Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

Okay in the fellowship when Gandalf first arrives he and Frodo speak of the outside world, where Frodo asks him for news.......

Well what exactly do they mean??
Like is the world of middle-earth hidden somewhere in our world

Outside World??
No Middle-earth is not hidden here, it IS here... we do live in Middle-earth only some time later

Perhaps you mean the Hither Lands which is a term for Middle-earth in contrary to Valinor, land of the Gods.

I think Frodo simply meant news from beyond the Shire.

Yup, that's exactly what he meant!

yep, doubt Frodod ever went out of the shire, remember Sam himself only went as far as "almost" outside the shire.

Just when people say "whats happening down town", perhaps simply mean "whats going on"

then how come Gandalf is like the outside world does not know of hobbits and its better that way

what do you mean?

Gandalf was always traveling outside the borders of the Shire, and so Frodo is fascinated by the tales and stories of the outside world. Hobbits only know of their land, the Shire. And they don't really care what happens to the outside world, they really just want to live in peace, though they're not aware of the dangers that could happen.

well I guess they heard some tales, remember when sam says "Look Mr Frodo, an olephant! No one back home will believe this"

It is very simple, Silver.

Hobbits are very insular and rarely leave their home. People like Bilbo- and later Frodo- are considred very strange for doing so.

And in the last 1000 years before LOTR, very few people have ever come to the Shire either. In its own way, you could consider the Shire to be entirely cut off from the rest of the world, as very few from elsewhere go there, and very few in there go out.

Gandalf was their best know visitor from the 'outside world' and hence always raised interest.

This was somewhat workd into the plot, as Sauron and little idea of what Hobbits were and where they came from- he never imagined his ring was there.

awww thanks a bunch ush

No problem, sweetie!

it's like the shire is a world entirely on its own... ain't it funny ...

I also though that the shire was an "out of the eway place" - sort of like a place people go to retire or something.

The shire seemed very boring, there was not much to do, well pretty much all of middle-earth would seem boring to us (in a regular day with no war) due to electricity?

haha, that's a funny way to thank of it Discos...

Ok how come we take our time to answer silver's question yet she doesn't thank us?? She thanks Ush. Pfft

Well Discos really, Valinor is actually the Elve's retirement home, that should mean something right?

yeah... all they do is toke it and drink like irishmen with an extra liver ...

Well, hobbits don't usually get to go to valinor. Frodo was just an exception

He was talking about outside of The Shire. No one knows of hobbits, remember? Remember when Merry and Pippin met Treebeard in TTT and he thought they were "little orcs" or orc spies or whatever and Merry said "no we're hobbits! halflings! shirefolk!" and Treebeard didn't know of hobbits...remember? And hobbits rarely leave The Shire so Frodo wouldn't know what's going on outside The Shire.....Ha I'm so smart *grins*