Ales and Tales on Starmere Lake

Where is Starmere Lake, you ask?

Yeah. So did everyone. I was thinking Everclear Lakes myself, and in fact, the Everclear Lakes would make quite a nice spot for Ales and Tales.

But Starmere Lake is a bit more remote. It was a good thing Lennidhren set out early to find it – several hours ahead of the event, in fact! Soon she called for help from kinmates Cressley, Dolongi, Laraan and Fillarion to scout out a good spot, and we all decided that the northernmost island on the lake was suitably picturesque. But it is certainly not an easy place to find! So we had escorts helping folks get there from Adso’s Camp, and captain Melanie summoning folks there, and with everyone working together we managed to collect quite a crowd on that island.

Ales and Tales at Brandy Hall

The Master of Brandy Hall was kind enough to welcome a great deal of “commotion” to his front yard as Ales and Tales descended upon the peaceful fields of Buckland this week. As to the commotion – there were Bounder guards, NPCs not Bounders of the Shire players, wandering around during Nibbles and Nobs saying things like:

…which was hilarious when they said it while bumping shoulders with a HUGE crowd of folks, big and small, all dancing to the tunes of Nibbles and Nobs!

Ales and Tales Brings Cheer to Trestlebridge

This week the merriment of Ales and Tales came to the gloomy, half-burnt-down town of Trestlebridge, in hopes to bring a bit of cheer and light to that sad town. Alas, our hostess Harperella was detained and could not join us there. But that would not stop the festivities; when we learned of this, Byrdie and I volunteered to co-host in her place, since no one else with hosting experience was present either. So Byrdie organized the program with the list of acts while I organized the Old Winyards band and the group dancing, and it worked out quite well. But my goodness, keeping track of so much was exhausting! Clearly it takes a Hobbit PLUS an Elf to equal what Harperella manages single-handed every week…

Ales and Tales: To the Professor!

My, nearly a week late I’m posting this. *tsk* Derailed by back to school and the writing of final exams, I’m afraid…but here at last is the long delayed report on last Monday’s Ales and Tales! It fell on a Very Important Day this week: January 3rd, Tolkien’s birthday! So we began with the traditional toast to “The Professor!” at the Bird & Baby Inn in Michel Delving, led by Galenhir.

After that we had Ales and Tales out in the courtyard of the inn.

Ales and Tales and Snowballs

As Christmas nears, the weekly gatherings of Ales and Tales get chillier and chillier. This week we visited the curious town of Winter-home. We started out in the center of town by the Frostbluff Theatre but found there was quite a bit of commotion there, so we carried the show to the Snowball Field, where we had not only a nice little stage but a stagehand to go with it, one Cecil Voller.

Wassailing in the Shire

The Bounders of the Shire (or the Green Hill Music Society? I’m not sure which was responsible, but it was Falibrand either way…) put on a great Wassailing event Friday night. Folks gathered at the gate to the Shire Homesteads, then we went into various different neighbourhoods to hear some excellent bands play Yuletide tunes.

LMB Book Club: The Hobbit ch. 4, “Over Hill and Under Hill”

Saturday morning, the Book Club ventured into the Misty Mountains to discuss chapter 4, “Over Hill and Under Hill.” It was chilly up there with Bilbo’s old traveling companion Gloin, but at least we had as warm a fire as even Kili or Fili could have made!

Gaiagil, Lindorieh, Fuinador and Lennidhren gathered round the fire, but we also had several kinmates sending their thoughts to us from afar via the /lmbbookclub chat channel. Nathegar, Halcaric, Isilwren, and maybe one or two others that I didn’t catch, were there in spirit if not in person!

Our main topic of discussion was GOBLINS! We talked about whether goblins and orcs are different things (as in game) or the same (as is the general impression in Tolkien’s writings, though he tends to call them goblins in The Hobbit and orcs in LOTR…). We talked about what kind of culture/society they have, and how they were able to recognize Glamdring and Orcrist – whether that implies that they have long lives like the Elves or whether it was information passed down by tradition. We discussed whether passing down such traditions implies an ability to read and write, and whether they would recognize the Elven runes on the swords. Along with literacy, we wondered if goblins have art – we allowed that they do have songs, at least, as we see such a fine example in this chapter! Perhaps they also have visual arts by which the swords had been represented for future goblin generations. As for their song, we did not get to hear it at this meeting, but Lindorieh and Gaiagil are working on an interpretaion to be shared at Ales and Tales. (And if anyone has a spare goblin mask…let them know. )

We also talked about Gandalf’s role in the story. He comes close to being a deus ex machina…er, Maia Ex Machina?…but as the narrator says in my favorite quote from this chapter, “Gandalf thought of most things; and though he could not do everything, he could do a great deal for friends in a tight corner.” Of course it’s when the wizard is off on other business in later chapters (as well as earlier with the trolls) that we get to see Bilbo and the dwarves stretched to greater feats of heroics themselves. That is the way of a mentor or wizard! You can’t have them doing everything for the heroes.

