Present:
Jillian Amster (jillianamster)
AelKennyr Rhiano
Lihan Taifun
Shawn Daysleeper
Rhûn Darkmoon (zu.dragoone)
Summary:
Tolkien used the terms “halfling” and “hobbit” interchangeably. Other (later) authors use “halfling” for their short races.
Tolkien hobbits are short (typically 3 feet / 1 m tall) and plump. They are known for their large, hairy feet, and they do not wear shoes. They are fond of food (six meals a day, by preference). They are rural and conservative, and dislike “adventure”, or anything out of the ordinary or inconvenient. They take their family trees seriously, and are interested in local history, though not necessarily in events outside their borders. The Movie depiction of the Shire is very accurate.
Jillian's character is based on a kender from the Dragonlance series. Kender are considered “halflings” (beings like short humans), though not “hobbits”. They are taller and leaner than “hobbits”, more adventurous and energetic, and less homebodies. They are prone to “wanderlust”, curious and mischievous. Their curiosity leads them to pick up interesting objects; they don't think of this as “stealing”, though it exasperates other races with a stronger sense of property ownership. Their feet are like human feet, and they wear shoes.
One important feature of roleplaying a halfling is that a halfling views humans, elves, and similar races as “giants”, and themselves as “normal sized”.
A Tolkien hobbit would be unlikely to go on an “adventure” voluntarily, for the fun of it. So you would have to explain how your character was pushed into the story. Remember that some of our most popular RP characters are ordinary people who were not particularly looking for excitement.
Jillian Amster: Hi! Is this where they're having the discussion group on halflings?
AelKennyr Rhiano: It is! Please, join us :)
Lihan Taifun: it is!
Jillian Amster beams, hopping into a seat, "Great! Something I finally know about!"
AelKennyr Rhiano: Do you rp a hobbit somewhere?
Jillian Amster coughs, "Hobbits are different. I guess they're sorta cousins to the general halfling."
Lihan Taifun: so in what way is your character different from a Tolkien hobbit?
Jillian Amster: Well, she's more based on the Dragonlance kender, though not fully. Not as much of a homebody farmer type, but taller, leaner, more energetic. Sort of more the Tallfellow strain, instead of Stout.
Lihan Taifun: ok; we don't currently have any halflings of any sort in Fourth Age, but you never know who we might have in the future
Shawn Daysleeper: it would be interesting to have some halflings
AelKennyr Rhiano: And I really would like to know more about the differences between Hobbits and halfings :)
Lihan Taifun: yes, that too! I know nothing about Dragonlance
Jillian Amster: Well, DL kender are like hobbits, but more mishievous. They get what's called "wanderlust" and are natural "borrowers", though they don't steal for greed. Only curiosity.
AelKennyr Rhiano: So they are called kinder in Dragonlance?
Jillian Amster: Yes, because of their size and outward naivetee, they seem "childish"....so kender.
AelKennyr Rhiano: kender=kinder=child
Lihan Taifun: right
AelKennyr Rhiano: I get it :)
Jillian Amster: Exactly. I sort of mishmash the two.
Shawn Daysleeper: nods
AelKennyr Rhiano: How tall do kender get?
Jillian Amster: Just below dwarf height if I recall.
AelKennyr Rhiano: Are you feet hairy , too? blushes as he asks
Jillian Amster giggles, "No! We halfling are blessed with naturally smooth skin."
Lihan Taifun: I see she is wearing boots
AelKennyr Rhiano: That is a big difference
Jillian Amster kicks her boots off. See?
Shawn Daysleeper: yes I see
AelKennyr Rhiano: lol
Lihan Taifun: how does playing a halfling affect your role-play? What makes you different from someone of another race?
Jillian Amster: Well, being smaller and quicker tends to affect my roleplay...I'm not likely to intimidate anyone.
AelKennyr Rhiano: Are kinder consider halfing because of their size?
Jillian Amster: I try to see the RP world through the eyes of someone who left her "normal" sized world, and has entered a world of giants.
Jillian Amster: Yes, kender are an adaptation of the halfling. And Tolkien used halfling and hobbit interchangeably.
Lihan Taifun: ok, I can see it would be an important point that everything is giant-sized to you
Jillian Amster: Yes, I even refer to human characters as "giants". Or "Big'uns."
Lihan Taifun smiles
AelKennyr Rhiano: What is the origin of the kender?
Jillian Amster: According to DL, when the gods created dwarves, the dwarven god wanted assistants. The dwarves helped in the immortal forge, and also mined materials. One day they found a magic gem, and all wanted it. Some wanted it for it's wealth, some It exploded, and the dwarves who were curious became kender. The ones who were interested in the science of it became gnomes.
