Tag: lord-of-the-rings

LoTR Chapter VII :In the House of Tom Bombadil
Random Dracula rant: Jonathan Harker sees Dracula barefoot and climbing down the dilapidated castle wall.
Let that sink in for a moment. Dracula had to:
- Open a window and climb out of that window.
- Before he climbed out Dracula took off his socks and shoes. But maybe he doesn’t wear socks. And if he doesn’t wear socks we know he has stinky feet. Dracula has stinky corpse feet.
- He was either climbing down to someone/something or climbing down like a fat gecko on that wall recreationally. I really hope he had a reason to climb down that way.
End of Dracula rant. More to come later.
Chapter VII: IN THE HOUSE OF TOM BOMBADIL

So Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin end up at Tom Bombadil’s house.

When they get to Tom Bombadil’s house they meet Goldberry, daughter of the River. She is so beautiful and the hobbits just find her dazzling. It’s like when Randy first sees Julie in Valley Girl (1983). Goldberry is described as wearing living flowers and “she seemed to be enthroned in the midst of a pool.”

Goldberry is clearly Tom’s wife. She lets them know he’s tending to their ponies as she flutters around.

Frodo is so charmed and he’s so sweet to her that even he’s surprised he’s acting that way. Frodo even sings to her. Anyways, Goldberry points out he’s friends with elves based on how he sounds and his shiny eyes.

Lets put that in our notes: Contact with elves leaves lasting effects.

Frodo takes the opportunity to ask Goldberry who the heck Tom Bombadil is and she’s so vague with her answer. She just says he’s the master of everything but he’s not the owner of the land.

Tom Bombadil pops back in and Goldberry instructs him to show his new friends where to wash up and dinner.

Frodo tries to chat about what happened previously with the Willow-Man and Pippin & Marry stop him. Because it’s a theme in this book that you should not speak of scary things after dark otherwise you’ll Beetlejuice it into existence.

Afterwards as they all turn in, Goldberry lets the boys know not to worry that they are safe from everything. Under Tom Bombadil’s roof these hobbits are safe and they shouldn’t worry about the outside noises.

So we come to the part of the DnD campaign where the squad has dreams/realizations, except for Sam.

Frodo dreams of a white tower, eagles and sounds. Clearly he’s channeling into something or someone. He could be mentally connected to them or a place. Is the Ring trying to tell him something? Because I’m pretty sure this ring has its own agenda.

Pippin wakes up to squeaking sounds and is scared. I think that he has figured out it’s not safe out there. Also it sounds like a tree tapping. The willow tree is probably just tapping on his window ya know asking Pippin to come out and play.

Merry was falling asleep when he started hearing a bunch of water and freaks out. Then he thinks about Goldberry assured him was safe and sound. And he just goes with it. Sure the house sounds like it’s about to flood and he’s gonna drown but Goldberry said he was was gonna be fine.

And Sam…well he just slept.

The next day they wake up and Tom Bombadil is creeping about the room and even implies they’re heavy sleepers. Goldberry feeds them and they just relax. Tom Bombadil does encourage them to forget about the nightly noses.

I swear there probably was a damn tree at the window in the middle of the night tapping.

It’s an odd place they find themselves in. Goldberry seems like a river sprite and is doing whatever those do. The day is rainy and cozy. Not much happens aside from them relaxing and listening to Tom Bombadil’s stories.

Now these stories don’t really sound made up. He’s telling stories of the past, things that happened that have been long forgotten. It’s almost like a hint to the hobbits and what has been and what’s to come. A mini history lesson on a cozy rainy day. Tom Bombadil is over there trying to give them a crash course and rewire their brain.

Time and days flow and it doesn’t say how long the hobbits stay there. Frodo asks Tom Bombadil who he is and Tom is vague about it and says he was there before everything.

Tom Bombadil is something old and powerful. This moment is a little dark and I’m only saying this because we got a jump scare. When he thens them he’s been around before everyone and everything, shadow passed by the window. Then Goldberry just pops up in the doorway with good vibes.

They eat and they dance and forget about it. Later that evening though Tom gives a little info away.

