Sept. 3: Bilbo was able to kill giant spiders by throwing rocks at them

Tolkien made it very clear that Hobbits have excellent hand-to-eye coordination. We all know that the birds and beasts of The Shire ran if they saw a hobbit stoop for a stone. I'll accept that Bilbo could throw a rock very hard and very accurately. If he could kill a rabbit, that would be extraordinary. Could anyone other than a major league pitcher with a 97 mile per hour fastball actually kill a wild animal by throwing a rock at it?

Could anyone throw a rock well enough to kill a giant spider? Bulbo killed a number of giant spiders in Mirkwood. They weren't super-giant spiders, like pilot Clint Eastwood killed with napalm in Tarantula. But even if they were only the size of an Irish Wolfhound, killing one with a rock would be difficult. Even if it stood completely still. Spiders (even giant spiders) have chitinous exoskeletons, which would repel most attacks. If not, what's the point of being a spider?

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Ugh, this has now ruined The Hobbit for me! Btw, as soon as I get my kindle working again (something has gone seriously wrong with the screen) I will buy this!! I do have a copy in pdf but really I can't be bothered to convert and then upload it! So I'll just buy it and then write a review!

Anyways, looking forward to the next observation!

He did write the book for his children
He could have used a rolled up newspaper, thats what i use

Ally wrote:Ugh, this has now ruined The Hobbit for me! Btw, as soon as I get my kindle working again (something has gone seriously wrong with the screen) I will buy this!! I do have a copy in pdf but really I can't be bothered to convert and then upload it! So I'll just buy it and then write a review!

Anyways, looking forward to the next observation!

Thanks Ally! If your busted Kindle device proves to be a stumbling block, remember that you can download the Kindle App for free to the computer you're using now (or anything else) and thus access your existing Kindle library, tons of FREE books and The Wobbit, too.

Sorry about ruining The Hobbit. I can assure my future daily observations will make things even worse. Fortunately there are only twenty-two of them.

-Paul

chris63 wrote:He did write the book for his children
He could have used a rolled up newspaper, thats what i use

Chris63:

You're absolutely right. Tolkien's intended audience would never examine his work with my post-Dungeons & Dragons pickiness.

And why DIDN'T Bilbo use a rolled-up newspaper? Too bad he was a hobbit: if he was a human he could have used his shoe.

-Paul

The Wobbit A Parody wrote:

chris63 wrote:He did write the book for his children
He could have used a rolled up newspaper, thats what i use

Chris63:

You're absolutely right. Tolkien's intended audience would never examine his work with my post-Dungeons & Dragons pickiness.

And why DIDN'T Bilbo use a rolled-up newspaper? Too bad he was a hobbit: if he was a human he could have used his shoe.

-Paul

Smaug is a flying dragon, not a fire drake or a basilisk or a Tyrannosaurus Rex. To protect themselves against his attacks, the people of Laketown built their city in the middle of the Long Lake. One has to respect their spunk, but not their reasoning. Didn't they consider the possibility that he might attack them from the air, which is in fact what he does in The Hobbit? Or were they hoping he would fly from his lair in the Lonely Mountain, land nearby, and then give up when he realized his victims were across the water from him?

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