The Hobbit Reread 4: An Unexpected Party

Ok, so I know I'm gonna have to start doubling up on these because I've been lazy and not posted every week. But . . . I'm gonna get it all done before Dec. 14 rolls around. You have my word. Today we'll start the fourth post of this reread and the first post dealing with a chapter from the actual book. Chapter 1, that is, An Unexpected Party.

The town of Dale

The super-sleuths at the German Lord of the Rings movies fan-site Herr Der Ringe Film have released the first ever photos of the town of Dale! For those of you who might not remember, Dale is the town of Men that was nestled at the foot of the Lonely Mountain. Thorin describes it to Bilbo near the start of the Hobbit:

Anyway they grew immensely rich and famous, and my grandfather was King under the Mountain again and treated with great reverence by the mortal men, who lived to the South, and were gradually spreading up the Running River as far as the valley overshadowed by the Mountain. They built the merry town of Dale there in those days.

––The Hobbit; Ch. 1: An Unexpected Party

 Sadly, Dale was destroyed by Smaug . . . and by the time Bilbo and his crew reach the Lonely Mountain, nothing remains of the once merry town but ruins.

HDRF asked that their images not be posted on other sites (sorry . . .) so I'll just give you the link to the pictures. As a quick note: the buildings all look to be in good condition, so I wonder if what we're seeing is Dale before the arrival of Smaug . . . and that just makes me wonder what the place will look like when Bilbo and the dwarves finally arrive.

For those of you who don't read German, here are the translated photo captions (courtesy of theonering.net):

• Structure of the set of Dale.
• The red roof tiles seem almost mediterranean.
• Archways, doors and arched windows in Romanesque style.
• Dale extends over several levels.
• The set is supported by shipping containers.
• Is this perhaps one of the bell towers of the town?
• The unfinished battlements of Dale.
• Plywood is the preferred building material on set.
• A set bridge or access way is built.
• A finished piece of wall with round battlements.
• The set of Dale.
• In this view one can clearly see the different levels.
• Back view of Dale and the bridge.
• A Dale building and a staircase in the building.

Fridays at the Mathom-House: Anke Eissmann

The Mathom-house it was called; for anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a ‘mathom’.

–The Fellowship of the Ring; Prologue 

Seven days done and now it's time for a batch of amazing Tolkien art. Yes, good reader, it's that time again: Fridays at the Mathom-house. This week we'll be showcasing the art of Anke Eissmann, who's website has an awesome section dedicated to her Tolkien art. Anke's art caught my eye because of her use of traditional mediums like watercolor and pen-and-ink, instead of the digital art you see everywhere nowadays. In fact, her watercolor paintings remind a lot of Tolkien's own watercolors. So, limber up your scroller-finger and sit back to enjoy some great Hobbit art:

Durin's Day

There and Back Again; Or, How do you get 2 movies from 1 book?

So just how, you might ask, is Peter Jackson possibly going to make two movies out of one book? You might also ask why he'd want to do that, but I don't really have an answer for that . . . although I expect New Line and Warner Bros. making more money has something to do with it. But the first question is most definitely answerable, and I, good reader, am about to reveal all. Or most of all, at least.


It won't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with The Hobbit (the book, I mean) that during Bilbo's grand adventure, Gandalf keeps disappearing . . . usually right when he'd be the most help. As mysterious as that may seem, the book does give us some hints about where the wizard was sneaking off to and what he was doing. What's more, the Appendices at the end of the ROTK fill in a lot of details about the double-life Gandalf was leading during the events of the Hobbit.


Various leaks and hints from cast and crew have revealed that The Hobbit will be expanded into two stories by including and elaborating on the busy-work that kept dragging Gandalf away from Thorin & Co. in the book. And this is where things get interesting. More after the break!

An Unexpected Party: Bilbo, Bifur, Dwalin, Bofur and Oin

Here's the newest picture from The Hobbit, featuring the Master of Bag End and several uninvited guests. This newest image comes to us from MOVIEtalk on Yahoo! Movies, and is a great look at Bilbo interacting with the dwarves.

Oin's hearing-horn cracks me up every time I see it. And I just can't get over the fact that Bifur has something lodged in his cranium. How the heck is this guy still walking around? Was it a mining accident? An orc attack? Or something else?