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#1 | |
Memento Mori
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Past The Point Of No Return
Posts: 1,117
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Just to put my two penn'orth into what has been an extremely fascinating thread to read:
Quote:
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"Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies." |
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#2 |
A Mere Boggart
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: under the bed
Posts: 4,737
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Eruanna - well spotted! That goes to show that not all of us always consider what it says in The Hobbit!
![]() It's interesting too to note that Tolkien mentions butchers here in context. He does not mention them because he wants to tell us about The Shire and its society, but to illustrate something about Bilbo. Tolkien could quite easily have spent several chapters of LotR telling us all about The Shire, how it operates and what the Hobbits do for a living, including butchers, but he does not, he gets into the story quickly. Perhaps it is due to his having already written one substantial novel about Hobbits, or maybe he thought to wrap this kind of information up in the prologue.
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#3 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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Hmmmm..... I may have to see about introducing a butcher hobbit into the ongoing The Green Dragon over in rpg's.
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#4 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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Planning the "Assigned to Mordor" rpg has suddenly raised to consciousness yet another "somethin' that ain't there and oughta be": coins, currency, or any monetary valuations.
It's kind of funny that Lalwendë even brought up poverty (or the lack thereof) and money in one of her posts, but this still didn't occur to me. In fact, not only is coinage, currency, and monetary valuation missing in the Shire, it's missing absolutely everywhere in Middle Earth! ![]() Or is there not ever supposed to be something as crass as the means of determining economic value in Fairyland? ![]() |
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#5 | ||
Late Istar
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,224
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Littlemanpoet:
Quote:
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We must note, though, that while very little is made of the concept of money, the concept of wealth does come up quite often in Middle-earth. It's just that one's wealth or poverty is reckoned in terms of things other than currency. Consider, for instance, the value placed on Smaug's hoard by Elves, Men, and Dwarves alike - not to mention by Smaug himself. The hoard of Glaurung with which Hurin "paid" Thingol is another example. |
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#6 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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Very astute post, Aiwendil. Thanks!
![]() And thanks for pointing up the exception, which as you said, makes the general absence the more glaring. I await others' comments on this interesting theme.... |
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#7 |
Sword of Spirit
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Oh, I'm around.
Posts: 1,401
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I don't have the Hobbit with me right now, but is there anything in there describing Smaug's hoard as having coins in it? I know it's gold and jewels, but is the gold in monetary form?
But also there must have been money in the Shire, because Bag End and everything in it were being auctioned off when Bilbo returned from his adventure. It wouldn't make sense that they traded something for Bilbo's possessions, as the whole point of the auction was to liquidate all the assets. Surely money is implied in this situation, if not exactly said to be.
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