Tom Bombadil pretty much lets them know he actually knows a lot about them and The Shire. He even knows Farmer Maggot and regards Farmer Maggot as an important figure. So this Tom Bombadil dude is in on it, whatever Frodo is out to do he’s down with the plan. He has even heard of Frodo from the elves. He was waiting for Frodo and the ring.

And Frodo well just starts chatting and talking about Bilbo and the ring.Tom Bombadil even asks to see the ring and Frodo just hands it to him. The ring is odd but so far it seems to be difficult to hand over to anyone but Frodo just gives it to Tom. Just hands this ring over like nothing.

Tom plays with the ring and even puts it on. This ring changes sized by the way based on the wearer.

So Frodo freaks out a bit about the whole thing, but old Bombadil just hands it back casually. This Ring holds zero power over Tom Bombadil.

Frodo is annoyed and even puts the ring on, disappears and decides to sneak out of the house. But he’s stopped by Tom Bombadil, this man can see Frodo clear as day.

But Tom totally covers for Frodo’s odd behavior with humor and brushes it off. It’s pretty clear that the Ring did not like being toyed with and wanted to leave. So when Frodo was annoyed, when he wanted to disappear and leave…that was the Ring. All those feelings he’s channeling in that moment don’t belong to him.

Frodo comes back after Tom calls him back and even tries to laughs it off. After this Tom gives just them tips, instructions and a song for their journey out of the forest and then it’s off to bed.

This entire chapter was interesting. This man tells the hobbits he just happens to find them but he was also aware of them. Not only is he aware of them he is even buddies with Farmer Maggot. The Ring can’t control him and the trees are afraid of him. Whatever lurks around after dark can’t come into his home and he’s all seeing.

Tom Bombadil can probably even destroy the ring ya know but he’s gonna step back and let the hobbits do it.

So odd. I’ll have to do some research on this. I know I was gonna read up on Tom Bombadil but I got distracted.

Well thats it for now. I’ll start on the next chapter later today or tomorrow and updated within a day or two of that.

Thanks y’all!
May 29, 2026
LoTR: Chapter VI, The Old Forest
Welcome to the Appalachian Mountains but make it Lord of the Rings

I haven’t picked up this book in a while and I sort of remember the story a bit. I remember the story enough to know the movies are vastly different than the books. ALSO I cheated and listened to the audio book.

That being said…I didn’t bother reading the previous chapters I started off where my book mark was at. And its location is actually pretty interesting or coincidental.

You see I was hanging out with my dad over the weekend and we’re in the middle of nowhere. I’m relaxed and staring off at the trees as we drive by them. Over time the trees have been cut down here and there to make room for storage facilities, fulfillment facilities, and every day someone is selling off more land.

Anyways, I look over at my dad and asked “hey pa, do you think trees move?” Without missing a beat my dad says “yes.”

So he goes into this folklore tale thing from the old country about how there were trees whose roots don’t fully embed into the soil. Apparently the trees with exposed roots like to move, they move slowly over the year away from their spots and then move back. I really want to believe this but also could be a sink hole. Either way I open this book back up and what do we have here evil trees.

We start off with Frodo waking up to Merry telling him it’s time to go and they gotta grab the ponies. They’re such small folk that a pony is the right size for them.

They travel out to the forest and Pippin is like hey those stories about the Old Forest true? Merry totally down plays it and says they are just stories but yeah the forest is for sure weird. I think Merry has seen some stuff and just wants to not scare them.

Pippin is like super sus and Merry is like nahhhh not that bad but it is like a little bit sus. It’s like… that one weird dude in the heist movie where everyone doesn’t trust him and the one dude everyone trusts vouches. This is the feeling.

We get told the trees:
- Do not like strangers.
- Watch you but are mostly content to watch you during the day.
- Unfriendly trees may drop a branch on you.
  - Depending on the size, height, and velocity there could be an argument made of attempted murder.
- The trees talk to one another
  - The Happening 2008, this is what these trees remind me of. Oh I wonder if this chapter was what they drew inspiration from in writing that.
- The trees move
- There is an event in where the trees attacked the Hedge and the Hobbits set them on fire. After this event the trees became unfriendly.
  - They attacked and got set on fire and probably don’t like Hobbits.
- Something in the forest makes paths.
  - pretty sure the trees make these paths.
So Merry drops this scary information and it’s just hilarious. No the Old Forest is not scary but the trees are aggressive.

