“So began a battle that none had expected; and it was called the Battle of Five Armies, and it was very terrible.”
With this simple sentence, Tolkien builds his adventure to a startling climax — and this unexpected denouement is what we’ll be examining this weekend in the Hall of Fire as we delve into chapter 17 of the Hobbit — The Clouds Burst.
Even before the battle, the action is thick with moral meaning as Bilbo’s defection plays against Thorin’s sense of betrayal and anger. Who is in the right?
And what of Gandalf’s role, here and later in the battle itself?
Join us in our live chat (#thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net) on Saturday December 17 at 5pm EST (New York time) when we’ll examine all these questions and more as we talk about Chapter 17 of the Hobbit — The Clouds Burst!
Time zone conversions
Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table out for some help. NB: Times have changed because of the daylight savings changeover!
America:
5.00pm EST (New York)
4.00pm CST (Chicago)
3.00pm MST (Denver)
2.00pm PST (Los Angeles)
Europe:
10.00pm GMT (London)
11.00pm CET (Europe)
Asia-Pacific
8.00am AEST (Sunday) Brisbane,
9.00am AEDT (Sunday) Sydney, Melbourne
Midday NZDT (Sunday) Wellington
Our chats usually last 45 mins to an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation!
Where — connection details
Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net — the TORn IRC server. You can connect instantly via our embedded Mibbit client that works inside your web browser.
Alternatively, you can install a dedicated chat program such as mIRC on your computer and just plug in the following connection details.
Server: irc.theonering.net
Port: 6667
Channel: #thehalloffire
