Gone to Tea ~ Back Soon   Middle-earth Journal   above: Bag-end, hobbit home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins on September 22, the day of the big birthday party in Hobbiton. The circle, a dominant shape in Shire architecture, is a symbol of the Monad. Hobbit doors and windows are based on a circle shape, the half-circle, and arc. Note the West and East points of the drawing room, seen from the point of view of a visitor standing at the front door entrance, looking across the room into the kitchen. Since every room of the hobbit hole is considered from it's own doorway, we observe this busy little room as an energy hive unto itself. The far point pulls the eye into the room beyond the fireplace. The furniture arrangement is managed to encourage a visitor to pass through the mid-section of this room, straight to the well stocked kitchen. Nonetheless, there is plenty of energy at work because this room takes in and expends fuel [energy as a pure, undedicated raw material] on both sides of the main traffic lane, along each wall. We observe most external fuel represented by two windows set in the West wall, balanced by the hearth opposite them, where fuel [wood, leaves, etc.] is collected and burned. The window to the West of the center of the room is "full of energy" - there is a healthy garden and a road just beyond it, not to mention a fabulous view past that, fully enlarged at the Baggins Party page. The Western point is also used as a door late on the evening of the big party, after Bilbo dramatically bids farewell to all his friends by disappearing right before their eyes. The Baggins gardner, Samwise Gamgee, eavesdrops while Gandalf the Grey and Frodo organize their plan for the disposition of the One Ring. Gandalf hears something outside and swiftly reaches through the open window, lifts Sam up, and pulls him into the room. The old saying, "a better door than a window," may hold some meaning for Sam.   The Western "door" can serve a mystic purpose. It may 'open' the way, unite opposites, or address subtle energy at an other worldly level. It helps determine the core partnership in this story, the friendship shared by Frodo and Sam. We know, from a previous look through this cozy room, maps of the Lonely Mountain and sketches of Middle-earth [yet unexplored] are stockpiled in the SW area of this room, just south of the window, near the table where they are easy to find. We surmise these papers are probabaly for inclusion in Bilbo's ongoing book or to jog his memory and verify subtle, finer details that concern language variation. This area of Bag End rests neatly between the part of the room where we expect to find Bilbo's resources and reference material [exact SW corner], and his "door to the unknown," where the Western window is located. The mantle and fire on the East wall help move the story of the One Ring along. Bilbo's strength of character is suggested by the portraits of his upright parents, Bungo and Belladonna. We watch Bilbo struggle as he places the envelope with the Ring above the fire... does he actually put the envelope on the mantle for Frodo before he heads off to Rivendell? When the Ring is later recovered by Frodo, from a hiding place, Gandalf throws the envelope into the fire [symbol of the forge], withdraws the Ring, and asks Frodo what he can see. The spirit of the "West" is consistently by Tolkien, and reinforced with this simple ritual. The magic moment is summoned as Bilbo moves to the "West" part of the room and reads the words on the band. The Hobbit represents childlike innocence in this scene, directly in contact with adventure, danger, and all the fantastic experiences ahead of him - the silver waters, white swan ships, and later, a far country to be prompted into a waking mind. This East wall fireplace has the same "warm" impact in the design of Hogwarts School, in the Harry Potter series. Gryffindor common room deposits the fireplace [Christmas Tree and gifts for the holiday season] in the same place as Bag End. On Christmas morning, Harry opens a gift from an annonymous benefactor placed "under the tree" by the Eastern wall. The cloak of invisibility - very rare indeed - is able to grant many of the same benefits as the One Ring. There is a sympathetic chord between a hiding cape gift and the Ring of Power that leads the Fellowship of the Ring on the great journey that will end with the destruction of the Dark Lord. The Fellowhip is destined to meet in Rivendell and rest in golden Lothlorien.     