Middle-earth Journeys

It is time to start thinking about this project that begins on April 25.

I am beginning to tentatively place some names on dates for our Hobbit Calendar project. PLEASE let me know if I have missed any volunteers, or if the dates given do not work for you.

I think the easiest way to do this is to post your calendar entries here in this new thread and then one of us with webpage access and know how will move it to the new Hobbit Calendar section.

The purpose of these posts is to relay not just what happened on these dates but more importantly...the consequences, the analogy, the place in the complete Tolkien ME history. I will take the first couple dates so that everyone can get the idea of where we want to go and what it may look like.

I will also add the image collection that we will use with this calendar. Once again we are calling on the talents of Alan Lee. When you make you calendar entries, you will need to also choose the image from the assortment that you would like to use.

Here's the first pass at a break out...


TA 2941

April 25: Gandalf visits Bilbo at Bag End. Riv

April 26: Wednesday. The unexpected party. Riv

April 27: Thorin and Company ride out of Hobbiton at 11:00 am. Merry

May 29: The Company Crosses the River and are captured by the Trolls. Lindariel

June 4: They ford the Bruinen and reach Rivendell at dusk. Iolanthe

Midyear’s Day (Loëndë - June 22): The company leaves Rivendell. librislove

June 26: Monday. They are captured by the Goblins during the night. elentarivarda

July 19: Thursday. Gandalf and the Dwarves escape. Bilbo finds the Ring, meets Gollum, escapes. The company is trapped by wolves and rescued by eagles. marbretherese

July 20: They fly to the Carrock and reach Beorn’s in midafternoon. Riv

July 22: They ride out from Beorn’s in early afternoon. Merry

July 25: Gandalf departs with ponies at the west edge of Mirkwood. Lindariel

August 16: The company crosses the Enchanted Stream. Bombur falls into a trance. Iolanthe

August 22: They leave the path at night. librislove

August 23: Before dawn Thorin is captured by the Wood-elves, and the other Dwarves by giant spiders. Bilbo rescues the Dwarves. elentarivarda

August 24: At dusk the Dwarves are captured by Wood-elves and taken to the Elvenking’s Halls. marbretherese

September 21: The company escapes the Elvenking in the afternoon and reaches the huts of the Raft-men at dusk. Riv

September 22: They reach Lake-town just after sunset. Merry

October 9: The company departs Lake-town by boat. Lindariel

October 12: They leave the river and ride to the Lonely Mountain. Iolanthe

October 14: The camp is moved to the Western Valley. librislove

October 19: Bilbo discovers the hidden path. The camp is moved to the hidden bay. elentarivarda

October 30: Durin’s Day. The Secret Door is opened at dusk. Bilbo visits Smaug and returns to the Dwarves at midnight. marbretherese

November 1: Bilbo returns to Smaug’s chamber in the afternoon. In the evening Smaug smashes the door, attacks Lake-town, and is killed. Riv

November 2: Goblins, Beorn and Gandalf hear of Smaug’s death. Merry

November 3: Elvenking’s host leaves Mirkwood. Thorin hears news. Lindariel

November 4: Elves turn toward Lake-town. Iolanthe

November 6: Elves reach Lake-town. Dáin receives summons. librislove

November 12: Elves reach Lake-man pass to the north and end of Long Lake. elentarivarda

November 15: The joint forces reach Dale at dusk. marbretherese

November 16: Lonely Mountain is besieged. Riv

November 22: Bilbo gives the Arkenstone to the Elvenking and Bard. Merry

November 23: Dáin arrives in early morning. The Battle of Five Armies. Thorin and Bolg slain. Lindariel

November 27: Gandalf, Bilbo, and Beorn leave Lonely Mountain. Iolanthe

December 30: They arrive at Beorn’s and stay intil spring. librislove

TA 2942

May 1: Gandalf and Bilbo reach Rivendell. elentarivarda

May 8: They leave for Hobbiton which they reach on June. marbretherese

Using Alan Lee again. He has done some great work from The Hobbit.



001hoblee.jpg
...one morning long ago, Bilbo was standing at his door...


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He pulled open the door with a jerk...



