Archive for May 13, 2010
The Owl
In this installment, Mrs. Frisby and Jeremy reach the owl’s tree to gain advice over what to do about Mrs. Frisby’s sick son, Timothy. Mrs. Frisby enters the hollow trunk that he calls his home, alone, with not more more suggestion to his being than his glowing yellow eyes.
“When she got near this nest, she stopped and faced the owl, who had turned from the light of the doorway and was peering at her with his great yellow eyes. Jeremy was nowhere to be seen. She could only hope he was still waiting on the limb outside.
“‘Now,’ said the owl, ‘you may state your problem.’”
The Hobbit, part four
Posted by: Sam Bosma
Book: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
“Suddenly a sword flashed in its own light. Bilbo saw it go right through the Great Goblin as he stood dumbfounded in the middle of his rage. He fell dead, and the goblin soldiers fled before the sword shrieking into the darkness.”
Chapter 4: Over Hill and Under Hill
Click to enlarge.
At this point in the story, Bilbo and the dwarves are crossing a mountain ridge when they are are kidnapped by a hoard of goblins and taken into a cavern below. The Great Goblin recognizes the Elvish weapon Thorin carries as one that had slain dozens of goblins and goes mad with fury, leaping up and preparing to devour the dwarf. The great bonfire goes out in a pillar of blue smoke as Gandalf appears and kills the Great Goblin and many of his soldiers and the prisoners beat a hasty retreat.
I’ve written fairly extensively on my blog on the creation of the goblin design and the many different iterations I went through before landing on something I liked. There’s some further exploration on what the Great Goblin is compared to his soldiers and why he’s so big and weird. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, head on over there and take a look.
