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There And Back Again

This Is Goodbye to the Hobbit Video Blogs. For a Little While, Anyway. [VIDEO]

by Rebecca Pahle | 5:45 pm, December 14th, 2012


And that’s a wrap on the Hobbit video blogs! Until they start coming in for the second movie, The Desolation of Smaug*, that is. This final video focuses on a few last-minute finishing touches to the film, the preparation for the Wellington, New Zealand world premiere, and the premiere itself. It kind of makes me feel like I was there in spirit. Except not. Because my life is not that awesome.

*Apparently I’ve been pronouncing “Smaug” incorrectly for years. I thought it was “Smog,” but in the movie it’s “SmOWg.” Please tell me I’m not the only one to whom this is a revelation.

(via: Bleeding Cool)

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  • http://twitter.com/chemicalpink Tina WallyJolly Xmas

    I’ve always pronounced it “Smog”. That’s how it was pronounced in the animated movie – about 40 seconds in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or8G_jDcLNo.

  • http://twitter.com/TheWholeyTruth Jennifer Wholey

    I’ve always gone by Tolkien’s own pronunciation guide, in one of the appendices in LoTR, that says “au” is pronounced “ow.” Same deal with Sauron = Sow-ron, not Soar-on.

  • http://twitter.com/rockinlibrarian Amy W

    I figure it’s not a matter of mispronunciation, but a matter of accents. Different people pronounce vowels differently. (I had this problem with my maiden name, which was pretty much impossible to pronounce anyway. People would argue over the vowels and ask me “Which is right?” and I’d be like, “They’re both right, you’re just pronouncing it differently.”) WE’RE ALL RIGHT. Own it.

  • Anonymous

    I’ve always said ‘Smog’ as well. It just feels more natural to say than SmOWg. That’ll take some getting used to.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000327677376 Suzanne Larsen

    “I am SMAUG! I kill when I wish! I am strong, strong, STRONG! My armor is
    like tenfold shields! My teeth like swords! My claws, spears! The shock
    of my tail, a thunderbolt! My wings, a hurricane! And my breath, death!” That speech has stayed with me since I was a wee bit, and that’s the pronunciation I’m sticking with, even if its wrong.

  • Anonymous

    That was fun to watch. :)

  • Anonymous

    Yeah… I think having not seen the old animation as a kid, and thus first being introduced through the books—and reading Tolkien’s pronunciation guide—skewed my perception. It’s always been SmOWg to me, but I suspect it might’ve been the other way around if I’d seen the Rankin-Bass animation before reading the books.

  • http://shiftercat.livejournal.com/ ShifterCat

    My parents, reading the books aloud to me, always pronounced it “Smowg”.

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