We pick up Chapter 6 of The Hobbit with our heroes literally up a tree. Gandalf keeps the wolves at bay by playing with fire, but when the goblins arrive, things quickly heat up for Bilbo and his friends. Just as the situation begins to go up in smoke, unexpected help comes from above. We talk about the Eagles, their role in the legendarium, and the dangers Tolkien saw in using them too much in his stories. We also do a quick background check on Gandalf and recite some more goblin poetry bad enough to make a Vogon (and your hosts) cringe.
And now, the firs — the illustration The Misty Mountains looking West from the Eyrie towards Goblin Gate by J.R.R. Tolkien: (artwork below copyright of The Tolkien Estate Limited or The Tolkien Trust)
And the version that was colored — not by Tolkien, but by H.E. Riddett — for The J.R.R. Tolkien Calendar 1976:
Recommended Reading:
Tolkien, J. R. R. and Douglas A. Anderson, ed. The Annotated Hobbit (HarperCollins, hardcover)
Rateliff, John D. The History of the Hobbit (HarperCollins, one-volume hardcover)
[…] Looking for the firs from the illustration The Misty Mountains looking West from the Eyrie towards Goblin Gate by J.R.R. Tolkien? See Episode 065 – Lobbest Thou Thy Holy Pine Grenade. […]
01:00:10 (lesser spirits). There is something about these in workings for the 1939 lecture at St Andrews. E.g.
“Thus a tree-fairy (or a dryad) is, or was, a minor spirit in the process of creation who acted as ‘agent’ in the making effective of the divine Tree-idea or some part of it, or even of some one particular example: some tree.”
–Bodleian Tolkien Ms.6 folios 6-8; in Flieger and Anderson (eds), ‘Tolkien on Fairy-stories’ (2008) p.255
Nearby “fairies”, “spirits” and “daemons” are listed as synonyms. “Rabbits or eagles may be aware of them quite otherwise [than people are]”.
01:00:10 (lesser spirits). There is something about these in workings for the 1939 lecture at St Andrews. E.g.
“Thus a tree-fairy (or a dryad) is, or was, a minor spirit in the process of creation who acted as ‘agent’ in the making effective of the divine Tree-idea or some part of it, or even of some one particular example: some tree.”
–Bodleian Tolkien Ms.6 folios 6-8; in Flieger and Anderson (eds), ‘Tolkien on Fairy-stories’ (2008) p.255
Nearby “fairies”, “spirits” and “daemons” are listed as synonyms. “Rabbits or eagles may be aware of them quite otherwise [than people are]”.