tookish results

general questions

what be thy name?
in cyberland and the shire i'm pearl took.

where do you currently reside?
lincoln, il usa

have you read "the lord of the rings" novels? if so, which is your favourite book and why?
yes. i've been reading them since 1967 (i think), at least 30 some odd times. i have no favorite, they are all special in their own ways.

have you seen the film versions? how many times? why?
yes. i have no idea how many times, many. i think they are great, even with the changes that peter jackson made.

is pippin your favourite character?
yes, yes, yes!! and yes a few more times!!

book questions

describe how you imagine pippin.
he is the youngling of the group. he's a teenager in our chronology. he is a kind hearted and loyal fellow who has to face many terrors and grows a great deal. he is able to go home to the shire and live a full and happy life in spite of the horrors of war he has seen.

what was your initial response to pippin's character?
i have always adored pippin!

what in his character do you like?
he is loving and loyal and has a good sense of humor.

what do you dislike?
what i dislike is in others' reactions to him, i hate it when either from the books or the movies, people think he is stupid.

what do you consider pippin's strongest suit?
his gondorian armor looks like a very strong suit to me! hehehe. his love of merry, frodo and sam and his love for his homeland.

what are his weaknesses?
being a tweenager is his biggest weakness. that stage of life comes with many inherent faults.

to what degree did pippin's tookish nature play into his leaving the shire? was pippin searching for something when he left, or was it purely to help frodo?
a touch of both. he wanted to be the bullroarer. he wanted to be bilbo. he wants to be brave. he also wants to help his dear older cousin.

what purpose did pippin have with the fellowship?
his light heart. his loyalty. his love.

what would have happened if he had been left behind? how would he be different? how would the others be different?
he would not have been as good a thain as i think he was for having left the shire. he gained a lot of strength. i think he did much to lighten the hearts of the fellowship. the ents may never have entered the war. faramir may well have been killed by his own father. sauron may not have moved in haste with some of his plans. all this if pippin had not been there.

how does the grand adventure change pippin?
it broadens his outlook, matures him and adds needed seriousness to his nature. gives him a broader world view.

was pippin unsure of himself at the beginning of the tale?
not as much at the very beginning but as things get more dangerous, he doubts himself. when the wolves attack he compares himself with his ancestor the bullroarer, and feels he is way short of his bravery.

does pippin have a hero? who and why?
several. bilbo, the bullroarer took, gandalf, strider, boromir and faramir. i think even merry to some extent. he sees them as brave and capable. able to think more clearly than he feels he can, although that is one of the things he gets better at.

describe how you see pippin's relationship with merry.
always close. you don't get that sort of closeness in that short a time.

do you think merry was ever disappointed in his cousin (ie during the palantír incident)?
yes, i think he was often disappointed with pippin's behavior, but he didn't love him any less. the more we love someone, the easier it is for them to disappoint us because we want them to be their absolute best, so they can shine.

what do you think gandalf felt towards the young took? what was their relationship?
gandalf sees the thain inside the tweenager. he's grandfatherly toward him and like merry wants to see pippin grow and mature and be the best he can be. they both see in pippin what he doesn't see in himself.

do you think gandalf was particularly hard on pippin? why?
he knew he had better in him. a diamond has to get split in two and ground into before the gem can shine.

when the fellowship first meets galadriel it is said, "each had felt he was offered a choice between a shadow of fear that lay ahead, and something he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the quest and the war against sauron and the others." what do you think pippin was offered?
the shire as it had always been and the love of his family for his lifetime.

what do you think boromir represented to pippin?
strength, courage, quick wits under pressure. all the things pippin wanted to find in himself but didn't see.

how did the death of boromir affect pippin?
i think it shook him to his core, as much at least as gandalf falling and i think it was the beginning of the steel in pippin's backbone. he had to be worth while for this heroic man to lay down his life to try to save him.

why do you think faramir so moved pippin?
he had the same love of others that pippin has plus the strength and command of aragorn and boromir.

what do you think motivated pippin to swear fidelity to gondor?
gratitude to boromir, pride in his own race, a desire to show he was worthy of boromir's sacrifice.

was it appropriate pippin ended up serving denethor, not théoden? why?
yes. pippin had looked into a palantír as had denethor. he, like denethor's sons, was destined to be a steward, the thain of the shire, the king's representative in the shire until the king's return.

when pippin was confronted with death during the battle before the black gates, how do you feel he reacted?
horrified, sorrowful, overwhelmed.

how do you imagine pippin as a father?
a fun loving, loving slightly indulgent father. he would expect to be treated with respect. he would want his son to love other people with no concern for their station in life but for who they showed themselves to be.

in the end, what do you feel pippin lost and what did he gain from his journey?
he lost much of his innocence, his feeling footloose and fancy free. he gained wisdom, courage and the knowledge that there are both good and bad in every race.

favourite scene or quote?
the entire chapters of "the uruk-hai" and "treebeard', pippin pledging to denethor and his actions to save faramir. finding merry in minas tirith.

film questions

how do you think pippin was portrayed in the movie?
i don't think enough was made of him being the youngest, like a teenager and so his behavior is seen by most people to indicate that he is stupid but his humor and his pluck and his loving nature shine through.

many felt pippin in the film came off as "stupid," do you agree?
i didn't because i knew he's like a teenager, but i can see where it looks that way to people who haven't read the books.

did you enjoy the performance of billy boyd as pippin? how so?
yes. that he and merry get away from the uruk-hai at all is pippin's doing and that is not shown. merry is still shown as the strong clever one. at least they left him dropping his brooch and they let him be the one to lead treebeard to his change of heart and decision to fight (which isn't in the books at all).

favourite scene or quote?
the fireworks scene, asking, "is he going to die?" about frodo, "great! where're we going?" his hand on merry's chest to warn him back from the edge in moria, mourning gandalf, his "we still have the shire" speech and his "turn around! take us south!" speech.

if you've seen the movie and read the books

which scene from the books which didn't make it into the film do you miss most?
pippin handling the captivity by the uruk-hai.

was the pippin of the films accurate to the pippin you imagined?
for the most part yes, except not making his youth clear enough.

what do you most look forward to in return of the king?
palantír, pippin swearing allegiance to gondor, pippin singing, the saving of faramir, the finding of merry, pippin before the black gates, all of the hobbits in their finery after the war.

which scene are you most worried about?
i'm not really worried about any of them too much. i'm fairly able to let the books be the books and the movies be the movies. i'm willing to allow peter jackson his interpretation.

if you magically had the chance to change one thing concerning film pippin (be it action, line or trait) what would it be?
appear less stupid and more young and naive.

extra

who's another favourite character (from anywhere, not just lotr) of yours, and why?
éowyn, i have always liked her change from wanting to be a warrior to wanting to be more feminine

lse says!

hello pearl, thank you for your lovely answers! yes, i too wish pippin's youthfulness was highlighted more. i was saddened to hear bergil wasn't going to make the cut into rotk because i always felt pippin's interactions with the young gondorian really made a pointed example of how truly young the little took was. le sigh.

... x