#hobbit culture

[mrkida-art]

Blinko Tumbrush and his beautiful bride :D

More fanart for this post

[bisexualmultifandommess]

I love Hobbit fanfics where The Company finds out how old Bilbo is and get furious at Gandalf because they think they’ve accidentally brought a kid on a quest because of different ages in their cultures they’re so funny because Bilbo is just stood there like “I’m an adult 😒”

[maedelmae]

In my mind, dwarfish food is spicy bc they don’t have access to the best ingredients (esp in the Blue Mountains) so they use lots of dried chilis and spices they import from the south (like Near Harad)… Hobbits on the other hand always have fresh produce and meat, so they’re much more like French cooks, enhancing the flavors that are already there instead of covering it with spices. Like yeah they have fresh herbs but nothing like the spicy chilis of Blue Mountain fame. So when the dwarves show up at Bilbo’s house, they all think his food is bland bc they’ve literally spent their whole lives burning their faces off willingly…

[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.

[wolfsbane-and-nettles]

“... do you know why it is so important to know the names and meanings of all the flowers? It’s because before we hobbits had a language, we used to communicate with flowers instead of words! If you were happy you could show it by wearing a dandelion behind your ear. If you were sad, you could let others know by putting a Lilly in the Valley by your heart. When we developed our own language, Old-Hobbitish, which eventually was influenced by Westeron…we were able to use words alongside flowers to convey our meanings. It is said that flowers are so important in the life of Hobbits, that the colors in your eyes are from the flowers that most represent you! So, you, my dearest little one, have beautiful hazel eyes. You’ve flecks of gold like yellow Yarrow in a meadow! It means everlasting love, courage, healing, and good health. Then there is the beautiful green, which reminds me of moss…that has many meanings as well. One meaning is hard work, and the other is “you are the heart of your family” because moss can grow and hold fast even without roots, keeping families and friends together. Then you’ve even got some flecks of Tweedia blue, I’d say…which means harmony and tranquility…I believe all of these suit you perfectly, my dear. You’ll grow up to be a wonderful, loving, brave, hard-working, and harmony-bringing hobbit. That I can say for certain.”  -Belladonna Took, Chosen Horizons, chapter 7.

Forget-Me-Not: faithful love, remembrance, memory, humility, resilience, and the desire for loyalty.

Cornflower: romance, patience, refinement, hope in love, life, resilience, and freedom. “Be gentle with me”...

Larkspur: love and affection, strong attachment, and a desire for laughter.

Blue Poppy: Imagination, magic, luxury, success

Lungswort: joy, devotion, and admiration. “You are my life”...

[cowboytoyarts]

When their tails curl around each other <3

[alalaya2]

Prompt pondering

So I recently read that hobbits Marriage are private affairs. The intended couple will vanish for a few days without telling anyone and return married. That would definitely lead to some speculation about Pippin, Mary, Frodo and Sam but the fact that Pippin Mary and Frodo are cousins would probably make the Shier not jump to them getting married. But there was another Hobbit that vanished for a very long time.

Bilbo was gone for a while and returned with Gandalf. What if the people of the Shire are not mad at Gandalf Because of the trouble he brings but because the more traditional Hobbits are mad because they see his leaving all the time and long absences as continuously abandoning his spouse.

[garden-variety-jumo]

Lord of the Rings Culinary Culture Headcannons bc I'm bored.

This isn't based off of any source from the books this is just vibes. I love food anthropology though so.

Elves: They don't seem huge in agriculture to me, kind of because it seems tedious for them to do every year, forever, till they die. So instead I think they'd embrace a more hunter-gatherer approach, with certain areas cultivated so the plants pretty much take care of themselves. I also think they favour food that can be preserved like dried meat and jams so they don't have to worry about the food spoiling as fast. I've heard lembas bread can be made regardless of location, so I dont think it's a patiular grain, but more of a special process in preparing the grain or smth that's kept secret (a little like nixtamalisation). Additionally: their most elaborate meals tend to have a very long process to make- it's not unusual for preparation for a feast to begin months in advance.

Dwarves: I think they would have an emphasis on group meals, as more work can be achieved if everyone shares one big meal rather than going off to make individual ones. Spending the majority of their time underground, I feel like they eat a lot of tubers. I think they would at least originate from somewhere with geothermal pools, and to reflect this have a lot of boiled and steamed foods, as well as burying food in pots near the pools so the natural heat can cook it (I can't remember what culture but there's evidence of this being done with bread). Additionally, I think they'd be fans of pit ovens, rather than pots or cauldrons- using the heat from their forges to heat up rocks for them. [I think there's less roasting on a spit over a fire because the hear from theor forges would burn the food too quickly.] I feel they'd also be very good at fermenting, with halls dedicated to maturing cheeses or aging meat. Additionally, if they eat meat, it will likely be a large land animal like a boar or deer- not so much birds or fish because they aren't really adapted to hunting them.

