#hobbit customs

[puffs-balls]

Reading the fellowship and a cute detail of hobbit culture i dont see talked about often is that on their birthdays they gift OTHER PEOPLE presents!

I think its really sweet to think of Sam worrying about what to get Frodo and the rest of the fellowship when it comes to his birthday,, and Pippin panicking and doing it all last minute.. like he does!

I think Merry is an impeccable gift giver, very thoughtful, i think he takes lots of time picking something for Eowyn especially!

[legitimatesatanspawn]

Double checking the timeline reminded me of some fun facts:

Bilbo, Age 18: Frodo's father (Drogo Baggins) is born.

Bilbo, Age 21: The Fell Winter. Loss of crops, "large white wolves" (could be wargs) invade the Shire.

Bilbo, Age 22: Region just south of Brandywine floods.

Bilbo, Age 26: Bilbo's paternal grandmother (Laura Baggins nee Grubb) dies at 102, his father (Bungo Baggins) becomes head of family at 70.

Bilbo, Age 30: Frodo's mother (Primula Baggins nee Brandybuck) is born.

Bilbo, Age 33: Officially considered an adult by Shire reckoning.

Bilbo, Age 36: Bilbo's father (Bungo Baggins) dies at 80. Presumably old age.

Bilbo, Age 44: Bilbo's mother (Belldonna Baggins nee Took) dies at 82. Presumably old age.

Bilbo, Age 50-52: The Dwarf Company meets at Bag End in Hobbiton (50/51), Quest ends (51), Bilbo gets home (52).

Bilbo, Age 78: Frodo is born and presumably lives in Hobbiton.

Bilbo, Age 90; Frodo, Age 12: Frodo's parents die (boating accident). Respectively 72 and 60.

Frodo is taken in by his maternal uncle's family (Rorimac Brandybuck) and lives in Brandy Hall in Buckland. Because his parents would often take him to visit his mother's family there, presumably just as much as they'd visit their Baggins side relatives in Hobbiton.

Bilbo, Age 99; Frodo, Age 21: Bilbo officially names Frodo his heir and brings him to Bag End. Note, it's implied he's had lots of visits and everything in between so its not just out of nowhere.

Bilbo, Age 111; Frodo, Age 33: Gandalf visits Bilbo regarding the Ring. The Birthday Party. Frodo is officially considered an adult in the Shire.

Bilbo, Age 112: Bilbo moves into Rivendell.

Bilbo, Age 128; Frodo, Age 50: Frodo gets visited by Gandalf regarding the Ring. Frodo leaves the Shire and reaches Rivendell. Fellowship is founded.

Bilbo, Age 129; Frodo, Age 51: Sauron is defeated. Later, Grima kills Saruman.

Bilbo, Age 131; Frodo, Age 53: Bilbo and Frodo sail off to Valinor.

Presumably Bilbo and Frodo live near/in Valinor for the rest of their days. Barring health issues, Frodo should live another 40 years.

So remember when Bilbo was stressing out over the dwarves using his mother's glorybox to scrape his traveling boots off on? Keep in mind a glory box is basically a big fancy chest that young women would/do (not sure if some places still do this) put items and goods in to help prepare the dowry and then transport it to the new home.

The fact that Hobbits apparently do dowries considering how they handle gift-giving is a little confusing to me. Bungo Baggins did make Bag End for his new wife, though, so maybe both sides do an equivalent to a dowry?

But even setting aside the fact that it was a keepsake and something he clearly cherished, dude was probably still grieving his parents and here comes this pack of random ass strangers just scraping stuff on it like it's that metal thing outside of some old houses I've seen around here. I forget the word for them. Those little metal plates screwed near to the front door on the pavement so that people can scrape off mud and in some cases dogshit/horseshit before entering someone's home.

Honestly I like those plates more than the welcome mats which are often either too thin to be of real use or too difficult to clean. The plate solves both issues.

Bilbo was essentially a teenager when everyone survived a horrible winter with food shortages and vicious attacks by wolves who either overhunted or ran out of prey in their original territory. And then he was a young adult when his parents died. Hobbits come of age at 33 and live to about 90-100. 110 is old af to them while the oldest known hobbit (before Bilbo) being at 130 as incredible. Give it up for Gerontius Took, everyone: Bilbo's maternal grampa!