For the rest…well, I remembered to log the chat this week. So perhaps I shall add it to this post: once I have taken out all the emotes, regional/advice chat, kinchat etc. It’s a bit overwhelming as is.

No meeting next week: Be merry with your families for Christmas! I for one shall be traveling and not sure if I can get in game that weekend anyway, so we will have our next meeting the weekend of New Year’s. As always, watch the LMB forums for the chapter 5 discussion thread and meeting time poll.

Signing off with Gaiagil’s suggestion of a Book Club farewell phrase: “Not for the last time!”

Ales and Tales at Gloin’s Camp

The Winter series of Ales and Tales continued this week with a trek up into the Misty Mountains, to party with the Dwarves!

We started with Nibbles and Nobs just outside of Rivendell along the path to the mountains. Arwen joined us…not like she had a choice…

LMB Book Club: The Hobbit Ch. 3, A Short Rest

This week the Book Club had a restful meeting in the lovely Hall of Fire as we discussed Bilbo and company’s stay in Rivendell in chapter 3. Six attended: Five from the Lonely Mountain Band – Phaenethdre, Lindorieh, Gaiagil, Tinki, and Lennidhren, plus a friend from the Council of the Secret Fire, Zogskald. Oh, and we had a special guest: Master Bilbo Baggins, the Author himself, now a resident of the Last Homely House, joined us in the Hall of Fire to hear our talk about his first visit to that house!

We discussed the mystery of the map’s moon-letters and what they imply about the importance of Fate or Serendipity in this book. We talked about the restorative powers of Rivendell and how they seemed to be connected to the merry songs of the elves there. And most of all, we discussed this first glimpse of the elves and how unusually jolly they are at their first appearance – to the point that one might understand why the dwarves think them foolish! We talked about how different elves seem in LOTR, so serious and grim, and discussed why this might be. Phaenethdre also pointed out how his people in Mirkwood, even in The Hobbit, are quite more perilous to Bilbo’s group than the laughing Rivendell elves. In the end we realized that elves have greater depth than most people tend to be aware of, that they have both merry and solemn aspects. Why, even Galadriel sings “Tra-lally” as she sweeps out her flet, or so her cousin Gaiagil reported to us! We can only assume that Elrond too sings merrily when he is cleaning out the Hall of Fire.

We did not, however, give in to the urge to jump up and start sweeping that Hall when Gaiagil and Lindorieh performed a lively rendition of the “Tra-la-la-lally” song for us…

We did dance a bit though. Then Gaiagil read aloud the passage right after the elves’ tra-lally song, and Lennidhren recited another “Elvish Song in Rivendell” from Tolkien’s unpublished manuscripts, as found in The Annotated Hobbit:

ELVISH SONG IN RIVENDELL
Come home, come home, ye merry folk!
The sun is sinking, and the oak
In gloom has wrapped his feet.
Come home! The shades of evening loom
Beneath the hills, and palely bloom
Night-flowers white and sweet.

Come home! The birds have fled the dark,
And in the sky with silver spark
The early stars now spring.
Come home! The bats begin to flit,
And by the hearth ’tis time to sit.
Come home, come home and sing!

Sing merrily, sing merrily, sing all together!
Let the song go! Let the sound ring!
The moon with his light, the bird with his feather:
Let the moon sail, let the bird wing!
The flower with her honey, the tree with his weather:
Let the flower blow, let the tree swing!
Sing merrily, sing merrily, sing all together!

And that wraps up this week in the Book Club. On to chapter 4 for next week!

Ales and Tales in the Berghold

Ah, Winter! We had our first snow of the season hereabouts on the first of December, so no matter what the calendar says, I say it’s now Winter. And that means time for some wintry venues for Ales and Tales! So wrap up in your warmest cloak and put on a goofy LOTRO hat, and join us for song and dance, tales, ales, and pipe-weed out in the snowier lands of Middle-earth!

This week we visited Thorin’s Gate, definitely one of the snowier lands. The Nibbles and Nobs preparty was held at the top of a precarious snow-drifted hill, our host a giant snowman!