The Hobbit Read-Along discussion

This week we read chapters 3, 4, and 5! Anything related to these chapters can be discussed on this thread, but some questions/ideas to consider are:

We meet elves for the first time in this week’s chapters. For those who’ve read Lord of the Rings (or seen the movies) how does Tolkien’s portrayal of the elves in The Hobbit differ from his later writings? Which “version” of the elves do you prefer?

We tend to think of Middle Earth’s inhabitants as falling pretty cleanly into “evil” (trolls, goblins) and “good” (elves, hobbits, dwarves.) But in this chapter we encounter a few “grey” characters (the giants, Gollum). Do you think this adds or subtracts from the story?

Though Bilbo doesn’t know it, the most significant event of his life took place during “Riddles in the Dark.” What do you think of his riddle game with Gollum? Of the way both characters think and talk of the Ring? When Tolkien wrote The Hobbit he had no idea of the true importance of Bilbo’s ring - how is this apparent (thanks to hindsight) in the book? How did the movies try to "fix" this, and did you like it better that way or not?

On the subject of elves, specifically movie elves - I can't help but be glad the films made the Rivendell elves much more like those of LotR. Seeing Lindir singing tra-la-la-lally would have had me in absolute hysterics.

Melinda wrote: "On the subject of elves, specifically movie elves - I can't help but be glad the films made the Rivendell elves much more like those of LotR. Seeing Lindir singing tra-la-la-lally would have had me..."

Hahaha! I totally agree.

that is true! :D But i could see them sing silly songs when they had a bit too much wine. ;)