Nice to have you on this thread,
mark.
I was interested in what you had to say here:
Quote:
Originally Posted by mark12_30
Middle-earth humor is challenging to me. What do Hobbits laugh at? What do elves laugh at? When Lindir laughs at Bilbo I am tempted to be offended on Bilbo's part, but Bilbo is not. Rangers? Rohirrim? They all find plenty to laugh about. But it seems that we are given the humorous songs of only the hobbits.
Except in The Hobbit. There we are given marvelous musical glimpses of elvish humor-- singing at barrels; lullabies with humor in them; Tra-La-La-Lally is one of my favorite songs. Have you heard the Hobbiton version? You must hear it. If you don't have it, let me know.
We are told about mirth for most of the races. We are told that they sing and laugh. But I wish we read more of it.
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We have a possibility of reading Gondorian humour in one poem, said by Tolkien to be from the
Red Book:
The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon, the 'ancestor' of our nursery rhyme. The 'editor' of
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, the published 'collection' in which it appears, suggests that this poem and
The Last Ship
must be derived ultimately from Gondor. They are evidently based on the traditions of Men, living in shore-lands and familiar with rivers running into the Sea.
In this first poem, the Man in the Moon comes down in 'the windy Bay of Bel'; there is the tolling of a bell in the Sea-ward Tower (Tirith Aear) or Dol Amroth; and he recovers at an inn in the city, after the greedy innkeeper has stripped him of his valuables.
It is reasonable to conclude that, while the poem was recorded by hobbits, it was of Gondorian origin. I'm sure that this was because the former found the humour in the poem to be similar to their own.
We saw that Pippin got on very well with ordinary Gondorians.