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Trignifty
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Post 1.IX. At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
on: June 30, 2003 04:57
- How do you feel about the Prancing Pony Inn? Do you agree with Frodo's view of it or with Sam's view of it?
- Frodo lets his guard down and relaxes, do you think that because of this the Ring, in a stroke of coincidence, lands on his finger? Or do you suppose that it was pure accident?
- Strider is seen in this chapter though not fully introduced until the next, what signs does he give off that he is 'good' or 'bad'?


[Edited on 28/1/2004 by Figwit]
NenyaGold
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Post RE: 1.IX. At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
on: July 01, 2003 08:01
The Prancing Pony reminds me of the Cheers Bar, where everyone knows your name. It's a place to go where you'll be accepted if you want to be or left alone if you'd rather. A meeting place of the cross-roads of Middle~Earth in a way. It can be anything to anyone so I can see it from both Sam's and Frodo's points of view.

I was very leery of Strider because that is the way Tolkien first introduced him. We were warned about Rangers at the beginning of the chapter: “But in the wild lands beyond Bree there were mysterious wanderers. The Bree-folk called them Rangers, and knew nothing about their origin. ...but the Bree-folk did not make friends of them.” And Butterbur’s account of him to Frodo wasn’t reassuring. With the Black Riders around I wasn’t sure if he was a good guy or bad, especially when he kept looking at Frodo and then wanted to talk to him.

It really creeped me out that he knew about The Ring. “You have put your foot in it! Or should I say your finger?” How did he know? I admit I didn’t feel good about him until Frodo read Gandalf’s letter and then I heaved a sigh of relief that he was on “our side” and was a good guy.

"He had a ring, a golden ring, a precious ring." ~ from The Hobbit
Naurlas
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Post RE: 1.IX. At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
on: July 02, 2003 06:42
The Pony reminds me of every local bar you've ever been in, the names, accents and places may change but the flavor of a local watering-hole is universal. I go along with Frodo's view of the place, after all it was recommended by someone who had just saved their skin(again) so I don't think i'd have any hesitation either.

I've always seen the ring as it's own character and it's biggest characteristic being an amplifier of evil, so as far as the ring slipping onto Frodo's finger I believe it was more than coincedence. When Frodo jumped onto the table to distract the crowd from Pippin's story and stuck his hand in his pocket, the ring had already percieved the ill undercurrents floting through the room, ie: General disscussions of "strange happenings" in the south, the gatekeepers attitude upon arrival in Bree and the comments made by the men of the Greenway and although Frodo resisted at first, it was patient and waited until he slipped off the table and the opportunity presented itself.

Strider: good or bad?? When I first read his description all I could think of was Han solo from "Star wars"( forgive me please ), he's portrayed as a mercenary but with really, really good boots....so someone with good boots obviously has something heroic in him right? His warning Frodo could be taken either way but Frodo's instinctual reaction to when he finally removed the ring was telling for me.."Frodo felt a fool. Not knowing what else to do, he crawled away under the tables to the dark corner by Strider, who sat unmoved, giving no sign of his thoughts" since vanishing was so traumatic this seems a pretty gut reaction to what he percieves is safe. I don't get the impression that Strider is bad, too much is invested in explaining him to the reader and normally you get introduced to all the good with just hints of the bad in the beginning.
McDLT
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Post RE: 1.IX. At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
on: July 10, 2003 03:05
Prancing Pony - ah the local pub with a bit of a twist. Everyone is accepted, no matter the race. It seems that the Prancing Pony may have started as a Inn and then went to a more bar-like atmosphere.

I think both Frodo's and Sam's opinion of the Pony are valid. I can see it both ways and both are fairly accurate, relatively speaking.

I don't think Frodo lets his guard down. He is not the ruler of his companions, so he can't control what they do. He reacted when Strider mentioned Pippin.

I son't think the Ring going on his finger was an accident. I think the Ring wanted to be found and thus choose to go on the finger. The Ring has been known to do hav a will of its own.

Strider - I didn't trust him at first. He just did not seem to be an obvious good guy and also not an obvious bad guy. I just couldn't make my mind up about him.
Figwit
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Post RE: 1.IX. At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
on: May 04, 2004 11:51
How do you feel about the Prancing Pony Inn? Do you agree with Frodo's view of it or with Sam's view of it?


With Frodo's. Everything speaks for it really: it's rural and rustic, there's light coming from the windows, there's music and laughter... All in all it's a very welcoming place, with a homely feel to it.
I especially like the white tablecloth

Strider is seen in this chapter though not fully introduced until the next, what signs does he give off that he is 'good' or 'bad'?


Good. I like the way he urges Frodo to do something about Pippin's babbling. He's mysterious, but never threatening, I feel.
Morwinyoniel
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Post RE: 1.IX. At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
on: May 05, 2004 12:14
Strider is seen in this chapter though not fully introduced until the next, what signs does he give off that he is 'good' or 'bad'?
The first time I read this chapter I really couldn't figure out for sure which side Strider was on. He seemed to know so many things about the hobbits that should have been top secret, and the way he was introduced made me at once think of the stranger who entered Bree unnoticed just after the hobbits. I thought that, he might be a "good bad guy" - with the villains at first, but something makes him later change to the good side - or a mercenary type character (like e.g. Han Solo in Star Wars).
Luthien_Telperien
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Post RE: 1.IX. At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
on: May 05, 2004 04:11
The first time I read this chapter I really couldn't figure out for sure which side Strider was on.


It's a paradox, isn't it, that even as we gain so much on rereading Tolkien (including in light of his other works—I just finished The Silmarillion last night) we also lose—and even start to forget about—the experience of the first-time reader. This is a perfect example of that. I didn't know who Strider was or would turn out to be when I first read the book—the whole story was new to me—and I didn't trust him, though I too hoped he would be the Han Solo figure. (Really, of course, Han Solo is the Strider figure, right?)

The Prancing Pony is really the quintessential 18th-century English travellers' inn—its shape, the dorm-style bedrooms, the stabling, the main tavern room with the separate, finer dining room, the staff. And knowing that, of course, I knew to expect a combination of comfort (its safer than the road) and a certain seediness and possibility of risk.
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