This Saturday at 6pm EST (New York time), Hall of Fire returns to the Fellowship of The Ring as the hobbits take refuge in the house of Tom Bombadil and try to put the horror encounter with Old Man Willow behind them.

“I kept [Tom] in, and as he was, because he represents certain things otherwise left out.” — JRR Tolkien, Letter 153.

FoTR Book 1, Chapter 7: The House of Tom Bombadil

Frodo asks Goldberry who Tom is, and she replies mysteriously that Tom is “master of wood, water and hill.” Tom himself proves scarcely less enigmatic, yet is oddly knowledgeable about Frodo’s quest.

When Frodo lets Bombadil take the Ring, it has no effect on Tom. Annoyed, Frodo puts it on, but Tom seems to see through whatever magic makes the hobbit invisible, and tells him to stop playing.

What sort of place is Tom’s house? Where does Tom get his knowledge from? How does the response of the hobbits to this odd pair differ from their regard for Gildor’s band of elves?

And what does Tom represent that Tolkien did not with to omit from the Lord of the Rings? Perhaps thinking in this way could allow us to better grapple with the long-standing question of who Tom Bombadil might be.

And what of Frodo’s strange dream?

Whether you’re a first-time reader of Tolkien, a first-time chatter who’s never visited TORn’s chatrooms, or an experienced hand who was with us when we began our first read-through back in 2001, we’d love you to join us. (Be prepared for a few spoilers along the way, though!)

So us this Saturday, June 9 at 6.00pm EDT (New York time), when we’ll discuss all this and much more as we continue our Fellowship of the Ring read-through!

Time zone conversions

Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table [now updated!] out for some help. Alternatively, head to this handy time announcer on Time and Date.

America:
6.00pm EDT (New York)
5.00pm CDT (Chicago)
4.00pm MDT (Denver)
3.00pm PDT (Los Angeles)

Europe:
11.00pm GMT (London)
Midnight CET (Paris)
1.00am EET (Helsinki)

Asia-Pacific
8.00am AEST (Sunday) Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne
10.00am NZST (Sunday) Wellington

How long do your topic chats go for?

Our chats usually around an hour, plus a bit of general Tolkien or movie chat afterwards. We’re very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation! However, our main room, #theonering.net is open 24 hours a day. We don’t always talk Tolkien there, but if you have a burning question, you’ll usually find one or two of “the regulars” up for a chat!

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