in The Hobbit

[01:07:28] or something like that.

[01:07:29] Wait, is The Hobbit?

[01:07:30] The Hobbit comes before this stuff or after?

[01:07:32] Yeah.

[01:07:32] Yeah.

[01:07:33] All before.

[01:07:34] Hobbit is all Bilbo's journey.

[01:07:40] Wait, he named the horses or the ponies.

[01:07:43] Did you?

[01:07:43] He did because I missed that.

[01:07:45] I only got his.

[01:07:45] And the Hobbits never named the horse their ponies.

[01:07:49] And then Tom named them.

[01:07:51] And they said they responded to that for the rest of their lives.

[01:07:54] And I was like, I didn't even like that.

[01:07:56] Then I'm like, but what are their names?

[01:07:57] I'm thinking one came to me.

[01:07:59] Bill the Pony was in something.

[01:08:02] Yeah.

[01:08:02] I think it was Sam's horse.

[01:08:04] And so I was waiting for that.

[01:08:06] The only one we got was Fatty Lumpkin.

[01:08:08] What?

[01:08:09] I'm here for Shadowfax, not Fatty Lumpkin.

[01:08:12] Imagine you're a mule's horses.

[01:08:16] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:08:17] Imagine you're this thing.

[01:08:17] And then all of a sudden Tom Bombadil calls you Fatty Lumpkin.

[01:08:20] And you're like, great.

[01:08:22] His name is Shadowfax.

[01:08:24] And you give me the name Fatty Lumpkin.

[01:08:25] And I have to respond to that for the rest of my life.

[01:08:28] Come on, dude.

[01:08:29] It's just terrible, you know?

[01:08:31] But that's a very Tom thing to do.

[01:08:33] Yeah.

[01:08:34] You know?

[01:08:34] Yeah, exactly.

[01:08:35] Tom is not in The Hobbit, by the way.

[01:08:36] That could be good.

[01:08:38] Lumpkin.

[01:08:38] I guess.

[01:08:39] It's a way to be positive about it.

[01:08:40] I guess you could come up with good news about that.

[01:08:44] It's a good time.

[01:08:45] Better than Fatty Bulger.

[01:08:46] What were his parents thinking?

[01:08:47] Yeah.

[01:08:48] This is a chunky baby.

[01:08:50] Let's call him Fatty.

[01:08:51] Fatty Bulger.

[01:08:53] Do you guys have anything else in Chapter 8?

[01:08:57] No, just Bogart comparison and more references to history and the men of Karn Doom.

[01:09:04] I'm like, wow.

[01:09:05] I will say this.

[01:09:07] The depth of this world.

[01:09:09] Impressive.

[01:09:09] Where there's probably 50 things in each chapter that a character will mention that I'm like,

[01:09:15] there could be another book about that somewhere.

[01:09:17] Yep.

[01:09:17] Or there could be just another quick fact about this.

[01:09:20] It seems like he built this whole entire world before he even put paper to pen.

[01:09:26] Yeah.

[01:09:27] Pen to paper.

[01:09:28] Either way.

[01:09:29] Paper.

[01:09:31] Yeah, that's how you write.

[01:09:33] You take the piece of paper and you...

[01:09:39] Oh, yeah.

[01:09:40] It's different from other fantasy realms that I've read because it seems like sometimes people just stick with a good story.

[01:09:47] Rolling seemed to have a good story and she just kind of built the world out from her story.

[01:09:52] Whereas Tolkien seems to have a great world and then he makes really interesting characters and puts them on a journey.

[01:10:00] And I think that's phenomenal writing.

[01:10:01] I love that kind of writing.

[01:10:02] So I'm kind of excited for the rest of this.

[01:10:08] Then at some point he mentions the evil king of Cairndoom in the land of Angmar.

[01:10:14] And then right after that he says,

[01:10:16] Tom is murmuring.

[01:10:18] Few now remember them.

[01:10:20] Yet still some go wandering.

[01:10:22] Sons of forgotten kings.

[01:10:24] Walking in loneliness.

[01:10:26] Guarding from evil things.

