Sport in Middle-Earth - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Selmo · 07-07-2004, 07:15 AM

Saucepan Man,

"Shooting at the wind" should be "shooting at the wand", the wand being a narrow, upright target in archery.

Lalaith · 07-07-2004, 07:48 AM

I can't place the quote now, but either in the Hobbit or the LotR there is a reference to young hobbits throwing stones at small animals, apparently as a hobby....

Selmo · 07-07-2004, 07:58 AM

The quote is something like "small animals learned to get out of the way quickly if a hobbit bent down to pick up a stone".

I cann't remember were it's from, either.

Ardamir the Blessed · 07-07-2004, 08:23 AM

The Saucepan Man posted:

Quote:

although I seem to recall (perhaps from his Letters) that Tolkien himself was not overly fond of the game [cricket].

You are correct:

Letter #183:

Quote:

About as amusing to us (or to me) as are stories about cricket, or yarns about a touring team, to those who (like me) find cricket (as it now is) a ridiculous bore.

Letter #199:

Quote:

I was as happy or the reverse at school as anywhere else, the faults being my own. I ended up anyway as a perfectly respectable and tolerably successful senior. I did not dislike games. They were not compulsory, fortunately, as I have always found cricket a bore: chiefly, though, because I was not good at it. ....

Lalaith posted:

Quote:

I can't place the quote now, but either in the Hobbit or the LotR there is a reference to young hobbits throwing stones at small animals, apparently as a hobby....

The Prologue:

Quote:

They [Hobbits] shot well with the bow, for they were keen-eyed and sure at the mark. Not only with bows and arrows. If any Hobbit stooped for a stone, it was well to get quickly under cover, as all trespassing beasts knew very well.

Lalaith · 07-07-2004, 08:35 AM

Thank you for those quotes Ardamir.
I've also found this, from the Hobbit:
"As a boy he (Bilbo) used to practice throwing stones at things, until rabbits and squirrels, and even birds, got out of his way as quick as lightning if they saw him stoop."
I remember being shocked by that when I first read the Hobbit as a little girl.
I had been led to believe that only very naughty, nasty boys threw stones at animals....
Oh, and after this quote there is the passage Elianna mentioned about quoits, bowls and so on. All very nice traditional English pub-and-village green games.

Mithalwen · 07-09-2004, 11:47 AM

Hmmm I have no doubt though that if the hobbits developed cricket, in latter years when theyears of peace had let the population expand enough for them to develop colonies in areas where the climate allowed them to play more cricket....teams from the now independent hobbit communities would come back and thrash them on a regular basis..... no evidence for that ..just a hunch....

I wonder if Cirdan's lot did any recreational sailing?

07-07-2004, 07:15 AM	#1
Selmo Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: The Shire (Staffordshire), United Kingdom Posts: 273	Saucepan Man, "Shooting at the wind" should be "shooting at the wand", the wand being a narrow, upright target in archery.

07-07-2004, 07:48 AM	#2
Lalaith Blithe Spirit Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,779	I can't place the quote now, but either in the Hobbit or the LotR there is a reference to young hobbits throwing stones at small animals, apparently as a hobby....

07-07-2004, 07:58 AM	#3
Selmo Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: The Shire (Staffordshire), United Kingdom Posts: 273	The quote is something like "small animals learned to get out of the way quickly if a hobbit bent down to pick up a stone". I cann't remember were it's from, either.

07-07-2004, 08:35 AM	#5
Lalaith Blithe Spirit Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,779	Thank you for those quotes Ardamir. I've also found this, from the Hobbit: "As a boy he (Bilbo) used to practice throwing stones at things, until rabbits and squirrels, and even birds, got out of his way as quick as lightning if they saw him stoop." I remember being shocked by that when I first read the Hobbit as a little girl. I had been led to believe that only very naughty, nasty boys threw stones at animals.... Oh, and after this quote there is the passage Elianna mentioned about quoits, bowls and so on. All very nice traditional English pub-and-village green games.

07-09-2004, 11:47 AM	#6
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,461	Hmmm I have no doubt though that if the hobbits developed cricket, in latter years when theyears of peace had let the population expand enough for them to develop colonies in areas where the climate allowed them to play more cricket....teams from the now independent hobbit communities would come back and thrash them on a regular basis..... no evidence for that ..just a hunch.... I wonder if Cirdan's lot did any recreational sailing?