They ride into this forrest and are immediately taken in by these trees. The hobbits look back and can barely see the Hedge and they are like maybe 100 feet away. But this is serious business so they push forward.

The world is depending on them and a bunch of fire wood isn’t gonna stand in their way. But the fire wood is totally standing in the way.

These trees lead them off in circles, trails and lead them off with false hope. It’s dark in the canopy of leaves and they start looking over their shoulders. Pippin starts crashing out and yelling at the trees to let him pass through.

Frodo starts to sing but that fails and these trees are blocking sound. These trees are sound proof panels and they don’t want to hear you sing. They also probably don’t want anyone to hear you call for help. Merry tells Frodo to chill on the tunes because its not appropriate at the time.

I have beef with Merry he was so chill about it like yeah these threes man just odd but not bad. Merry this is bad.

They decide to take a break in a clearing and eat. Then Merry is like hey guys that path leads to the Withywindle which is way more weird than the Old Forest. And he tells them that should avoid it but they also spot the Downs and the path REAPPEARED. The reappeared path looked like it was going to the Downs then started to go to the Withywindle.

The dudes get lost and found a brook, smaller than a creek and easy to cross. So they get to this brook and start getting real sleepy. The evil trees are lulling them to sleep and only Sam is left awake.

Merry and Pippin fall and end up up against those evil trees and Frodo falls asleep on a trees root over the brook. Sam is also struggling to stay away but he wakes up when he hears Frodo fall into the water. Sam has to help Frodo up from under the tree root.

Frodo is going off about how the tree dropped him in the water. That’s when they realize the trees are kidnapping Merry and Pippin into their trunks.

There are threats of setting the trees on fire and then actual fire. Merry and Pippin almost die and then… flipping Tom Bombadil shows up.

He’s singing he sees them and helps out by whispering something to the trees. And then he goes on singing and bouncing away. He’s singing about himself and some river sprite.

The group basically follows him out of the forest and then…next chapter.

I remember Tom Bombadil. Between the audiobook and how many times I’ve restarted this book. He’s so ethereal being out there in the woods who kidnapped his pretty wife. I’ll read the next chapter to refresh myself and come back with a better understanding of this fellow.

Well that’s it for now. I’m gonna read the next chapter and get back to y’all in a day or two.

Bye!
May 26, 2026
Frodo’s Adventure: Encounters with Elves and Farmer Maggot, a/k/a Chapter 4

Mushrooms and all.

Well it’s the next morning after the elf sleep over party in the woods and the hobbits are gathering their things.

They discover the elf’s have left behind elf bread and drink. They’re so excited about because apparently elf bread is the best. Frodo wakes up later than the group and Pippin tells him hey…. Sam made me leave you some food.

I want to take a moment to point out that the elves knew Frodo was leaving the shire, they hinted at it then moved away from the topic.

Also Sam the Gardner and Frodo’s companion in this adventure had always wanted to see an elf. And he not only got to see the elf he was able to hang out with the elves, eat their food, and listen to their stories.

So at this moment Sam has been enlightened in a way he’s seen elves up close and experienced their unearthly beauty and now feels different. It happens to the best of us Sam, we leave our little community and realize the world is big and vast.

Back to the story.

The DnD party gathers their items and begins to travel again, they’re going over to the next hobbit town where Frodo has a new home. The story Frodo has concocted is that he wanted to settle back in his home town, his friends had set everything up for it.

So they walk on and into a farm, a farm owned by a farmer named Maggot.

Apparently Frodo and him have history: back in his youth Frodo ate a bunch of Farmer Maggot’s mushrooms. Farmer Maggot catches Frodo eating his mushrooms and then scares the living shit out of Frodo over it and threatens him with his dogs.

So naturally Frodo notices Farmer Maggots property he’s like yeah guys lets not and Pippin is like whatever, because they literally have never met a stranger.

