Barliman's Chat This weekend, Hall of Fire (at 6pm ET (New York time)), Hall of Fire will return to our chapter-by-chapter read-through of The Lord of the rings, rejoining Frodo, Sam and Gollum as they leave the Dagorlad and make their way into Ithilien.

‘Hi! Gollum!’ said Sam. ‘Where are you going? Hunting? Well see here, old noser, you don’t like our food, and I’d not be sorry for a change myself. Your new motto’s always ready to help. Could you find anything fit for a hungry hobbit?’
‘Yes, perhaps, yes,’ said Gollum. ‘Sméagol always helps, if they asks –- if they asks nicely.’
‘Right!’ said Sam `I does ask. And if that isn’t nice enough, I begs.’

The Two Towers: Book IV, Chapter IV: Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit

Ithilien is the new battleground between the forces of Sauron and those of Gondor, and Frodo, Sam and Gollum soon find themselves enmeshed in greater events.

Sam decides stewed rabbit is in order for dinner, and convinces Gollum to help out. Later, Gollum, less than happy about the idea of a fire, stalks off and disappears. His warnings prove correct, and Frodo and Sam are captured by none other than Faramir, brother of Boromir.

Faramir’s questioning is only interrupted by impending battle, but what do these Men of Gondor intend?

Join us this weekend for what should be a great discussion as the countdown to The Two Towers continues! And don’t forget your Oliphaunts!

Some suggested reading:

TTT: Bk IV, Ch IV: Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit

Time zone conversions

Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table out for some help. Alternatively, check our handy Event Announcer over on Time and Date for the correct time in your area.

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

Europe:
11.00pm BST (London)
11.00pm CST (Paris)
1.00am EEST (Helsinki)

Asia-Pacific
8.00am AEST (Sunday) Brisbane
9.00am AEDT (Sunday) Sydney, Melbourne
11.00am NZDT (Sunday) Wellington

How long do your topic chats go for?

Our chats usually last from an hour to ninety minutes, and are 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