This past week in my classes, I engaged the students in a discussion of the ethics around Bilbo's actions in the latter half of the novel. I offered the question: What is the difference between a burglar and a thief? On one level, this is a bit of a vocabulary check, and many of the... Continue Reading →
Perhaps it's because we Orthodox are in the midst of Great Lent, but this passage struck me as echoing the drudgery that a proper fast can sometimes feel like. Under the eaves of Mirkwood, the dwarves and hobbit have to be very careful. They prepared for a long, long journey but still it seemed longer... Continue Reading →
As the dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf near Beorn's house in chapter 7 of The Hobbit, Gandalf is telling the little bit that he knows about their soon-to-be host. After telling them that Beorn is a skin-changer, he makes the following curious statement: "At any rate he is under no enchantment but his own." Gandalf then... Continue Reading →
Something Tookish 