And then they start yelling for Farmer Maggot to come out. Frodo tries to blend into the background and Sam just hangs out unaware of why Frodo is so uncomfortable.

And out comes out Farmer Maggots along with his two dogs Grip, Fang and Wolf. What sort of names are these! And the dogs are just cute.

Can we just take a moment to really take in how LoTR really set the foundation for Fantasy novels? This moment here just reminds me of Harry Potter going out to see Hagrid out back. Hagrid is scary and so are his pets but he’s actually very loyal and sweet.

Sidebar: I am a little peeved though as a lady I would like a cool lady character about now but so far the ladies are delighted to be background characters. This is very much a fantasy adventure centered around friends and there will be no badass woman or a love triangle. And to be honest it would sort of ruin the story a little bit. I don’t know why I feel that way and I don’t feel like deep diving into that at the moment.

Anyways Frodo really wants Farmer Maggot not to remember him but he does and he teases Frodo a little. Which sort of reminds me of all those scary mean adults we meet as kids and young adults. We think man they hate me or they are no fun but you run into them as full grown adult and realize they really aren’t. As young adults/kids you don’t realize they just are looking out for you. Farmer Maggot was teaching a young rambunctious Frodo a lesson and scaring him was one way to go about it.

Alright also this book so far is about dudes going on an adventure, low supplies and running into friends and staying over for dinner and drinks. I mean this is a place of magic and mystery yet if you role the dice right you’ll end up with a good meal.

Farmer Maggot greets the boys happily but he brings a Dark Rider who was asking questions. Before he could say more he tells the group to come in have a drink and they’ll chat.

At first its them plus the farmer and his wife and then it turns into about 14 other people as the farmers employees join in.

Farmer Maggot glares at Frodo a little, asks how they got here and then teases Frodo a bit calling him a rascal and bringing up his stolen mushrooms.

Thats when the story begins…Farmer Maggot tells them the Dark Rider aka Big Folk was asking about Frodo.

“Have you seen Baggins.”

Farmer Maggot tells the Dark Rider to leave to be off Baggins isn’t here that he hear he went to Hobbinton, but the Dark Rider insisted and offered gold. When the Dark Rider didn’t get the information he wanted he hissed then rode off.

Then Farmer Maggot brings up Bilbo’s travels and treasure, he also tells Frodo that if anyone else came looking for Frodo he would say Frodo was dead or whatever.

He offers to drive Frodo to the ferry by wagon, and they go but the wagon has no lights on and then a dark rider shows up not he road.

Farmer Maggot tells Frodo to hide and is about to square up with this rider.

But its just Merry Brandybuck, his government name is Meriadoc Brandybuck.

I get so confused in this book, so many names and I’ve had to start taking notes when I read. Its time consuming.

Anyways I have notes for chapter 5 but I also have to go back into those and clarify what I read. Who knew this would end up a bit more complicated than expected.

But we are on an unexpected journey in this book.

Till next time.

September 14, 2025
Hobbits, Elves, and the Journey Begins

I forgot what chapter we’re on. But I picked the book back up and started on Chapter 3 it seemed like a good spot. Names will be miss spelled and locations have been forgotten.

Alright so Bilbo is planning his party he’s however many years and he’s names Frodo his heir. Gandalf has showed up to bring fire works everyone in the Shire is super excited. It’s this big deal and the post office is full of invitations and replies to the invitations.

And I’m like how big is this place really? Because … are we talking like Whoville big? Or Metropolis (1927 film) big?

Anyways… he’s leaving and his inner circle knows. He has his party tells off the town folk and pops this ring on and disappears with a poof.

He’s back at home and Gandalf shows up pretty much complaining about the ring stunt and how he had to make smoke appear.

That’s when Gandalf is like yo you got your stuff situated are you gonna leave this ring to Frodo? Well suddenly Bilbo doesn’t want to leave this ring and Gandalf is like oh yes you are.

While this is happening there are Dwarfs there helping him pack. So in the movie he leaves solo in the books his homies showed up to get him.

