How to Host a Hobbit Birthday

First of all, a happy almost birthday to you!  I wrote a general post on hobbit birthdays a while ago, but here’s some more specific guidelines for the soon-to-be-byrding: Don’t expect to receive many presents. According to hobbit tradition, a byrding (for those who don’t know, this is the word for a hobbit on their…

Magical Cults In Middle Earth

Okay, let’s start this off with a warning: this post is very speculation-heavy. The Blue Wizards are just about as mysterious and attention-lacking as the lands east of Middle Earth, so actual relevant quotes from the professor are a little few and far between. Despite that, this post got long! Mostly because the more I…

Is there any significance to the fact that both the statues of argonath are left handed?

I don’t think they are, actually. From the book: Upon great pedestals founded in the deep waters stood two great kings of stone: still with blurred eyes and crannied brows they frowned upon the North. The left hand of each was raised palm outwards in gesture of warning; in each right hand there was an…

And here’s the third part of my Awesome Ladies of the Shire series, the great matriarchs + Elanor Gardner (plus one last family tree.) This is my second (much smaller) contribution to Legendarium Ladies April – just looking at some of my favorite hobbit lasses. I’ll have the whole series together and ready for download in a few days!

And though it’s not ready for download yet, my first LLA series (”The Women Who Shaped Middle Earth”) can be read in it’s rough-draft form here. And, as always, if you think I’ve missed something (or someone), feel free to send me a message!

Here’s the second part of my Awesome Ladies of the Shire series, Pippin’s sisters (plus another simplified family tree, for context.) This is my second (much smaller) contribution to Legendarium Ladies April – just looking at some of my favorite hobbit lasses. The next (and final) section will be about some of the Shire’s great matriarchs.

Though it’s not ready for download yet, my first LLA series (”The Women Who Shaped Middle Earth”) can be read in it’s rough-draft form here. And, as always, if you think I’ve missed something (or someone), feel free to send me a message!

Cross-Cultural Marriages Among the Race of Men

It’s completely possible, and was even written about a few times. Keeping in mind that Tolkien wrote almost exclusively about ruling families, I don’t have any information specific to traders (though I’m sure that they married people from other cultures as well), but there are plenty of “noble” examples. Below I’ve listed just a few…

Saruman and Orthanc

So, for those who don’t know, Orthanc/Isengard was built long before Saruman arrived in Middle Earth. It was originally built by the Numenoreans (or, more accurately, the early men of Gondor) as a western watch tower (more on that in this post.) When Gondor gave the region of Calenardhon (now called Rohan) to their allies…

Elves and Dwarves: Alliances

It’s not lore-breaking at all! There have been quite a few elves who developed good relations with dwarves in Middle Earth’s history! Sometimes the relationship was purely business, such as: Thingol hiring the dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost to build Menegroth (though the relationship soured in the end.) Finrod hiring the dwarves of Nogrod and…

“They had not heard of the king”

Hey read-alonger! Sorry I didn’t get to this last week, when it probably would have been more interesting for you But anyway, I can answer this! In The Hobbit, the dwarves see a campfire in the distance and are trying to decide whether it’s a good idea to approach it or not. When describing the…

Hobbit and Construction

Well, in The Hobbit we’re told that Bag End’s hallway had “paneled walls.” But, it’s worth noting that not only was Bag End basically the most luxurious home in the Shire, but The Hobbit also contains several anachronisms, so you might want to take this with a grain of salt. Tolkien talks a bit about hobbit…