Also considering Lobella Sacksville-Baggins is Bilbo's immediate cousin through his father's siblings, we have a massive reason for why Lobella being a salty ass isn't just a personality trait but more about family drama. Your bachelor cousin head of the family who has apparently zero interest in marrying or having kids of his own happily visits all his relatives and makes grand gifts to people as part of the local custom regarding birthday parties (Hobbits give gifts on their birthday rather than receiving them).

And then Bilbo adopts a distant cousin instead. 1st/2nd degree actually based on family but Bilbo's grandfather's brother's great-grandson doesn't roll off as easily, although Bilbo's maternal aunt's grandson does. Meanwhile Lobella is Bilbo's uncle's daughter-in-law making her son Lotho would've been his immediate successor by inheritance laws. Of course, Lobella is no saint and she was preemptively nasty and grabby with things not even hers but I'm gonna admit, if I cared about that I would definitely feel hurt.

[squoony]

HeadCanons about Hobbit Tails/Ears

I know that hobbits having tails and expressive ears is a HeadCanon (or artistic liberty) in itself, but I wanted to come up with little HeadCanons for this HeadCanon! :]

(I will be getting Into hobbit culture, and I’m a pretty amateur Tolkien fan, so I apologize if I get anything wrong.)

Touching:

I would Imagine touching a tail would be a pretty intimate gesture only done by family or close friends. Sort of like touching/braiding a dwarf's hair. Touching a tail could mean different things depending on who is making the gesture

For example:

Fauntlings could play with their mother/father's tail. I would imagine it would be sort of like a kitten or a lion cub. Lion cubs will pounce on their parent's tails and play with them as their parents move their tails around. So maybe hobbits could do the same? Maybe as they cook food, fold/hang up laundry, read, etc. it would be a good way to distract their children while relaxing as well, and having a close eye on them.

Parents might also groom their Fauntlings tails till they’re of age to do it themselves.

With a partner, it could mean a couple of things. Such as curling two tails together is seen as holding hands. It is an acceptable gesture for partners to do outside of their smial.

Partners will also brush each other's tails, it is a gesture that is usually done after a courtship has started.

Touching each other tails can also be seen as a sexual gesture.

2. Evolutionary purposes:

Sense hobbits are outside a lot, going to the market, gardening, hanging up laundry, or other outside activities and tasks, they could use their tails to keep bugs away from them. Like horses swat flies away with their tail.

Their tails could also be a good fat storer. Like the African Geckos (look them up, they’re so adorable)! Although hobbits don’t need storage as much as they used to (due to them having access to large amounts of food), so it’s slowly disappearing.

Hobbits could have prehensile tails. It could help with grabbing small items. It used to help their ancestors travel while carrying more items with them (I’m unsure if hobbits used to travel is canonical. I read it a few times so I’m going with it). It can also help keep their young close by while holding things in their hands.

3. Culture:

It is rude to pull on tails or even graze them on purpose without explicit permission. ESPECIALLY if you are not seen as a family member or a close friend. It is seen as a sign of disrespect and is heavily looked down upon.

Tails are used a lot for decoration. It's sort of like dwarven beads. The different kinds of flowers and ribbons they put on their tail can mean different things. Although, hobbits will usually only decorate them on special occasions like festivals or weddings. Unless they’re extremely wealthy. But normal hobbits will have basic ribbons (for decoration) and flowers placed on them. Although hobbits can wear wedding bands on their finger, some other hobbits prefer to wear them on their tail.

Expression:

Hobbits are very expressive not only in their face but In their tails and ears as well. It is how they read most others. Like dogs, different kinds of wagging, in which direction, and how high or low they are can mean different things.

When ears or tails are facing the ground, it means anxiousness, sadness, etc. When tails are pointed up, it means they’re alert. When they wag it means they’re excited!

Hobbits and elves have a hard time reading men and dwarfs because they rely so heavily on expensive ears and tails.

I’m probably gonna keep coming up with ideas so I’m either going to excessively Reblog this or edit it. 😭

[thesilmarilchick]

The small, hunched man tumbled down the steps of Théoden’s palace, landing on the ground between them with an audible thump. #fanart #fanfiction

View On WordPress

[aoidemeleteandmneme-blog]

Happy Birthday

Today is the day that I become an of age witch and so today I plan to follow Hobbit customs and give my readers a gift, the next chapter of the story! But that may be any time in the next 24 hours so keep an eye out, I will post on here when I update.