Bag-end is the Baggins Hobbit hole nestled in the hillside on Bag Shot Row. All halflings who live in Hobbiton have 'earth ship' type homes. The same architectural design as in Hobbiton appears in the homes of Pacific Southwest Native Americans, especially the Hopi and Navajo, and in the Star Wars trilogy. See the Tatooine farm of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, where Luke Skywalker grew up, and the retreat* of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. The blueprint suggests a midpoint between life above the surface of the earth and life beneath the surface, perhaps a reference to the door into the underworld or the way into a dream-fantasy world. Bilbo bequeathed the Ring of Power to his orphaned cousin Frodo Baggins, along with all his other Middle-earthly possessions, and Gandalf guided Frodo in determining the proper actions concerning it. The Ring was destroyed in the Sammath Naur, by Frodo and Sam in the year 3019. When Frodo met with Bilbo in Rivendell on December 25, 3018, Bilbo [showing his 128 years] also gave him two additional gifts for protection on his quest. Sting and a shirt of Mithril mail [worth more than the value of the Shire, according to Gandalf**] would save Frodo's life on several occasions. Sting, a long knife made in the city of Gondolin between I 126 and I 510, served as a sword for Bilbo, his heir, Frodo, and briefly for Sam. Sting was an abandoned weapon discovered during the adventure in the Trolls cavern in May, 2941. It was probably forged for the Goblin-wars. Like Orcrist and Glamdring, it shone with a cold blue light when enemies were near. The enchanted blade has the power to cut with an unnatural sharpness, as shown in its ability to slice through the webs of Shelob. During June of the same year, just before he found the One Ring in Gollum's Cave, Bilbo traveled to Rivendell, where he met Lord Elrond, and saw Narsil for the first time in Elrond's museum. Illustration: Bilbo gives Frodo his short sword, STING, and a Mithril shirt on the event of Frodo's healing in the House of Lord Elrond in Rivendell. Both were part of Bilbo's 'plunder' from his earlier adventure with Gandalf the Grey in, THE HOBBIT. The enchanted leaf blade design, probably developed by Elves in Gondolin, during the First Age, would bring the weight of the weapon forward towards the point, making it an excellent slashing weapon in close quarters. Many important items mentioned in The Lord of the Rings were made mithril. The symbol of High Kingship worn by Elendil and Isildur was the Elendilmir, a diamond bound to the brow by a mithril fillet, and Nenya, the Elf Ring [water] worn by Galadriel, was also made of the metal, again bearing a diamond. "Mithril! All folk desired it. It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim." The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Journey in the Dark"   Fond Memories in THE HOBBIT Thorin's company enters the Mountain while Smaug is gone to attack the Lake-men of Dale. The group comes across some of the treasure and use it to armor and arm themselves. Thorin gifts Bilbo with the mithril shirt: "Mr. Baggins!" he cried. "Here is the first payment of your reward! Cast off your old coat and put on this!" With that he put on Bilbo a small coat of mail, wrought for some young elf-prince long ago. It was of silver-steel, which the elves call mithril, and with it went a belt of pearls and crystals. A light helm of figured leather, strengthened beneath with hoops of steel, and studded about the brim with white gems, was set upon the hobbit's head. "I feel magnificent," he thought; "but I expect I look rather absurd. How they would laugh on the Hill at home! Still I wish there was a looking-glass handy!"     The Summer types Suzanne lists in her book, COLOR The Essence of You, include Iridescent Summer [Eye color: Ultramarine, transparent veridian, Payne’s gray] Jewel Tone and Rose Summer [Eye color: Gray-green, gray-blue, verde, ultramarine] Twilight and Dusky Summer [Eyes: Van Dyke brown, chrome yellow, lemon yellow, alizarin crimson] Summer Men [Eyes: Payne’s gray, steel blue, ultamarine blue, transparent veridian] Colour and Pore Breathing Combinations: Recommended for Iridescent Summer: Opal and Orchid Jewel Tone and Rose Summer: Strawberry and Violet Twilight and Dusky Summer: Amethyst, Mauve, and Moonstone Summer Men and Mars Initiative: Emerald Green and White Jade     HOBBIT PANTRY Southern Star A famous variety of pipe-weed grown in the Southfarthing of the Shire, and apparently originating in the district around Longbottom. The 'star' of its name presumably refers to the star-shaped flowers of the pipe-weed plant. Longbottom Leaf. Concerning Berry Sauces Strawberries are wild berries found by Bilbo in the upper Vales of Anduin, as he journeyed eastward on the Quest of Erebor. Nearly anything tastes better with a little fruit sauce poured over the top. Pancakes and waffles take on a fresh flavor, plain fruits become a delectable treat, and it adds personality to your tea tray if wizards [or divine beings] visit unexpectedly! 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