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Child of the 7th Age · 03-07-2004, 12:51 PM

This is Cami, your friendly neighborhood mod and also your "disaster" specialist in this game......

Arwen, Alak, --

A possible way of looking at hobbit ages.....

My guess is that hobbit and human children were actually not too different in terms of how they grew up, even though hobbits did not actually "come of age" till 33. Therefore, Arwen's character could be twelve-years old in both mortal and human terms.

I am basing this on the one and only source we have from Tolkien that discusses hobbit children at length. This is the unpublished Epilogue to the LotR, which is part of HoMe. This delightful story runs 7-8 pages and describes an evening that Sam spent with his children when they found out that King Elessar and Arwen were coming to meet with them at the Brandywine Bridge.

According to Christopher Tolkien, Sam's children were Elanor 15, Frodo 13, Rose 11, Merry 9, and Pippin 7. (These are the only ones who figure in the story -- little Goldilocks, Ham, and Daisie were in bed and the others not yet born.) In this story, Elanor acts like a typical 15 year-old, Frodo a typical 13 year-old, Rose an 11 year-old, etc. They all act just like their ages, not younger or older.

My guess is that Tolkien thought hobbit and human kids developed at the same rate. Only hobbits let their offspring have a longer time to settle down. They weren't "forced" into jobs and such at a young age, but were allowed to be youthful and carefree a little longer. (A nice dream....if only we could follow it too!)

By that standard, the Whitfoot children would be real "kids" (7 and 12). May at 27 would be similar to Pippin, and 19-year old Henry would be in-between, like a teenager. So the four of them wouldn't naturally all "play" together, any more than regular kids that age would. Henry and May would be more like "youth" or "young hobbits" than "children"...

Either way you go is fine, but I do think we need to reach some agreement. I also noticed that Fordim described Henry and May as "children" in his letter. I would say they are "young hobbits". But then, when you're as old as Fordim, anyone under fifty must look like a child!!

It would make sense to have one of the Whitfoot parents approach the Chubbs (parents or kids) and ask that Henry and May keep an eye on their children when they make camp. After all, the Whitfoot's were used to having the Chubbs work for them. This seems like a logical thing to happen. It would bring the four characters together, let them fight, learn to get along, etc. And I have a feeling that initially none of the kids would like it, not those doing the "babysitting" or those who were being looked after....

But does anyone else have other ideas on the question of hobbit age, or how to bring these four characters together?? These are just ideas, not written in stone.....

Cami

************************************************** *

Alak -

You must have a "unique" RPG. This is the first time I have ever done a response that looks like a lengthy "Books post" in the middle of an RPG discussion thread!

03-07-2004, 12:51 PM	#14
Child of the 7th Age Spirit of the Lonely Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 5,133	This is Cami, your friendly neighborhood mod and also your "disaster" specialist in this game...... Arwen, Alak, -- A possible way of looking at hobbit ages..... My guess is that hobbit and human children were actually not too different in terms of how they grew up, even though hobbits did not actually "come of age" till 33. Therefore, Arwen's character could be twelve-years old in both mortal and human terms. I am basing this on the one and only source we have from Tolkien that discusses hobbit children at length. This is the unpublished Epilogue to the LotR, which is part of HoMe. This delightful story runs 7-8 pages and describes an evening that Sam spent with his children when they found out that King Elessar and Arwen were coming to meet with them at the Brandywine Bridge. According to Christopher Tolkien, Sam's children were Elanor 15, Frodo 13, Rose 11, Merry 9, and Pippin 7. (These are the only ones who figure in the story -- little Goldilocks, Ham, and Daisie were in bed and the others not yet born.) In this story, Elanor acts like a typical 15 year-old, Frodo a typical 13 year-old, Rose an 11 year-old, etc. They all act just like their ages, not younger or older. My guess is that Tolkien thought hobbit and human kids developed at the same rate. Only hobbits let their offspring have a longer time to settle down. They weren't "forced" into jobs and such at a young age, but were allowed to be youthful and carefree a little longer. (A nice dream....if only we could follow it too!) By that standard, the Whitfoot children would be real "kids" (7 and 12). May at 27 would be similar to Pippin, and 19-year old Henry would be in-between, like a teenager. So the four of them wouldn't naturally all "play" together, any more than regular kids that age would. Henry and May would be more like "youth" or "young hobbits" than "children"... Either way you go is fine, but I do think we need to reach some agreement. I also noticed that Fordim described Henry and May as "children" in his letter. I would say they are "young hobbits". But then, when you're as old as Fordim, anyone under fifty must look like a child!! It would make sense to have one of the Whitfoot parents approach the Chubbs (parents or kids) and ask that Henry and May keep an eye on their children when they make camp. After all, the Whitfoot's were used to having the Chubbs work for them. This seems like a logical thing to happen. It would bring the four characters together, let them fight, learn to get along, etc. And I have a feeling that initially none of the kids would like it, not those doing the "babysitting" or those who were being looked after.... But does anyone else have other ideas on the question of hobbit age, or how to bring these four characters together?? These are just ideas, not written in stone..... Cami ************************************************** * Alak - You must have a "unique" RPG. This is the first time I have ever done a response that looks like a lengthy "Books post" in the middle of an RPG discussion thread! __________________ Multitasking women are never too busy to vote.