Gandalf, blood of hobbits on his hands?

[Groin Redbeard]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

Back to Middle-earth. I'm not so sure about the Hobbits always having been a peaceful people. Didn't they send archers to help King Arvedui against Angmar? Didn't Bandobras Took invent golf by beheading an Orc leader in battle? They had proven their ability to defend themselves fighting before the Scouring, although they were somewhat out of practice and needed some stirring to remember.

Exactly, so if you look at it like that the hobbits were not abandoning their old peaceful principles to become better equipped for the age of men, they were just uncovering some old forgotten traits that were instinctively theirs. The four adventurers certainly had the stamina and courage in them to take on a quest as they did and Bilbo was chosen by Gandalf because of his Tookish heritage, as we all know the Tooks were a bit "queer" by hobbit standards. Besides I don't think the hobbits had much of a choice in the matter, it was fight for their survival or be made into serfs.

The hobbits as a culture had reached the point of "perfection." They no longer possessed the ability to create new and better things, or to do the great things of their ancestors, the only thing that they could do was talk about the great things that their forefathers did and to mimic the deeds as best they could. This attitude needed to change eventually, and as almost always it does, it took drastic circumstances for them to wake up.