Anyways…. Frodo stays behind with the ring and Gandalf checks in on him to see how he’s doing. Asking if he’s doing well and just checking on his aging. Because it’s pretty clear that Frodo and even Bilbo before him aged slower than usual because of this damn ring. Lets be clear the beings in this universe that are not human age slow to begin with.

Eventually Frodo has a deep chat with Gandalf and Sam hears it all. He was gardening, which brings me to this he’s the Gardner that’s why he calls Frodo “Master Frodo.” In the movies I must have missed he was an employee I just figured he was polite.

So Sam is listening in and so entranced by this story he broke his cover of trimming the hedges gets caught and voluntold he will be going with Frodo on leaving the shire.

And Frodo tells everyone he’s going over to Buckland…Buckville look I’ve already forgotten this town. But it’s the town everyone in the Shire hates on whenever given the chance. And apparently not many like Frodo because his mom is from Buckland/Buckville so born to be disliked. His father is a Baggins and marries a buck foreigner they both died by drowning while out on a boat.

Let’s side quest into this for a second: Not only are the Baggins rich so are the Buckin’s on Frodo’s mom side, take note of the name of the village/town. That’s right—Frodo’s family established Buckland/Buckville whatever so he’s rich and born into a founding father’s family. I mean this entire time (3 chapters) and I’m wondering what does Frodo actually do for a living? He doesn’t work. Bilbo not working just felt alright because the lore is he went off and took some nice gold from a dragon. But now we find out that this is a wealthy family with generational wealth.

Frodo sets off after dragging his feet for a few weeks sighing about leaving and pout about it. You know who goes with him? PIPPIN AND MARY! In the movies I remember Pippin and Mary getting up to no good and running full speed into Frodo and Sam but in the book they leave together.

Don’t ask me how this came about I was working and listening to the audio and missed that part.

So the four of them set out to Buckin’s Buckland Buckville and see the Dark Rider. The Dark Rider is asking in one instant. The second Dark Rider encounter, Frodo got everyone to hide and fought the urge to put the ring on. The ring clearly wants to be found. This one sniffs the air and then leaves.

Well they survive the Dark Rider sniff and run into the wood elves, who are singing. The hobbits are entranced by the elves eternal beauty. The book says, ” and the hobbits could see the starlight glimmering on their hair and in their eyes.”

And the elves know Frodo! They spot him and and everyone stops and gather around the little hobbits. Frodo asks the leader Gildor Inglorious of the House of Finrod…how he knows him. Turns out they’ve seen him with Bilbo and they know all about him. I want to say they even knew he was leaving the shire.

Full stop how did Tolkien come up with these DnD names and keep track of the lore.

Back to the elves so they chat ask Frodo what they’re up and then Pippin is like hey y’all know about the Black Riders? And the elves seem spooked by them and make the call to take the hobbits with them. They even make it a point to say they normally don’t do that.

They travel with them then the elves set up camp and everyone goes to sleep only to be awoken in the middle of the night for food and a party.

They eat, they drink, pass out and wake up the next morning to the elves not being there.

Sooooo we are three chapters in and already I’m pretty sure the movies were just INSPIRED by the books.

Also I’ve recently started playing DND and I’m reading this like …all this feels family so I google and sure enough LoTR also inspired Dungeons and Dragons.

My DND character is a tifling paladin … pirate. She’s a complex being.

See you in chapter 4.

Side note its been a busy year and while I did keep to my new years resolution pretty well I’m disappointed I didn’t keep up with this book blog.

But I haven’t read a lot of books this year; I’ve tried. Anyways the books have been bleeding into my gaming sessions with the bestie.

You can catch me on my twitch channel LoopyLu1928 and bring some insight.

July 26, 2025
Chapter 2 – Gandalf’s Return and the Ageless Frodo Baggins

The Fellowship of the Ring

I’m currently listening to the audio book for the Two Towers, what can I say..I LOVE A GOOD SPOILER! But I can at this very second say that I do not like the hobbits. Fight me.

And lets get to it.

