The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien - So You Haven't Read — Transcript

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1. 0:00Literature gives us the opportunity to
2. 0:02experience lives, perspectives, and
3. 0:04worlds different from our own. Though
4. 0:06remember, friend, a good story has many
5. 0:08readings, and this is but one.
6. 0:13Ooh, with that failed survival save,
7. 0:15you've now taken a wrong turn and are
8. 0:16separated from your party and are alone
9. 0:18in a damp, lightless cave. With one hand
10. 0:20on the wall, you feel your way down
11. 0:22deeper and deeper into the goblin
12. 0:24tunnels. Suddenly, you hear a sound of
13. 0:26splashing in the darkness as if
14. 0:27something is paddling its way across the
15. 0:30lightless pond. Then it speaks, gurgling
16. 0:32to itself excitedly, that you're going
17. 0:35to be its next meal. Oh man, this is
18. 0:38such a Baggins situation. Baggins, you
19. 0:41know, Bilbo Baggins. Come on, long
20. 0:43wooden pipe, fuzzy woolly toes, the main
21. 0:45character of the greatest Letter Never
22. 0:47Sent song everybody knows and J.R.R.
23. 0:49Tolkien's The Hobbit. Oh man, Zoe, this
24. 0:52is like finding a unicorn.
25. 1:00Thanks so much to HelloFresh for helping
26. 1:02to bring this story to the table.
27. 1:04So you haven't read The Hobbit. First
28. 1:06and foremost, I just got to say it is my
29. 1:08honor to introduce you to one of the
30. 1:09books that helped kick off the modern
31. 1:11fantasy genre. And since so many games
32. 1:14were inspired by Tolkien's world, and
33. 1:15you know we're already mid-campaign
34. 1:17here, for funzies, let's frame this
35. 1:18literary discussion as a role-playing
36. 1:20game. You are Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit.
37. 1:23You live in a world called Middle-earth,
38. 1:25and your starting zone is called The
39. 1:27Shire, miles away from adventure, just
40. 1:30as hobbits like it. Also, you have a BFF
41. 1:32named Gandalf, who's kind of like your
42. 1:34cool hippy uncle, but also is an
43. 1:36extremely wise, extremely powerful
44. 1:38wizard. One night, Gandalf volunteers
45. 1:41your house to a party of dwarves for an
46. 1:42important meeting, but he neglects to
47. 1:45tell you for some reason, so you are
48. 1:46taken completely by surprise when
49. 1:48Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori,
50. 1:51Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bomber,
51. 1:53and their leader Thorin Oakenshield
52. 1:55barge into your home. The dwarves, it
53. 1:57turns out, are planning a mission to
54. 1:58retake their ancestral home in the
55. 2:00Lonely Mountain from a dangerous dragon
56. 2:02named Smaug. Gandalf then
57. 2:04enthusiastically suggests that you
58. 2:06should go along as their burglar,
59. 2:08because you know dwarven fighters aren't
60. 2:09really known for their stealth, at which
61. 2:11point everyone objects to this plan,
62. 2:13including you. Because one, you have no
63. 2:15experience in burgling, and two, you
64. 2:17have no desire to leave your sweet
65. 2:19hobbit hole. But then Gandalf rolls a
66. 2:21nat 20 on his persuasion check, so off
67. 2:24you go. However, Gandalf does not come
68. 2:26along because he has stuff to do. Now
69. 2:29your route is dangerous, and along the
70. 2:30way you get captured by trolls, wrapped
71. 2:32up by giant spiders, and pursued by
72. 2:34goblins. Each time you use your wits to
73. 2:37rescue the party. But when battling said
74. 2:40cave goblins, you did get separated from
75. 2:42the dwarves, which brings us right back
76. 2:44to where we started at the beginning of
77. 2:45this episode, alone in the dark.
78. 2:48However, I did leave out one crucial
79. 2:50detail before. As you were feeling your
80. 2:52way through the cave, your hand touched
81. 2:54something small and round. Ooh, a ring
82. 2:57of invisibility. Okay, now keep it
83. 2:59secret, keep it safe, because the
84. 3:01creature we mentioned before is now
85. 3:03right in front of you. He calls himself
86. 3:05Gollum, and lets you know that he plans
87. 3:07to eat you, which you are against by the
88. 3:09way, but he also agrees to let you go if
89. 3:11you can beat him in a game of riddles,
90. 3:13which you are super pumped about.
91. 3:15Emboldened, you win some contested
92. 3:17riddle roll checks, and before Gollum
93. 3:19can back out of the deal, you put on
94. 3:20your new magic ring and vanish. At least
95. 3:23that's what happens in the better known
96. 3:25second edition of The Hobbit published
97. 3:27in 1951. See, in the original, the 1937
98. 3:30version of the book, Bilbo and Gollum
99. 3:32simply play their game of riddles, and
100. 3:33Gollum cheerfully rewards the hobbit
101. 3:35with the ring. But author J.R.R. Tolkien
102. 3:38made this adjustment to make Bilbo's
103. 3:39story consistent with The Hobbit sequel,
104. 3:41The Lord of the Rings trilogy, where you
105. 3:43know the ring turns out to be kind of
106. 3:45important. I see you.
107. 3:49Yeah, that's not a good idea. Anyway,
108. 3:51when writing The Hobbit, Professor
109. 3:53Tolkien drew on his great love of
110. 3:54classic literature, most particularly
111. 3:56the old English poem Beowulf, along with
112. 3:58his personal experiences in World War I.
113. 4:01During the war, he witnessed firsthand
114. 4:03how the pre-20th century concept of
115. 4:05knightly heroism was kind of useless in
116. 4:07the face of trench warfare and machine
117. 4:09guns. So, in The Hobbit, he envisioned a
118. 4:11different kind of heroism, one based off
119. 4:13perseverance, wisdom, and unity.