Humans: they're honestly pretty standard. They were probably behind a lot of advancements, like preserves, but the majority of the time, it's either porridge or stew. I feel like they have the most diversity from establishment to establishment, for example if you went by the sea, a lot of communities use the salt to preserve their food, but more inland other communities may not have heard even of the method. Obviously the bigger the kitchen, the grander the meals can be and the more equipment they can afford, but villages usually have a community oven they can use for bread and pies. While the food itself is pretty standard, they're also the most adventurous in foraging, inadvertently making a lot of once-poisonous plants edible through natural selection, humans are usually thr first to try out a new food, as well as the first to find ways to make it edible.

Hobbits: as expected from a culture who values meals and food to that extent, hobbits are the culinary geniuses of Middle-Earth. In Ancient Rome, they had advanced cooking utensils, that after the fall of Rome, weren't reinvented till the 18th(?) century: Hobbits are like that. They have utensils for every food in every variety you can think of, and while it's unnecessary to actually have, and perhaps inconvenient to use, it's a point of pride and great social status. Not only do they keep incredibly well-stocked pantries, but they've very keen to experiment with new flavours and have a decent trade route for these reasons. Recipes are also a point of pride, and it's considered unspeakable rude to attempt to recreate someone else's recipe. While there are recipe books of all kinds in every house, family recipe books are often handed down in wills, and kept secret from others. Cooking equipment is also passed down in wills. While they also partake in standard agriculture, hobbits also often have their own vegetable gardens, where they grow their proffered ingredients to work with. In the perspectives of other races, they can be a bit snooty about food, however they're simply very well-educated about the matter. Certain cultures can identify more shades of colour, because in their languages they give each shade a different name- it's sort of like that, but with taste. ((Many hobbits are able to identify the type of salt used in a recipe.)) Additionally, they have several festivals a year where they partake in food competitions. They're big fans of using edible flowers in their flavouring

[ironmandeficiency]

hobbits are kitchen witches send tweet

[cakesandtea]

In the heart of the Shire, nestled amidst rolling hills and vibrantly flowering gardens, lies a cosy hobbit library. This haven of knowledge, affectionately known as the Greenleaf Library, invites visitors and locals alike into a world of literary treasures and intellectual exploration.

Just before you go inside you are greeted by a quaint stone statue of a taller than average Hobbit, ivy covering their feet and ankles. They look familiar but you're struggling to place just where you've seen them before. The circular wooden door, weathered by time, creaks open to reveal a warm and inviting interior. Soft sunlight filters through the windows, casting a gentle glow upon rows of meticulously organized shelves.

The scent of aged parchment and ink fills the air. Wooden floors creak ever so slightly underfoot, whispering tales of countless hobbits who have tread upon them in pursuit of knowledge and adventure.

The shelves, overflowing with books of all shapes and sizes, create a symphony of colors and textures. Leather-bound tomes, their spines embossed with intricate designs, share space with well-loved paperbacks and handwritten manuscripts. The collection spans generations, offering a treasure trove of stories, histories, and wisdom.

In cosy, intimate reading nooks scattered throughout the library, plush armchairs beckon visitors to sink into their embrace. The crackling fireplace casts a warm glow, providing the perfect ambiance for leisurely reading or engaging conversations among hobbit scholars. As long as they can avoid the occasional tiny spitting embers.

A large ancient oak table stands proudly in the centre, straining with scattered open books, piles of battered tomes and ink stained quills. It is here that hobbits gather for lively discussions, sharing their insights and discoveries over cups of steaming, sweet black tea. The walls are littered with intricate maps and sketches, capturing the essence of Middle-earth and inspiring the imaginations of those who enter.

Greenleaf is more than just a repository of books. It is a sanctuary; a place where hobbits embark on intellectual journeys, broadening horizons while deepening their love for stories and learning. It is a testament to the rich tapestry of hobbit culture and their appreciation for the written word. All are welcome here.

[blackat-t7t]

"May you live in interesting times" sounds like the kind of curse a hobbit would wish on someone.

Especially an outsider who wouldn't understand it's meant as a curse, like a drawf or a man.

(It won't do any good to wish it on a wizard. Wizards are always distressingly interesting.)

[aarchimedes]

for context: I read the hobbit first over the course of two years when I was like 13, but I'm only now starting to read lotr. having a blast tho!

anyways, reblog if you feel like it 🙌🏻

[verk0my]

thorin but make him a polish nobleman

you can get a print here: inprnt! 

[mrkida-art]

Just a little guy from Ravenhill

[meteors-lotr]

Thorin cooks Bilbo a meal as a type of thank you for the help and he refuses to take any gold or anything but the lad really loves food so let’s give him that, and he presents it to Bilbo all excited but Bilbo doesn’t eat anything he just stares at like the three course meal that’s in front of him and Thorin gets super nervous because oh no is it bad I’m so sorry Bombur prepped me for like a month for this don’t hobbits eat everything did I somehow manage to cook something that even a hobbit won’t consume oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck but Bilbo isn’t even noticing his panic because his brain is trying to catch up to the fact that Thorin just proposed to him

[small-angry-turtle]

Gotta incorporate that into my belief system.