The Hobbit - Chapter 07 - Queer Lodgings

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

And were there more skin-changers than Beorn, or have I been under a wrong impression?

He's the only one Tolkien wrote of. Which is not to say that Beorn's the only one in Middle Earth. Since Tolkien put him in, he set the precedent (speaking as an active rpg'er ). Skin-changers are part of the stuff of Nordic folklore and legend, too. Beorn lives rather far north in Middle Earth. And I agree on the fish from the Anduin as probably being a source of food, though Tolkien doesn't mention it.

[Raynor]

He's the only one Tolkien wrote of.

Not the only one :

Originally Posted by The return journey, TH

Beorn indeed became a great chief afterwards in those regions and ruled a wide land between the mountains and the wood; and it is said that for many generations the men of his line had the power of taking bear's shape, and some were grim men and bad, but most were in heart like Beorn, if less in size and strength.

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Raynor

Not the only one :

Good point. I always have liked Tolkien's trick or pechant, call it what you like, of saying it is said that .... It adds a certain flavor to the text that just spices it, if you take my meaning.

[A_Brandybuck]

'Queer Lodgings' is in my opinion a very very interesting chapter of 'The Hobbit'. In the whole context, it seems to me, that this is the last 'safe harbor' before the really perilous voyage through Mirkwood. Actually Beorn's house seems to me 'more last safe harbour' than Elrond's house, because the threat of the perilous wood is directly in front of their feet.

Anyway, I think Elrond's house and Beorn's house are sharing some commonness. Both are just houses in the wilderness and the company is 'invited' to take some comfort. Very different are indeed the inhabitants of both houses. Elves in one hand and animals in the other hand. These animals make me always thinking about the fox in the beginning of 'Fellowship of the Ring', who wondered about the Hobbits in the wood.
I think, that we can see in those little details anew, that the 'Lord of the Rings' was originally planned to be a sequel to 'The Hobbit' in the timeline and in the narrative style, although there was changed much.

I always try to imagine, how the chapter would have been, if it had been written without the childish structure of the book.

I think. that there Beorn has lived in a germanic nave and the animals are just the household of a big chief (Beorn). The Dwarves have come in and Beorn heart the stoyr and has gone in the night with some other chiefs of his tribes to verify the story of the Dwarves. Just some thoughts..... :-)

The Dwarves decreased in my reputation at the end of the chapter. This has happened because of two details:

1. They just wanted to steal the ponies, although they had a good time in Beorn's house. They ate and slept there, had some comfort in the wilderness and Beorn lent them the ponies and how does the Dwarves want to thank him? By stealing the ponies......

2. The Dwarves (especially Thorin) get angry because of Gandalf's leaving. I mean, I could understand, that the are not happy, that Gandalf will leave them just before the most dangerous part of their adventure. But they have known this before. Gandalf has gone with them a long time, longer as he wanted to do and the Dwarves surely knew that. And then they get angry,.....

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by A_Brandybuck

The Dwarves decreased in my reputation at the end of the chapter. This has happened because of two details:

1. They just wanted to steal the ponies, although they had a good time in Beorn's house. They ate and slept there, had some comfort in the wilderness and Beorn lent them the ponies and how does the Dwarves want to thank him? By stealing the ponies......

2. The Dwarves (especially Thorin) get angry because of Gandalf's leaving. I mean, I could understand, that the are not happy, that Gandalf will leave them just before the most dangerous part of their adventure. But they have known this before. Gandalf has gone with them a long time, longer as he wanted to do and the Dwarves surely knew that. And then they get angry,.....

These points remind me that this is a children's book. The Dwarves are acting more like spoiled brat children while Bilbo by contrast has been showing signs of growing up. Tolkien does this little literary trick to emphasize Bilbo's comparative maturity. It works fine in TH, but you can bet he was more subtle in LotR.

[Formendacil]

I seem to continue to lag behind in these discussions... Ah well, perhaps this week I shall catch back up to the current chapter. Meanwhile, I have impressions to record...

This chapter is about Beorn, and as such, I think the effect that it has on the reader is in a large part tied directly to how one feels about Beorn. Personally, although he takes Thorin & Co. in, and although they are well-treated, and kept quite safe, I don't get the same warm feeling from Beorn that I do from Elrond- and it's more than just the whole big bumblebees buzzing around. Tolkien shows, as we move from wholly safe characters to not-so-safe half-bears, the progression of the story as Bilbo moves farther and farther from Hobbiton. No doubt, had he met Beorn before Tom, William, the Great Goblin, Gollum, and the Wargs, he would have seemed a much more malevolent creature than the refuge that he seems here.

The ambivalence surrounding the "goodness" of Beorn is different, it seems to me, than the clearcut "Good And Evil" sides normally associated with simplistic Fairy Tales. We are told that Beorn is good, that his cause is just, and all the evidence says that he's on the good side, but thinking about Beorn, I can't help but think of him as a rather ambiguous character. He's rather too eager to take up the sword (figuratively speaking, since he's not a swordsman) against orks and Wargs- and Dwarves, if they should be aiding the orks. Beorn, it seems to me, has a very rigid, and possibly rather narrow, view of what is Right and what is Wrong, and although he's clearly presented as a Good Guy, I can't help but get shivers from him, and I don't think I'd enjoy a stay in his house...

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I have finally located Tolkien's eyrie drawing online. Here it is:



And this is how he pictured Beorn's Hall: