{"id":842,"date":"2009-08-10T10:19:37","date_gmt":"2009-08-10T10:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth--part-two-sheer-nonsense.html"},"modified":"2009-08-10T10:19:37","modified_gmt":"2009-08-10T10:19:37","slug":"chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-two-sheer-nonsense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-two-sheer-nonsense.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronicles of Middle Earth&#8211; Part Two, Sheer Nonsense"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hobbiton is an idyllic place where sheep may safely graze. But even Hobbits need clothes to wear, and in Middle Earth the number one supplier of materials for said outfits are sheep.&nbsp; It has been said that New Zealand is a country of 4 million people and 40 million sheep. I imagine the proportions were about the same in Middle Earth vis a vis the ratio of Hobbits to sheep.&nbsp; Now it is not a woolly tale to say that sheep are still crucial to the economy in NZ, and we are fortunate enough to be able to see how the sheep, without ever so much as a Ba-Ram-U complaint, are making their contribution. Besides all the clothing, one can enjoy lamburgers and lamb shanks.&nbsp; Note below that I am wearing Sam&#8217;s woolen clock made on 19th century looms at Stansborough in Wellington.&nbsp; You can have one too &#8212; just buy online.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/NZ%20342.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"NZ 342.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/137\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20342-thumb-400x711-6934.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-none\" width=\"400\" height=\"711\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/NZ%20579.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"NZ 579.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/137\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20579-thumb-400x711-6936.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-none\" width=\"400\" height=\"711\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Note my new sheepskin vest in above picture, and Aragorn&#8217;s sword in the following one.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/NZ%20575.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"NZ 575.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/137\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20575-thumb-400x225-6938.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-none\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Trust me, that sword is heavy.&nbsp; Aragorn must have been one buff hero.&nbsp; But back to the sheep at Hobbiton.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/NZ%20024.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"NZ 024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/137\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20024-thumb-400x225-6940.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-none\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Sheep grow wool faster than my grass grows.&nbsp; And honestly they don&#8217;t need it all year round, so sheering the sheep is helpful to them, as well as those weaving Middle Earth shawls.&nbsp; Here are some shots of the sheering of exactly one sheep; notice the enormous pile of wool that results. This particular pile of wool is headed for China to make rugs.&nbsp; Merino sheep are the ones that produce the wool for sweaters, etc. <\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/NZ%20064.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"NZ 064.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20064-thumb-400x711-6944.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-none\" width=\"400\" height=\"711\" \/><\/a><\/span><br \/><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/NZ%20070.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"NZ 070.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/137\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20070-thumb-400x711-6946.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-none\" width=\"400\" height=\"711\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Always remember that before you fleece the sheep, you need to feed the lambs (ATTENTION PASTORS; SEE JESUS&#8217; INJUNCTION IN JOHN 21.15).&nbsp;&nbsp; Below you will see Ann fulfilling John 21.15. <\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/NZ%20077.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"NZ 077.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/137\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20077-thumb-400x711-6950.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-none\" width=\"400\" height=\"711\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m thinking that Hobbiton could have been named Lambalot.&nbsp; Sadly, we must leave Hobbiton and journey through Middle Earth towards Mordor, but I leave you with one last shot of the Shire.&nbsp; Next up &#8212; Second Breakfast!!<br \/><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/NZ%20013.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"NZ 013.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/137\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20013-thumb-400x194-7109.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-none\" width=\"400\" height=\"194\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hobbiton is an idyllic place where sheep may safely graze. But even Hobbits need clothes to wear, and in Middle Earth the number one supplier of materials for said outfits are sheep.&nbsp; It has been said that New Zealand is a country of 4 million people and 40 million sheep. I imagine the proportions were&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chronicles of Middle Earth- Part Two, Sheer Nonsense - The Bible and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-two-sheer-nonsense.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronicles of Middle Earth- Part Two, Sheer Nonsense - The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hobbiton is an idyllic place where sheep may safely graze. But even Hobbits need clothes to wear, and in Middle Earth the number one supplier of materials for said outfits are sheep.&nbsp; It has been said that New Zealand is a country of 4 million people and 40 million sheep. I imagine the proportions were&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-two-sheer-nonsense.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-08-10T10:19:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2009\/08\/NZ%20342-thumb-400x711-6934.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chronicles of Middle Earth- Part Two, Sheer Nonsense - The Bible and Culture","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2009\/08\/chronicles-of-middle-earth-part-two-sheer-nonsense.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chronicles of Middle Earth- Part Two, Sheer Nonsense - The Bible and Culture","og_description":"Hobbiton is an idyllic place where sheep may safely graze. 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A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Witherington has written over thirty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications, and is a frequent contributor to the Beliefnet website. Along with many interviews on radio networks across the country, Witherington has been seen on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, The Discovery Channel, A&amp;E, and the PAX Network.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/author\/bwitherington"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}