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Discovering The Lord of the Rings, paragraph by paragraph.

Welcome to the new home of Exploring The Lord of the Rings! Soon, this page will be the hub for our live class meetings and chat, but our new discussion board is already open. If you have thoughts, observations, or suggestions related to the portions of the text we've already discussed, feel free to post those on the discussion board below.

Threads
TolkienProf
This thread is for questions on the parts of the text we haven't gotten to yet -- and might not get to for a decade or two.  If you have not yet appointed one of your heirs to attend class and ask your question in person, you can enter it here to register it for future reference.  Please start your post with the title of the chapter your question is relevant to.
Beorning_Clarence_Scrubb
Will we discuss any similarities that might exist between the interaction between Galadriel and Gimli regarding her gift to him, and the Silmarils that started this whole saga?
Reply to Beorning_Clarence_Scrubb
Corey O.
We will! 
Eldride
Since we are racing towards it with speed - how exactly do the Elves fool the Orcs on the banks of Nimrodel, when they lead them deeper into the forest. I know I am possibly in a small minority but since first reading I always assumed it was because orcs and elves look alike (this was before I knew about "the orc problem" Would love to see what you think @Corey
TKP
Observation: My recent read-through of LOTR was aloud (to my wife).  I/we noticed that when the Fellowship enters Lothlorien, the tone and timbre of the narrative language seemed to change (not just that of the characters' dialogue).  It seems to last until they depart down the river.  This tonal shift is something that could easily get 'lost' in such a slow dissection of the text as we are doing.  If you agree with this observation, I am curious to hear some thoughts / analysis of this.   If you disagree, I am also curious as to why.
Aranoss
Book V Chapter 3 The Muster of Rohan
Theoden gifting arms and armour to Merry through Eowyn to be compared with Book III Chapter 6 The King of the Golden Hall - Theoden gifting arms and armour to the Three Hunters and Book II Chapter 2 The Council of Elrond - Bilbo gifting Sting and the Mithril Coat to Frodo. Examining the parallels, and differences, between Theoden and Bilbo, especially the gifting of the shield to Gimli
Book II Chapter 8 Farewell to Lórien - Possible parallels to the gift giving by Galadriel too.
Some of the gifts seem to be bespoke (the sheath for Andúril), some are generic outfitting (belts, mail coats, helms, shields, etc.) and some are heirlooms or similar (Bilbo's sword and mail to Frodo, and Theoden's shield to Gimli).
In our modern thinking bespoke gifts may be seen as more valuable than regifted items, but is that fitting for the attitudes of Middle-earth?
This discussion is closed.