Frodo thought people would move on from Bilbo’s 111th birthday extravaganza but that didn’t happen. They talked and talked about this for years and Frodo kept throwing a birthday party for Bilbo and himself. Until it just became the norm, lets all celebrate that one dude who gave great parties and disappeared…a lot.

He also was just as silly as Bilbo. And he went around town with Merry (real name Meriadoc) and Pippin (Peregrin Took) on most days. When they weren’t around he just kept to himself and would be seen out on late night walks. And maybe even visited the elves.

“They say she was seen on occasion. Pacing the rocks staring out at the midnight sea.” -Taylor Swift

Reading how he was off on his own —reminded me of T Swifts Great American Dynasty. We are off topic.

Continuing on.

So Adeline I mean Frodo is living his best life. He’s got money now and doesn’t really worry much for anything in life. But he kept track of rumors.

He would chat up the elves that passed by the Shire and came to the conclusion they were leaving Middle-earth for good.

Did I mention he’s 50 now. Gandalf legit said yo Frodo stay here I got stuff to do but hang tight to this suspicious ring and I’ll be right back, could be tomorrow could be 17 years from now.

So he’s 50 now looking way younger and now he’s restless. I suppose it happens you’re carefree, rich and in need of something to scratch that midlife crisis.

So he’s out there walking the forest asking random elves for news of the outside world. And itching for an adventure. Sometimes he met dwarves who also mentioned something was up. We’re at the story where its obvious there an entity out there stirring the pot.

Well Frodo, Sam and some other hobbits are discussing the creepy stories he’s heard from the elves and dwarves. We get introduced to the trees, it’s gossip. But most of the story telling chit chat turns out to be true here. The beings of Middle-earth don’t seem to lie much. They are super suspicious of everyone leaving and discuss it.

And this is when I figured out Sam is the Gardner. In the movie you find him outside in the dark trimming stuff and I thought it was a funny joke. But no he really is the Gardner.

Eventually Gandalf comes back after spending 17 years working on a thesis on this random Ring he should have really had on his radar decades ago.He shows up looks at Frodo and I swear he took Frodo’s vitals.

Gandalf is looking at Frodo and his slow aging process and asking how his health is doing. So he takes off again fast forward 9 YEARS.

‘All well eh?’ said Gandalf. ‘You look the same as ever, Frodo!’

Was he honestly coming and going just to see if Frodo was aging slowly. Bet he kept a book, a log deep in the middle of its pages. In it he writes, ‘Adeline has not aged since the ring.’

SIDE BAR: Age of Adeline is about a woman who gets into a car accident then a lighting bolt strikes her at the right time and she stops aging forever at 30. I wonder if the writer of that took inspiration from good old Frodo never aging like Peter Pan. Anyways the movie is cozy and it has Harrison Ford in it, either he really loved the script or he had bills to pay. I’m not mad about it but it is odd to see Harrison in a romantic drama.

Back to Gandalf he’s about to spill the beans when he stops and he’s like we should talk about this during the day.

Folks he afraid to speak you know whose name into the dark night. So they discuss it in the daylight.

And this is when I come to the Marty Stu (male version of Mary Sue) of it all apparently the mortal race cannot handle the weight of this ring. But Hobbits are magical in a way to be able to just hold on to this ring and chill for decades with the side effect of…aging slowly. I’m sure he’s slowly becoming evil to but I think that is tied into how the hobbits came into possession of the ring.

For example Gollum doesn’t hesitate to end his friend’s life over this ring. Guy went zero to obsessed in a heartbeat and ya know it’s his birthday, he deceived it MORE. Then we get Bilbo who finds it on the floor, finders keepers and all that but also he won that riddle game fair and square and he didn’t kill anyone. He actually spared Gollum’s life. And last we have Frodo who got it as a part of his inheritance. We go from really dark, gray, and white in shades of how badly these three hobbits got this ring.

So I think that’s why Gollum got the worst of it, he was already rotten the core.

“I think the apple’s rotten right to the core.” as Charlie xcx said

Alright let’s leave it here because these chapters are so long.I’ll be updating my post as I typically only have small window to write my thoughts down on this.

I think I’ll get the hang of blogging eventually.

Apple- Charlie xcx

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September 10, 2024