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On the table...he spread a peace of parchment...



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Somewhere behind the grey clouds the sun must have gone down.



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Bert, Bill and Tom the Trolls



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...a narrow bridge of stone...to the Last Homely House



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Rivendel



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The Great Goblin gave a truly awful howl of rage...



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"It's got to ask uss a question, my preciouss, yes, yess, yesss."



009hoblee.jpg
They saw him sooner than he saw them.



010hoblee.jpg
...the wargs had no intention of going away...



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...this one is THE Carrock...



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"Well, here is Mirkwood!" said Gandalf.



013hoblee.jpg
Gaze as much as he might, he could see no end to the trees.



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"I'll soon put an end to that," hissed the angry spider...



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The king's cave was his palace...



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...the barrels turned and twisted off down the stream...



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"..in meanwhile what next?"..."I suggest Lake-town,"...



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Smaug lay, with wings folded like an immeasurable bat,...



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...outside they heard the roar and rumble of Smaug's fury.



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Full on the town he fell.



021hoblee.jpg
"Who are you, and of what would you parley?"



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The Elves were the first to charge.



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They buried Thorin deep beneath the Mountain,...



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They came to the river that marked the...borderland of the Wild.

There are a couple more. I will add them soon.

It all sounds good to me, Riv . This is exciting!

Thanks for all the work, RR. This will be fun! I've not seen some of those pictures before.

This will be fun indeed!

Looking forward to it. Hoping to get some insights into The Hobbit along the way!!

Sounds good to me. Unless my work schedule goes haywire, those dates should suit, as they do not fall during any of my planned vacations for this year.

Starting to work on the Hobbit Calendar entries.



April 25: TA 2941
Gandalf visits Bilbo at Bag End.




Gandalf’s visit to Bilbo Baggins in this most fateful of days was not happenstance, and as it turns out, it is not the beginning of a carefree children’s tale about dwarves and hobbits although that was the initial intention of the writer and much of this wonderful book reads that way.

Our introduction to hobbits and their world is innocuous enough, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”, and a wizard by the name of Gandalf happens by as Bilbo stands puffing his pipe on his own front doorstep. Coincidence? No. Planning and fate are better words.

In Unfinished Tales and the chapter, The Quest of Erebor, the careful reader learns that this meeting was carefully planned, laboriously sold to Thorin Oakenshield who resisted it mightily, and indeed Bilbo was chosen for this quest with other and darker plans in mind.

Gandalf was already aware of Saruman’s potential betrayal. He knew of the darkness growing in Mirkwood and his mission that day had a dire urgency about it. Sauron had risen again and attacks on Rivendell and Lórien were imminent unless there was something significant to be done to disturb the plans…such as dealing with a certain dragon named Smaug.

It is here that fate and happenstance stepped in as Gandalf stumbled upon a distraught and fuming Thorin who is intent on reclaiming the halls and the fortunes of his people in the Lonely Mountain, now the lair of the fearsome Smaug.

Bilbo had caught Gandalf’s eye years before. “I knew in my heart that Bilbo must go with him, or the whole quest would be a failure – or, as I should say now, the far more important events by the way would not come to pass”. So, from this one admission from Gandalf’s lips, many would say that today and tomorrow is when Gandalf sent Bilbo out to find the Ring.

The quest begins today.

© Artwork: "...one morning long ago, Bilbo was standing at his door..." by Alan Lee

Wonderful job, Riv Res---you set a high bar!

Thanks librislove! This is going to be FUN!!!

I agree. Fun - and a very high standard!

No kidding!

I have some questions about procedure. Is this a closed thread, for calendar writers only? Will we post our entries here or elsewhere? How will this all work?

I'm up for the 27th! Got to get to work!

Merry, you bring up a good point. No. This is not a Members Only forum and I can make it one today. By Members Only it will mean that any member of MeJ can view it. Is that what we want?

It might be nice to have a calendar-writers only thread where we can ask each other questions and put stuff up for review ahead of time without spoiling the surprise. But it seems to me that the real calendar should be available to everyone, not just MeJ members.

The published calendar will be available to everyone just like the Great Years calendar is. I will see what I can do about securing the workroom.