Tolkien and Tiny But Mature Children

[The Saucepan Man]

Only time for one or two scattered ideas.

So, what, the 'Father' is lost, 'away with the Fairies', & the 'Son' is driven to seek him out, journeying to meet the Elves himself, & also become an 'Elf-friend'?

And yet, in The Cottage of Lost Play, it is Mannish children, rather than the adults, who are permitted to enter Faerie (Tol Eressea) and play in the Cottage.

The "child-like" quality of Hobbits is also reinforced by the fact that none of them have beards. The same applies to Elves (with the exception of Cirdan, but he was one of the oldest). This contrasts with many of the Men that we meet (particularly in Rohan, a "harsher" environment than most in ME where the women-folk are trained to fight and children presumably have to grow up quickly) and, of course, Dwarves (although Dwarves had extended longetivity too and therefore, presumably, an extended childhood).

Sorry. No conclusions today. just thoughts. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]