{"id":75781,"date":"2013-07-19T23:26:42","date_gmt":"2013-07-20T04:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=75781"},"modified":"2013-07-19T23:26:42","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T04:26:42","slug":"hall-of-fire-this-weekend-the-hero-and-the-heroic-in-the-lord-of-the-rings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2013\/07\/19\/75781-hall-of-fire-this-weekend-the-hero-and-the-heroic-in-the-lord-of-the-rings\/","title":{"rendered":"Hall of Fire this weekend: the hero and the heroic in The Lord of the Rings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Barliman's
\nThis weekend, Hall of Fire<\/a> we’ll be exploring the hero, and the heroic, in the Lord of the Rings.<\/p>\n

I think the simple ‘rustic’ love of Sam and his Rosie (nowhere elaborated) is absolutely essential to the study of his (the chief hero’s) character, and to the theme of the relation of ordinary life (breathing, eating, working, begetting) and quests, sacrifice, causes, and the ‘longing for Elves’, and sheer beauty. Letter #131, Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

The hero and the heroic in The Lord of the Rings<\/b><\/p>\n

We know from his letter to Milton Waldman that Tolkien regarded Sam as the chief hero of the tale. But why? What is it that makes him Tolkien’s hero? Do you even agree<\/a> with Tolkien’s appraisal?<\/p>\n

More generally, what actions or traits create a hero anyway? <\/p>\n

The Greek and Latin etymology of the word suggest a hero is a protector, or a defender.<\/p>\n

So is it all about sheer physical strength and courage in battle such as Boromir exhibited? Warrior brawn? But what of the inspirational guidance that Aragorn and Gandalf show? And how much of a role must adversity play? And are quieter, less flashy traits important ingredients? Traits such as steadfastness and loyalty to a seemingly impossible cause or task?<\/p>\n

Join us in the href=”http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/chat”>The Hall of Fire<\/a>Hall of Fire<\/a> on Saturday July 20 from 6pm EDT (New York time) for what promises to be another great discussion.<\/p>\n

Some suggested reading:<\/b><\/p>\n

TTT Bk III, Ch I: The Departure of Boromir
\nTTT Bk IV, Ch X: The Choices of Master Samwise
\nROTK Bk V, Ch VI: The Battle of Pelennor Fields<\/p>\n

Time zone conversions<\/b><\/p>\n

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<\/a> over on Time and Date for the correct time in your area. <\/p>\n

America:
\n6.00pm EDT (New York)
\n5.00pm CDT (Chicago)
\n4.00pm MDT (Denver)
\n3.00pm PDT (Los Angeles)<\/p>\n

Europe:
\n11.00pm BST (London)
\n11.00pm CST (Paris)
\n1.00am EEST (Helsinki)<\/p>\n

Asia-Pacific
\n8.00am AEST (Sunday) Brisbane
\n8.00am AEST (Sunday) Sydney, Melbourne
\n10.00am NZST (Sunday) Wellington<\/p>\n

How long do your topic chats go for?<\/p>\n

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<\/a>. 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!<\/p>\n

Where \u2014 connection details<\/p>\n

Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net \u2014 the TORn IRC server. You can connect instantly via our embedded Mibbit client<\/a> that works inside your web browser. <\/p>\n

Alternatively, you can install a dedicated chat program such as mIRC<\/a> on your computer and just plug in the following connection details.<\/p>\n

Server: irc.theonering.net
\nPort: 6667
\nChannel: #thehalloffire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This weekend, Hall of Fire we’ll be exploring the hero, and the heroic, in the Lord of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":63495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[136,117,119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barliman-news","category-barlimans","category-barliman-hof"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t