[01:10:28] Folks that are heedless.

[01:10:30] And I thought, is that Aragorn?

[01:10:33] Interesting.

[01:10:33] Or is that the witch king of Angmar?

[01:10:36] Angmar, I think.

[01:10:37] Maybe?

[01:10:37] I think that might have been the name of the...

[01:10:39] Yeah.

[01:10:40] You'll get there again.

[01:10:42] But then I thought, well, he's guarding from evil things.

[01:10:45] So then I thought, could that be Sons of Forgotten Kings walking in loneliness?

[01:10:50] Felt like an Aragorn thing.

[01:10:52] What to do that?

[01:10:54] Anything with Aragorn is good.

[01:10:55] A little foreshadowing of Aragorn.

[01:10:56] I love it.

[01:10:56] Is he going to be in the Prancing Pony or no?

[01:11:00] Got to be, right?

[01:11:01] I sure hope so.

[01:11:02] I hope.

[01:11:02] But I also thought it was weird that the black riders keep crouching.

[01:11:06] Yeah.

[01:11:07] Crawling.

[01:11:07] Twice.

[01:11:08] I thought they were Smeagol at one point.

[01:11:10] Yeah.

[01:11:10] Like what's going on here?

[01:11:11] Like when they were on the dock by the ferry.

[01:11:12] Right.

[01:11:12] And it was not.

[01:11:13] That didn't feel like what I was picturing.

[01:11:15] So then when it said they crawled away or scurried, I was like, oh.

[01:11:19] Like, is that Aragorn?

[01:11:21] Yeah.

[01:11:21] Is it a black rider with a different mindset than I'm used to in the movies?

[01:11:26] Or is it Gollum just creeping around?

[01:11:28] Did he escape from the home?

[01:11:29] Oh, yeah.

[01:11:29] Because I thought it was.

[01:11:31] So lots of things here.

[01:11:32] I will say this too.

[01:11:33] In the movies, it's different.

[01:11:35] Obviously, we were just talking about how it's different.

[01:11:37] And I think both are really good.

[01:11:39] It's one of those rare adaptations where like they changed it in the movies.

[01:11:42] And the movies, I think it's a great change in the movies.

[01:11:44] Yeah.

[01:11:44] But also when you touch on the books, it's different.

[01:11:46] But it's also really well done in the books, obviously.

[01:11:50] It's like these creatures are a little creepier than they are in the movies.

[01:11:53] And the movies are maybe a bit more powerful and like able to like chase you.

[01:11:57] Right.

[01:11:57] Which gives a whole different feeling.

[01:11:59] And the movies like followed a good vibe.

[01:12:01] The books have such a good vibe with this too.

[01:12:03] Where you're, I'm more unsure of things in the books than I am in the movies.

[01:12:08] In the books, I'm like, what are these creatures?

[01:12:11] I don't know what they are.

[01:12:12] I can't picture them in my head.

[01:12:13] It's like you're painting this picture in your head, which is really fun.

[01:12:16] So it's fun because I still know this world.

[01:12:19] But it's like I'm still painting a very original picture of this world in my head, which is so fun.

[01:12:25] So I'm loving this.

[01:12:28] I'm excited to keep reading.

[01:12:30] By the next podcast, we're going to be done with book one.

[01:12:33] What?

[01:12:33] Crazy.

[01:12:34] Not like all of those.

[01:12:35] Because book one is still in the two parts.

[01:12:38] Oh.

[01:12:39] So basically halfway through.

[01:12:41] Yeah, halfway through the first book.

[01:12:43] We're cruising.

[01:12:43] It's pretty good.

[01:12:45] It's hard to listen only.

[01:12:48] Yeah, we'll do a combo.

[01:12:50] But anything else before we touch on favorites?

[01:12:52] Well, I just noticed that they longed for home.

[01:12:56] So I also thought, oh, man, that didn't take too long.

[01:12:59] Then they're like barely out of the shot.

[01:13:02] Maybe they lost track of time in the forest.

[01:13:04] True.

[01:13:05] Could have been a long time.

[01:13:06] Yeah.

[01:13:06] But they're like a deep loneliness.

