.@LelieFairy: what do hobbits know about the world outside the Shire? In The Hobbit Bilbo knows very little, and so does the reader. In The #LordoftheRings Tolkien world have had two sort of readers: those who knew The Hobbit and those who didn’t. #IMC2018 #s749 @IMC_Leeds
.@LelieFairy: in their origin history, on their way to the Shire, hobbits meet Elves and Dúnedain, and learn letters and crafts from them. They promptly forget whatever language they spoke before. #s749 #IMC2018 #Tolkien @IMC_Leeds
.@LelieFairy: the hobbits have also forgotten what they knew about the “Guardians”, the people who protected them - the remnants of the Dúnedain. Why were the hobbits under this protection? (long before Bilbo found the Ring) #s749 #IMC2018 @IMC_Leeds
.@LelieFairy: We don’t really know enough about where the hobbits come from - what happened BEFORE they crossed into Eriador. #Tolkien doesn’t tell us. #s749 #IMC2018 @IMC_Leeds
.@LelieFairy: for the War of the Ring #Tolkien needed heroes; by randomly asserting the hobbits’ “tough” core, without explanation, he could really exploit the element of surprise and turn the hobbits into heroes for the needs of The #LordoftheRings. #s749 #IMC2018 @IMC_Leeds