120. 4:15Classical heroes like Beowulf would
121. 4:17solve problems with swords and shields.
122. 4:19So, Bilbo's heroic wit and compassion
123. 4:21was a breath of fresh air in the fantasy
124. 4:23genre. You know, much like Mr. Spock's
125. 4:25song about the little hobbit back in
126. 4:261967, which I would argue is the
127. 4:28pinnacle of human lyricism.
128. 4:31Right, sorry. Back to Middle-earth. You
129. 4:33eventually find your way back to your
130. 4:34dwarf friends and hitch a ride on some
131. 4:36giant eagles who fly you to Laketown, a
132. 4:39um Laketown by the foot of the Lonely
133. 4:41Mountain where Smaug is squatting. Then
134. 4:43the dwarves send you, their trusty
135. 4:44burglar, ahead to case the joint. Of
136. 4:47course, you're naturally terrified, but
137. 4:48you slowly creep into the dragon's lair,
138. 4:51and there behold Smaug sleeping amongst
139. 4:53countless treasures. So, you know, what
140. 4:55better time to show off your leveled-up
141. 4:57burglary skills than by lifting a little
142. 4:59loot. But just as the dwarves are
143. 5:01congratulating you on your success,
144. 5:03Smaug awakes and realizes that the cup,
145. 5:05which he never would have been able to
146. 5:06use because one, too small, and two, no
147. 5:08opposable thumbs, is now missing. Then,
148. 5:11as Tolkien himself points out, his
149. 5:13dragon being a direct allegory for the
150. 5:15rich holding wealth and being furious at
151. 5:17any small loss, Smaug flies into a rage.
152. 5:20And it's at this pivotal moment that the
153. 5:22dwarves realize a major flaw in their
154. 5:23plan. They actually have no idea how to
155. 5:26get rid of a dragon. How did they not
156. 5:28think of this before? But figuring Smaug
157. 5:30must have an Achilles' heel, you sneak
158. 5:32back into his lair to gather
159. 5:34information. This time, though, you wear
160. 5:36your magic invisibility ring, ensuring
161. 5:38that there is no way that Oh, wait, he
162. 5:40found you.
163. 5:42Well, thief, I smell you, and I feel
164. 5:47your air.
165. 5:50I hear your breath.
166. 5:53Uh-oh. Quick, roll a Dragon Lord check.
167. 5:57Nice. You remember that dragons can't
168. 5:59resist flattery. So, you flatter the
169. 6:01heck out of the big lizard. You praise
170. 6:03him for his impenetrable scales and ask
171. 6:05for a better look. Then, when Smaug
172. 6:08shows you his belly, you notice a small
173. 6:10section that isn't armored. Interesting.
174. 6:13But, right as you send this intelligence
175. 6:15down to Laketown, Smaug deduces that the
176. 6:17townspeople must have helped you rob him
177. 6:19and decides to burn and ate the whole
178. 6:21village. Fortunately, a bowman in
179. 6:23Laketown named Bard the Bowman. Yep,
180. 6:25seriously. Now armed with the knowledge
181. 6:27of the dragon's secret weakness and a
182. 6:29deadly black arrow, shoots Smaug out of
183. 6:31the sky. With the dragon slain, the
184. 6:34dwarves retake their ancestral home and
185. 6:36all of its riches. But, when Bard the
186. 6:38Bowman and his elf allies arrive to ask
187. 6:40for a portion of the loot to rebuild
188. 6:42Laketown, Thorin is overcome with greed
189. 6:44and not only refuses, but is also
190. 6:46willing to go to war to keep all the
191. 6:48treasure for himself. You know, you
192. 6:50think you know a dwarf. And that's when
193. 6:52things get really heavy. The humans,
194. 6:54dwarves, and elves nearly go to war over
195. 6:56the treasure. That is until a goblin
196. 6:58army shows up to try to sack the
197. 7:00mountain and they all come together. And
198. 7:02Gandalf's pals, the giant eagles, fly in
199. 7:04to join the fray. That's five armies in
200. 7:05total, my friends. And in the end, after
201. 7:08much victory and loss, the dwarves
202. 7:10salute your heroism and Gandalf gives
203. 7:12you all a smug I told you so look. Then,
204. 7:15having completed all of your quest
205. 7:16objectives, you return to the Shire with
206. 7:18a bag of treasure, your magic ring, and
207. 7:20unbelievable stories to share with all
208. 7:22your hobbit friends. And back in
209. 7:24Earth-earth, that very story became the
210. 7:27starting point to the fully fleshed-out
211. 7:28world of Middle-earth Tolkien crafted in
212. 7:31The Lord of the Rings and The
213. 7:32Silmarillion, complete with histories,
214. 7:34indexes, invented languages, and
215. 7:36genealogies. And this uniquely rich
216. 7:38style of world-building became a major
217. 7:40influence that inspired artists across
218. 7:42countless mediums from when it was
219. 7:44written to this day. I mean, it sure as
220. 7:46heck influences mine. Ooh, but the best
221. 7:48news is one can simply walk into a local
222. 7:51library or bookseller, snag a copy, and
223. 7:54roam Middle-earth for oneself, which one
224. 7:56or you know, you totally should. I'm
225. 7:59pretty sure you'll be singing its
226. 8:00praises for years to come. I know I
227. 8:02will. Bilbo, Bilbo, Bilbo Baggins, the
228. 8:06greatest little hobbit of them all. Come
229. 8:08on, everybody! No? Just me? I'm cool
230. 8:11with it. Now, hobbits are peace-loving
231. 8:13folks, you know. They're never in a
232. 8:15hurry and they take things slow. And if
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