[01:13:10] And then Tom's giving them advice.

[01:13:12] And I'm like, they better listen.

[01:13:14] Yeah.

[01:13:15] Another song.

[01:13:17] Another song.

[01:13:20] It is interesting, too, that they, like, again, these are very well-written emotions.

[01:13:26] Like, yes, there's people who can go out and they're like, you know, the, what's the word?

[01:13:33] Like someone, like a gypsy.

[01:13:35] They can, like, go from place to place.

[01:13:36] No problem.

[01:13:37] Hobbits are not like that.

[01:13:38] Hobbits always need to be rooted.

[01:13:39] So I like that they're only away for, like, less than a week right now.

[01:13:42] Less than that, maybe.

[01:13:42] And they're like, I just want to go back to home.

[01:13:45] My bed.

[01:13:46] Right, right.

[01:13:47] Bilbo or Sam on the first day when they're about to go off on the trek, he's like, oh,

[01:13:53] I just miss bed.

[01:13:55] And he's, like, literally laying in a bed comfortable.

[01:13:57] He's like, I just miss, you know.

[01:14:00] My bed.

[01:14:00] Dang.

[01:14:01] Yeah, maybe it's my bed.

[01:14:02] Yeah, exactly.

[01:14:03] And I think it's, like, a relatable feeling.

[01:14:05] As, like, a homebody myself, I'm like, yeah, after the first week, you're like, I just

[01:14:09] wish I was in bed.

[01:14:10] But, which it makes it so much more admirable, again, that they just go do what they must

[01:14:15] do because they love the Shire.

[01:14:17] They love Hobbiton.

[01:14:18] And they're like, even though we're uncomfortable, we have to do this for our love of this place.

[01:14:23] Yeah.

[01:14:24] And it makes them such cool characters.

[01:14:26] I love it so much.

[01:14:28] And I liked in one of the early chapters, it said they, the journey is more bearable just

[01:14:35] knowing that home still exists.

[01:14:37] Yeah.

[01:14:37] And I feel like they're thinking of home very often and they will continue to, which

[01:14:43] is cute.

[01:14:44] They're also seeming to get a lot of spiritual support.

[01:14:46] It feels like there's something out there.

[01:14:49] Yeah.

[01:14:49] Every time something's going south, there's a crazy character to come along and help, whether

[01:14:53] it's elves or Tom or Farmer Maggot.

[01:14:57] Yeah, seriously.

[01:14:57] Honestly.

[01:14:58] They're very guided in this right now.

[01:15:00] Mm-hmm.

[01:15:02] All right.

[01:15:03] Give me a hot tamale, favorite character and favorite moment in these chapters.

[01:15:11] I had a hard time with them.

[01:15:12] I hate these.

[01:15:13] I don't have to do these in my podcast.

[01:15:16] You hate these.

[01:15:18] Like, very rarely I have to do them.

[01:15:25] Hot tamale, gold berry.

[01:15:27] Yeah.

[01:15:27] I was going to say a hot tamale should probably be universal for all of us.

[01:15:29] I think gold berry is that tamale.

[01:15:31] Yeah.

[01:15:31] Yeah.

[01:15:32] She's like, oh.

[01:15:33] I'd like to think of like a fun answer, though.

[01:15:36] Gold berry just is the hot tamale.

[01:15:38] Yeah, yeah.

[01:15:43] So, I feel like I'm serious.

[01:15:45] What about the creatures?

[01:15:47] The white?

[01:15:48] Yes.

[01:15:49] They're hot tamale energy.

[01:15:51] Yeah, they kind of are.

[01:15:52] Creepy tamale.

[01:15:53] And the what?

[01:15:54] Creepy tamales.

[01:15:55] Yeah.

[01:15:56] An old man willow.

[01:15:58] Yeah.

[01:15:58] Big time creepy.

[01:15:59] Mm-hmm.

[01:16:00] I'm not going to create another one, though.

[01:16:02] Let me.

[01:16:03] Um, no.

[01:16:05] We'll see what happens organically.

[01:16:07] How about the horse fatty?

[01:16:09] That's a hot tamale.

[01:16:11] Oh.

[01:16:11] That is hot tamale, yeah.

[01:16:12] Yo, lump in.

[01:16:14] Yeah.

[01:16:15] Fatty lump in.

[01:16:16] That's good hot tamale energy.

[01:16:18] I like that.

[01:16:20] Favorite character?

[01:16:22] Yeah.

[01:16:22] Favorite character and favorite moment.

[01:16:25] I really do like Tom.

[01:16:29] He had his weird moments, but.

[01:16:31] You were just bashing him.

[01:16:33] Well, that's why I want to make sure that it's clear.

[01:16:35] He's easy to bash because I don't fully understand him.

[01:16:38] But part of that is also just hearing you guys talk about it, where when I read it, I only

[01:16:45] was questioning him very much when he grabbed the ring.

[01:16:48] That bothered me.

[01:16:49] Yeah.

[01:16:49] But other than that, it was only for like a few seconds at the beginning.

[01:16:52] Then I'm like, oh, he's cool.

[01:16:54] And, um, so I do feel like he was my favorite character and Goldberry hot tamale.

[01:17:01] Hmm.

[01:17:02] Um, cause I think those moments, um, there weren't that many moments here, but my favorite

[01:17:08] moment, it's the moments of them eating at this table.

[01:17:11] Yeah.

[01:17:11] That feels magical.

[01:17:12] It's like this magical meal of simple things.

[01:17:16] It was like bread and berries and honey and wine and whatever.

[01:17:19] Um, and then they're just sitting by a fire and listening to stories and they forget about

[01:17:25] time basically because they're hearing stories of everything from the past and all these like

[01:17:31] enchanting things.

[01:17:32] It just felt like really magical time where I feel like, um, it was fun to read because

[01:17:37] I was being enchanted with the hobbits.

[01:17:40] You know?

[01:17:40] So it was easy.

[01:17:41] It was chill.

[01:17:42] Yeah.

[01:17:42] And now I'm here and you guys are making me question it, but now we know we can trust

[01:17:47] Tom.

[01:17:48] Even, yeah.

[01:17:48] And even though I'm still creeped out by Tom, even though this, you know, if you're,

[01:17:52] if I'm, if I don't know who Tom is at all on this, I can still think this is like

[01:17:55] they're being enchanted.

[01:17:56] I'm like, dude, enchant me.

[01:17:58] Like, let me have a meal and just like someone swap stories where I forget it all about

[01:18:02] time and like, let me fall asleep where I am just so comfortable and don't have to worry

[01:18:07] about anything.

[01:18:07] Even though there's like, you know, creatures howling around, around you.

[01:18:10] You don't have to worry about that.

[01:18:11] Put them out of your mind.

[01:18:12] Yep.

[01:18:13] I'm like, that is, this is just peace.

[01:18:16] Epitomized peace.

[01:18:17] And I, I want a piece of that.

[01:18:20] Okay.

[01:18:23] So this is, this is definitely my favorite part of it.

[01:18:26] And then I still think my favorite characters are the hobbits.

[01:18:29] I don't really have an answer for which one.

[01:18:31] Um, I do like, uh, Mary and Pippin.

[01:18:35] Maybe I'll give them the, the favorite character of this one because they, yeah, they're super

[01:18:40] loyal and they like commissioned Sam to go spy on them.

[01:18:43] They're like looking out for Frodo, which I really love.

[01:18:45] Mm-hmm.

[01:18:46] I think that's great.

[01:18:47] So true.

[01:18:49] A little invasive of his privacy, but they meant well.

[01:18:52] You like spies.

[01:18:53] Yeah, they did mean well.

[01:18:54] And it just feels so playful and fun.

[01:18:57] And you know, I was like, it's great.

[01:18:59] Yeah.

[01:18:59] Like again, if you're good friends, you can do this.

[01:19:01] If you're not.

[01:19:02] Yep.

[01:19:02] That's creepy.

[01:19:02] Exactly.

[01:19:03] And they really do feel like good friends.

