Silencing Frogs at Frog Pond - Tales from The Shire

 

 

Frog Pond has a lot of frogs and they can be very noisy.  Shots for Lord of the Rings were interrupted due to the noisy frogs.. When filming for the Hobbit was about to commence, the frogs were all relocated. I didn't see that many frogs but it was a hot summer's day which reminds me of an Aesop's fable "The Frogs' Complaint Against the Sun" that explains why we only have one sun.

 

"ONCE UPON A TIME, when the Sun announced his intention to take a wife, the Frogs lifted up their voices in clamor to the sky. Jupiter, disturbed by the noise of their croaking, inquired the cause of their complaint. One of them said, "The Sun, now while he is single, parches up the marsh, and compels us to die miserably in our arid homes. What will be our future condition if he should beget other suns?"

Even though there are over 40 hobbit holes, tourist are only allowed to open one door, but as you would expect there is only dirt and some supporting timbers behind. Every hobbit yard was designed in detail with flower gardens, gates, mail boxes, tools, pottery, wood, and benches.  The doors are an array of different rainbow colors. The hobbit hole doors vary in size according to which actor has to be in the shot, so for example the actor who plays Samwise Gamgee is quite big, so his door was big.  Samwise Gamgee’s hobbit hole is the one with the yellow door.  Peter Jackson was meticulous with the set. Every day he got people to walk up to washing lines to tread a pathway in the long grass, so it looks Like hobbits have been using it. Each log on the piles had to be in the same place, so the set was constantly checked against photos so it looked the same.

The oak tree on top of Bag Ends is fake with thousands of leaves that had to be attached.  At least the leaves don't fall all over Bilbo Baggins Hobbit Hole!

Hobbits like to eat "Cabbage" and so do Rabbits

Hobbits and Rabbits have several things in common and eating cabbage is one of them. Of course J.R.R. Tolkien made a distinction that Hobbits dwell "...in very well-appointed holes (none of your wet, smelly rabbit holes, mind you)."  Hobbits do have the long rabbit looking feet but the similarity ends there.  Hobbits are distantly related to humans and resemble humans in their dress, mannerisms, gardening and so forth.  There was one rabbit from a different childhood tale, Peter Rabbit who ate like a Hobbit!

"Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were--Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter ... Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail, who  were good little bunnies, went down  the lane to gather blackberries; But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight away to Mr. McGregor's garden, and squeezed under the gate! First he ate some lettuces and some  French beans; and then he ate some radishes And then, feeling rather sick, he  went to look for some parsley. But round the end of a cucumber frame, whom should he meet but Mr.  McGregor!.."
Quote from "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" by Helen Potter (1866 - 1943).



Helen Beatrix Potter was born in 1866, in South Kensington, London. She was an English Victorian artist and author of children's stories, creator of such winsome and nattily attired characters as Benjamin Bunny, Squirrel Nutkin, and of course Peter Rabbit. Her father was a wealthy investor. Potter lived a secure childhood at home, with her younger brother Bertram. She wrote "The Tale of Peter Rabbit".

Ah, Sunflowers in Middle Earth's Garden

 

I took these pictures in February 2014 at The Shire from The Hobbit film set.  It is summer time in New Zealand. Sunflowers were planted in most of the gardens and in front of some of the Hobbit holes.  The sun was shinning bright and blue clouds set a picturesque backdrop.  The gardens were fresh, green, and bright with an array of colorful flowers. The sunflowers were the tallest and most appealing with their black eyes.





Ah! Sun-flower

By William Blake 1757–1827 

Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,

Who countest the steps of the Sun:

Seeking after that sweet golden clime

Where the travellers journey is done. 

Where the Youth pined away with desire,

And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow: 

Arise from their graves and aspire, 

Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

The Hobbit's Middle-Earth Flower and Vegetable Garden

The Hobbit film set is home to a rustic year-round, working vegetable garden that one would expect to find in middle earth.  I took these pictures in February so these are their summer crops with plenty of sunflowers scattered throughout including colorful varieties of squash, tomatoes, corn, pumpkin and gourds. The Hobbits had an extensive agricultural system in the Shire but were not industrialized. The shire has rambling dirt paths and seasonal flowers, vegetables and fruit trees behind picket fences. There is well water near the garden as well as a working table, crates, woven baskets for gathering crops, saw horses, birdhouses, and make shift poles for supporting plant vines. Every item looked authentic including a scarecrow standing by its lonesome in a field of wildflowers.

This is the older version of the scarecrow from Lord of the Rings with Frodo and Sam in the field.

"The only brew for the brave and true...comes from the Green Dragon!"

During the Hobbiton Film set tour, we visited the Green Dragon Inn and received free brew.  I tried a glass of apple cider and it was cold, tasty and wonderful after a hot summer 2 hour tour.

 

The Green Dragon Inn was frequented by Hobbits from both Bywater and the neighboring settlement of Hobbiton. The Hobbit Frodo Baggins regularly visited the inn as did his friends Sam Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took. Throughout the movie and the book, the inn is referenced to as a "great" place. One such example in when Merry and Pippin refer to the Inn in The Return of the King (film) when they are singing on a table at Edoras. Specifically, they sing "The Green Dragon (song)"

"Oh you can search far and wide,
You can drink the whole town dry,
But you'll never find a beer so brown,

Oh you'll never find a beer so brown,

As the one we drink in our hometown,
As the one we drink in our hometown. You can keep your fancy ales,
You can drink them by the flagon,
But the only brew for the brave and true...
..Comes from the Green Dragon!!"

The Old Mill on The Water at "The Hobbiton Shire"

Bilbo Baggins ran by the Mill and a mile beyond to get to the Green Dragon to meet Thorin and Company.  The Old Mill was the water-mill of Hobbiton, owned and run by the Sandyman Family.  The Old Mill was a corn mill powered by a large water wheel. It lay directly adjacent to the bridge across the ByWater Pool and next to the Old Grange as well. The Hobbiton Movie Set is located at Alexander's Sheep Farm, Matamata, New Zealand. These are some of the pictures I took during the film tour.  ByWater Pool was very picturesque under the gathering rain clouds and reflected the surrounding trees like a mirror.