What ain't there and ought to be.

[littlemanpoet]

I thought that I had gotten the "pre-religious" idea from a Tolkien quote from the biography, but I haven't been able to find it again yet.

You had me worried, davem with the talk about Hobbit spirituality, but by the end of your post I was relieved at what you'd concluded about it.

I would think that the hobbits would have adopted some beliefs from the Arnor kings at Evendim, and the rest from the secular-ish Rohirrim when they lived in the Gap.

Welcome, to the Downs, Michael! I hope you enjoy being dead. As to your idea, it's in keeping with the way history works, but seems somehow out of character for hobbits as such. davem's idea of experiencing the Transcendent (though he didn't use the word) throughout the Shire, appeals to me more.