[01:19:06] I feel like in the movies, they felt like, uh, kind of like bonus friends a little on

[01:19:10] the outskirts.

[01:19:10] Like, Oh, cool.

[01:19:11] Well, like here you're like, Oh no, they were like really good friends.

[01:19:15] Um, best friends.

[01:19:18] BFFs.

[01:19:19] BFFs.

[01:19:21] Lizzie, did you give your answers?

[01:19:23] Um, I second.

[01:19:25] And everything.

[01:19:27] Oh my gosh.

[01:19:28] No, I would say the hot, like Tom as my favorite.

[01:19:34] And I agree with the whole thing of staying at his house and the meal and like, I don't

[01:19:40] know, just listening to his stories.

[01:19:42] I like that.

[01:19:43] Yeah.

[01:19:44] Yeah.

[01:19:44] It's hard to beat that moment.

[01:19:45] There's a lot of creepy moments in these chapters.

[01:19:47] That's just one of the good ones.

[01:19:48] Or maybe, um, Frodo cutting the hand off.

[01:19:52] That's a good moment too.

[01:19:54] Of the, the.

[01:19:56] Little wreath.

[01:19:57] The Baron.

[01:19:57] For his confidence when he continues to sing the song and then he's like more and more

[01:20:03] like, yeah, I got this.

[01:20:04] I can do this.

[01:20:05] He belts it out.

[01:20:06] Which again, just like such a funny dynamic.

[01:20:09] The visual of that must have been.

[01:20:10] Yeah.

[01:20:10] It's like a very small person singing a song.

[01:20:13] Some empowering song.

[01:20:15] It is great.

[01:20:16] Hmm.

[01:20:20] Well, we got it.

[01:20:22] Ditto.

[01:20:26] Last one.

[01:20:26] Ditto on everything.

[01:20:27] Yeah.

[01:20:28] I feel like those are the good moments of this chapter.

[01:20:29] I feel like, yeah, I can't think of anything.

[01:20:32] I had a hard time with the chapters.

[01:20:37] But you got through.

[01:20:38] They're good.

[01:20:39] Yeah.

[01:20:39] And I think we're coming up to some exciting ones.

[01:20:41] Well, now I understand a little more since.

[01:20:43] But now it would be interesting to hear from someone who had gone through the whole

[01:20:47] series if where the peaks of excitement or boredom are.

[01:20:52] Because then it's like, oh, if you got through those chapters, then you're going to cruise

[01:20:56] through.

[01:20:56] Because I just remember.

[01:20:57] I just kept saying for Harry Potter.

[01:20:59] Oh, you know, it just get.

[01:21:00] This is the chapter.

[01:21:02] And I was.

[01:21:02] You had like a hype man for that.

[01:21:03] Yeah.

[01:21:05] These, I think, people were saying these chapters were pretty good.

[01:21:07] There's like a good amount of loyalty.

[01:21:09] There's like a good amount of adventure.

[01:21:10] I think all these chapters are going to be like this.

[01:21:12] Again, it doesn't feel.

[01:21:14] It feels like each chapter is like almost like a bedtime story, which is why I love books

[01:21:20] like this.

[01:21:21] It seems like there's an adventure encapsulated in one chapter.

[01:21:25] And then they get at it.

[01:21:26] It's like they get in, they get out.

[01:21:27] They have to get on to their next thing.

[01:21:29] The next chapter is the same thing.

[01:21:30] We're like something exciting happens.

[01:21:33] They have to figure out a way out.

[01:21:34] Or if they like talk to, talk to a person, you know, it seems, it seems pretty fun.

[01:21:39] So I'm excited for the rest of this.

[01:21:42] But that's all we got.

[01:21:44] Thanks for joining us on our journey of the fellowship of the first time readers.

[01:22:09] I, if I feel like it's too much to underline and it's like, like degrading the book.

[01:22:16] Yeah.

[01:22:17] Nice.

[01:22:17] A little annotation.

[01:22:20] But like, I still underline it, but I just can't do like excessively.

[01:22:24] Like I can't do a paragraph.

[01:22:25] It'll, it'll be too much.

[01:22:26] I get it.