This Saturday, Hall of Fire rejoins Frodo, Sam and Pippin on the road to Bucklebury Ferry as we return to our chapter-by-chapter read-through of Fellowship of The Ring.
“That settles it!” said Frodo. “Short cuts make delays, but inns make longer ones. At all costs we must keep you away from the Golden Perch. We want to get to Bucklebury before dark.”
FoTR Book 1, Chapter 4: A Shortcut to Mushrooms
In the morning, Gildor and his company of elves are gone. Frodo decides the road is too dangerous, and heads cross-country instead.
They scramble through bog and briar, finally emerging in the fields of Farmer Maggot — Frodo’s nemesis in his mushroom-stealing youth. But Maggot informs the trio that a Black Rider has already been there, searching for “Baggins”. With night fast approaching, how shall Frodo get to the ferry un-noticed?
Does Frodo make the right choices in going cross-country? Is he clever to disregard the more knowledgeable misgivings of Pippin, or a little foolhardy? And what does it say about his character that he remains reluctant to fully involve his friends despite the increasing danger?
Also, what of Sam’s musing on the nature of elves; Maggot’s sharp guesses into what brings the Black Riders to the Shire; and Pippin’s badgering at Frodo for information?
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 come join us this Saturday, April 28 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 the little conversion table below for some help. Alternatively, head to Time and Date.
America:
6.00pm EDT (New York)
5.00pm CDT (Chicago)
4.00pm MDT (Denver)
3.00pm PDT (Los Angeles)
Europe:
10.00pm GMT (London)
11.00pm CET (Paris)
Midnight EET (Helsinki)
Asia-Pacific
8.00am AEST (Sunday) Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne
11.00am NZDT (Sunday) Wellington
How long do your topic chats go for?
Our chats usually last around an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation! However, our main room, #theonering.net is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 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
