So Meg and I were chatting on Discord the other day and came to a realization:
Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander?
Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder?
Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin,
White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!
This is the rhyme that Tom sings when he’s looking for the ponies. The first five of them are Merry’s ponies: presumably one for each of the hobbits to ride, and one more for the baggage. (The last is Tom’s own pony.) And Meg noticed a surprising parallel between the ponies’ names and the hobbits:
Sharp-ears = Merry
Throughout the story, Merry is shown to be the one with the best head for details. He’s “sharp”, if you will; observant and intelligent.
EDIT: Merry is also the one who spies on Bilbo and Frodo to learn about the Ring! He’s got very “sharp” ears, and eyes too.
Wise-nose = Frodo
This is the easiest one. Frodo’s name means “wise” or “wisdom”, so this pony fits him well.
Swish-tail = Pippin
Tell me whose vibe fits Swish-tail better than Pippin. That’s right; you can’t. The name conjures a picture of careless jollity, which couldn’t be more Pippin.
Bumpkin = Sam
A “bumpkin” is defined as “an unsophisticated or socially awkward person from the countryside”. As much as I would be the last person in the world to call Sam a backwards yokel, he is nonetheless the most “country” of the four hobbits, and his name literally means “half-wise”, or “lacking wisdom”.
That leaves White-socks to be the baggage pony, which likely doesn’t have much significance (aside from the fact that he’s an outlier because hobbits don’t wear socks).
We’re not sure there’s any particular point to this. We’re also not sure whether or not Tolkien did it on purpose. But either way, it’s a fun thing to think about!
I saw these photos and couldn’t NOT caption them with something Rowaelin coded. 🦅 🔥 ❤️
Omg I started cackling
Since watering means giving something water but milking means extracting milk from something that must means that water's default is to give but milk's default is to take. So water must be inherently kind while milk is cruel
B plot where Mabel joins the fireside girls
As the Ides of March approaches, let us all remember it not as the day Caesar was stabbed a whole bunch, but for what it truly was: the day a group of organized elected representatives killed a sitting unelected dictator.
"Draw up the papers," Xaden says, gripping my chair.
Bile rises in my throat. What the fuck is he doing?
Cat's head snaps into our direction, Mira and Garrick both gawk, and Aaric continues eating.
I want the damned bond back now.
"Ah, there we go!" Faris claps twice. "What an excellent decision. Shall we go with three or four years?"
"Lifetime. Anything less is unacceptable." Xaden slides his hand to the back of my neck. "And her full name for the papers is Violet Sorrengail. Two Rs."
I'm torn between throwing a dagger at his chest and kissing the shit out of him.
This is their relationship
I know some people were salty about Bilbo in the Hobbit movies not wearing the same thing that Ian Holm Bilbo is wearing in the prologue scene of Fellowship, and I hear you. That kind of attention to detail is always wonderful. And I know some people think the explanation that since the voice over is done by Galadriel, she probably just didn't know what he was wearing is a copout.
However...I do enjoy picturing everyone sitting around listening to Galadriel tell the story, and Bilbo starts tugging on Elrond's sleeve and whispering to him like
"Elrond...Elrond...that's not what I was wearing that day."
(being patient with the elderly) "It's okay, Bilbo."
"I didn't even own that waistcoat yet."
(getting exasperated) "It really doesn't matter, it's fine."
"It's not fine. It's wrong. Tell her she got it wrong, Elrond."
(questioning his life choices) "I'm not going to do that, Bilbo."
"Why not?"
I keep using my girlfriend with unusual work hours to get out of coworker interactions and happy hours and hanging out.
But now the company holiday party is upon us.
And I’ve been lying about the girlfriend.
I suddenly really empathise with the characters in Hallmark Christmas movies.