AelKennyr Rhiano: cool
Lihan Taifun: so kender have close association with dwarves?
Jillian Amster: Direct descent, religiously speaking. Of course, that was at the beginning of the world and such....they're separate races in the DL world.
Lihan Taifun: do they still feel some kinship to dwarves?
Jillian Amster: Yes, though it's not exactly always mutual. The dwarves are well-aware of the kender's different ideas about "ownership"....such as there isn't any.
AelKennyr Rhiano: lol
Jillian Amster: My character departs from the DL kender a lot in mentality.
AelKennyr Rhiano: How so?
Jillian Amster: Mentally, I model myself more after my perception of Lidda the halfling rogue. I do steal, and it's not purely innocent curiosity. My character is perky and jovial, but she's fully capable of killing without regret. Possibly even murder. Light and bouncy with a dark streak...lol
Lihan Taifun: is Lidda a literary character?
Jillian Amster: From Dungeons and Dragons originally, though there are numerous novels and short stories involving or featuring her.
Lihan Taifun: ok
AelKennyr Rhiano: Well, they definitely don't sound very hobit-like
Jillian Amster: No....not every halfling, or even kender, is a thief. But the ones that are are not generally accidental thieves. Though just about every kender is a kleptomaniac. They just see everything as a wonder, and want to just grab it to check out later. Then they forget they have it.
Lihan Taifun: and what happens to all that stuff they collect?
Jillian Amster: It gets "borrowed" by other kender, or falls out of their pouches, or they leave it somewhere to make room for something else. In kender society, an "heirloom" is something that the kender has for more than 3 weeks...lol
{Rhûn arrives. Greetings.}
Lihan Taifun: what else do we want to know about a race? I can't believe we ran out of things to say about halflings
AelKennyr Rhiano: Well, could you tell us about hobbits, Lihan? They are obviously different.
Jillian Amster: Hobbits? They're more rural, I guess. Generally shorter, stouter, and yes...the hairy feet! Jillian Amster grins and wiggles her toes.
Rhûn Darkmoon looks confused, 'Pardon I thought it was hobbit we were hearing of today?'
Lihan Taifun: Jillian is a "halfling" from outside the Tolkien tradition, so we have been hearing about her character
Rhûn Darkmoon nods in understanding, 'Ahh, thank you.'
Lihan Taifun: Tolkien hobbits are generally conservative, law-abiding to the point of stuffiness, and don't generally like "adventure"
Lihan Taifun: so the ones that do go for more than an afternoon stroll are considered eccentric
Jillian Amster: Pretty much. Very community-minded.
Rhûn Darkmoon chuckles and is glad he's not a hobbit
Lihan Taifun: right, very community minded. Lihan Taifun stares at Rhun. Nope, I can't imagine you as a hobbit
Rhûn Darkmoon grins back at the sweet lady, 'I'm glad of that.'
Jillian Amster: Favor food and drink, comfort and leisure.
Lihan Taifun: oh, right, as you said, hobbits love their food!
Jillian Amster: One of the ladies I RP with is a full hobbit.
Lihan Taifun: yes?
Jillian Amster: Though she's one of the eccentric types...she's a cleric of Yolanda.
Lihan Taifun: a "full hobbit" in the Tolkien style?
Jillian Amster: Pretty much. Hairy feet, great cook, doesn't like fighting or violence.
Lihan Taifun: heh heh. and who is Yolanda?
Jillian Amster: Yolanda is basically the halfling goddess of nature and healing, the Hearth Mother of the halflings and hobbits. Though dwarves honor her as well, even if they don't truly "worship" her.
Lihan Taifun: interesting
Jillian Amster: My character follows Brandobaris, the halfling god of trickery and theivery. I have a NC on him if anyone would like it. :)
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'With all respect, Lady Jillian, I.. I'd like to hear more on hobbits themselves.'... blushes
Jillian Amster: Oh, no problem.
AelKennyr Rhiano: I didn't know there were half-hobbits?
Jillian Amster: I've never heard of a half-hobbit. To be honest, most normal-sized folks like hobbits, dwarves, and so on tend to stick with their own kind.
AelKennyr Rhiano: Aren't hobbits rather clannish?
Jillian Amster: Oh yes...even within members of the same clan, certain family lines *within* the clan were cliquish. Take Bilbo's family... The Baggins part of the family had a very strained relationship with the Sackville-Bagginses.
Lihan Taifun: true
Rhûn Darkmoon looks at the Most Beautiful lady Lihan and smiles, 'My lady, they were rural then in their lifestyle? They were not city folk?'
