#mithril tag

[baggvinshield]

Thorin saying “true friends are hard to come by” after he gives Bilbo the priceless mithril shirt - i wonder if “true friend” here could be a translation of the khuzdul buhun or buhel which means “friend of all friends,” which to me seems like a nice way of saying “the most important person” :’) and buhun could also be a word used by dwarves to mean the person they’re in love with

[baggvinshield]

“tokens”

[baggvinshield]

I'm not even totally sure if I headcanon dwarves as having weddings?? I kinda go back and forth. Like would they even need that what with the way they look at romance and such? Or would they just be like. I found my One and they reciprocated. We went through the motions of courtship and now we're together the end. Which btw opens sooooo many doors for canon Bagginshield subtext omg.

honestly, i don’t think dwarves have weddings the way we think of them? i imagine a contract of sorts is involved, maybe some negotiating too and an officiator, but i don’t think a big public spectacle complete with vows etc. would be the norm.

i think they’d throw a party tho ;) i mean, dwarves aren’t gonna pass up an opportunity to eat and drink and make music and dance.

and speaking of canon bagginshield subtext, UM THE MITHRIL. IT WAS DEF A COURTING GIFT. and true to form, thorin “what are words when i’m having an emotion” oakenshield just kinda failed to fill bilbo in on the cultural significance of what was going on. like, he calls the mithril a “token” of “friendship” and then seconds later tells bilbo that he’s his “true friend.” ????

 i (along with probs everyone else) headcanon that hobbits, on the other hand, make a HUGE deal of weddings. i mean, their huge parties are canon. this is why the bagginshield shire wedding trumps the erebor wedding.

[baggvinshield]

I'm a bit new to the bagginsheild fandom, and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to explain the "consort gift" fanon? I'd love to hear more about it, and where the idea originated :) Âkminrûk zu!

well, it’s not all “fanon,” some of it’s canon, and i can’t tell you which blogger starting talking about it first, but this article by the dwarrow scholar should help you out as far as understanding/interpreting dwarvish courtship and marriage lore as tolkien wrote it. only heterosexul relationships/marriages are discussed (obviously and unfortunately). but this is 2015 and the hobbit films portrayed bilbo and thorin’s relationship as being romantic SO.

the “consort gift” idea, as i understand it (and talk about it) comes from the custom of a dwarf giving a gift to the person he/she wants to marry (see the article i linked above) that reflects their perceived value. so, for instance, when thorin gives bilbo the mithril shirt, which is literally worth more than bilbo’s entire homeland, it’s not a huge leap to say that this is actually an act of courtship, and that thorin deems bilbo’s worth to be basically invaluable, priceless, almost beyond measure.

thorin also calls the gift “a token of our friendship,” which to me is… well, i wrote about the repeated use of the term token here and how nicely it parallels kili’s “token”.

add to all this the way in which the scene was filmed. thorin waits at the end of a long walkway; bilbo slowly walks towards thorin and comes to stand at his side; they face one another; the company stops talking and all turn to “witness” what’s going on between them. it’s reminiscent of a western-culture style wedding, something that many film-goers might have been expected to pick up on. (people have written about this in more detail, but now i can’t find the posts, maybe thearkenstoneandtheacorn or thebagginshieldhell?)

welp i’ve rambled on a bit, hope that helps! and welcome to the fandom :)

[baggvinshield]

the mithril shirt was a courting gift