Lately I’ve had a fascination with unofficial holidays. Besides the fact that they’re quirky and tend to be tons of fun, they are often overlooked since you’ll never see them on a calendar. Usually you’ll only discover them when a hashtag is trending, and by then you’re already confused.
One of my favorite unofficial holidays is Tolkien Reading Day.
The Tolkien Society has organized Tolkien Reading Day since 2003. It is held annually on March 25th. Basically, everyone gets together and reads Tolkien’s works just for fun. There is a theme each year, so participants usually read something involving the set theme. This year the theme is “Home and Hearth: the many ways of being a Hobbit.” Now, I know everyone doesn’t have time to read the entire Tolkien series (much less what you already must read for classes). As such, I thought it would only be right to list ten quotes from Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
1. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”
We all wish we could live in a hobbit hole. They are the symbol of comfort- cozy reading nooks and blanket nests.
2. “There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.”
Everyone knows that struggle of the search – whether it is for your keys or companionship. Here, Tolkien captures the experience of searching and finding.
3. “Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?”
When someone says ‘good morning’ to you, but you feel that the morning is not particularly good, what should be done? Here, Gandalf is a prime example of ‘overthinking’.
4. “Far over the misty mountains grim
To dungeons deep and caverns dim
We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!”
The last stanza of this song is the end goal of The Hobbit. Defeat the dragon, win the treasure.
5. “I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.”
“I should think so — in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!”
It truly is difficult to find someone who truly wants to adventure and isn’t a flake. However, the person who turns down adventure is also very relatable. Let’s be honest- many of us are the ones who don’t want to go anywhere outside our comfort zones.
6. “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
Not condoning gluttony here, but if people spent more money on good food and less on ruining themselves or others, the world would be a better place.
7. “A safe fairyland is untrue to all worlds.”
Tolkien knew that the world is not perfect under any circumstance. There is no place on earth that is not riddled with its own problems.
8. “That was the most awkward Wednesday he ever remembered.”
My most awkward Wednesday was when I mistakenly hugged a stranger who was holding a door open for me. Don’t ask me why I did, it’s like my body just reacted to seeing the guy’s arms open. This is what happens when you go to a hugging church.
9. “‘Escaping goblins to be caught by wolves!’ he said, and it became a proverb, though we now say ‘out of the frying-pan into the fire’ in the same sort of uncomfortable situations.”
I personally like “escaping goblins to be caught by wolves” better. It seems more correct for some reason.
10. “Is it nice, my preciousss? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?”
I just had to add this one. I had to. #WhenFoodIsMentioned