Lihan Taifun: they had no large cities
AelKennyr Rhiano: Please, pardon me, all, but as I ask Lady Lihan to devote her time on researching hobbits, I would dearly like to hear from our resident Tolkien expert."
Rhûn Darkmoon smiles at Ael and nods in agreement.'
Lihan Taifun: oh, and I assumed everyone knew about hobbits already. didn't really do that much research. it true they were rural
Jillian Amster: As I recall, Bree was the largest urban area they were found in numbers.
AelKennyr Rhiano: No, I know a bit, but I would like to know more, in comparison to Jilly's kender.
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'I.. I do confess it is Tolkien's world that is my passion, even though I have yet to learn very much about it.'
Lihan Taifun: Bree, and the settlements in the Shire, would be more what we would call "villages". hobbit probably wouldn't enjoy a big city. I can't imagine one without a plot of garden
Jillian Amster: Bree might be considered a "town", since it was on a crossroads, but it also wasn't really a hobbit town.
Rhûn Darkmoon tilts is head in thought, 'So.. how the Shire was portrayed in the movie, was that accurate, do you think?'
Lihan Taifun: the way the Shire was portrayed in the movies was excellent
Rhûn Darkmoon smiles, 'Oh good. I like to be able to 'see' things and the images from that help a lot.'
Lihan Taifun: I think somewhere Tolkien describes hobbits as "clever, but they don't understand machinery more complicated than a bellows or a water mill". or something like that
AelKennyr Rhiano: But then again, do they have the need for more complicated machinery?
Lihan Taifun: that is just it, they don't need or want more complicated machinery
Rhûn Darkmoon grins, 'But they did seem very clever at finding food and Ale, my Lady.'
Lihan Taifun: and they love to have their legal documents written up very proper, with seven witnesses signing in red ink
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'Complicated legal documents hardly point to a simple mind then.'
Lihan Taifun: they never miss a meal if they can help it -- six meals a day
AelKennyr Rhiano: You never starve with a hobbit!
Lihan Taifun: and it was only at the end, when the Shire was becoming corrupted, that "industrialization" was setting in. and so Our Heros had to stop that industrialization, and restore the Shire to its roots (and leaving that out of movies was a serious blow to the themes of the book)
Jillian Amster: In the novel, wasn't the industrialization caused by Sauruman and Wyrmtongue? They had snuck into the Shire and taken residence?
Lihan Taifun: right, Jillian. so it was outside evil influences creating industrialization and pollution, and bad government
Rhûn Darkmoon nods and listens in utter fascination
Lihan Taifun: left to themselves, the hobbits had a rural, pre-industrial utopia
Jillian Amster: Then again, they were also very vulnerable.
Lihan Taifun: in what way?
Jillian Amster: Well, so long as they were undiscovered, they were fine. But the Age of Man was approaching, and the presence of the One Ring in the Shire had already basically exposed it to the world. Being innocent and without military defences isn't the best way to be discovered by the world, sadly.
Lihan Taifun: so they had very little defense against armed attack
Jillian Amster: Or manipulation, since they were ignorant of the world at large.
Lihan Taifun: does anything protect a people agains manipulation?
Jillian Amster: Knowledge helps, though people believe what they want to believe.
Lihan Taifun: more "sophisitocated" cultures succumb, as well
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'Other than the presence of the Ring though, they'd have little reason to be attacked I'd imagine?'
Jillian Amster: They had little to offer a conqueror.
Lihan Taifun: right
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'Except great parties, apparently.'.. grins
Jillian Amster giggles.
Lihan Taifun: which may be why they escaped notice all these centuries
Lihan Taifun: also, it should be noted that hobbits take their family trees seriously, and know all their relationships by heart, and are likely to recite them all, if you give them half a chance
Jillian Amster: Oh yes...tracking lineage is a popular art.
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'I.. I can understand the need for that.' Rhûn Darkmoon tilts his head in thought, 'But in such small communities, there would be a need for it, would there not? To ensure none married too closely or that families did not intermarry too often?'
Lihan Taifun: it was never explained what they consider "too closely", but you would think that would be an issue
Jillian Amster: Well, I believe there were examples of cousins marrying. How close the cousins were, I don't know.
Lihan Taifun: right
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'It seems to me, with their keeping of the family trees, and the legal documents that they were meticulous with the order of knowledge, yes?'
Jillian Amster: Knowledge they deemed important...more traditions than true knowledge.
Lihan Taifun: right, very concerned with keeping in order the knowledge they considered important
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'But were not their family trees true knowledge? As too with the documents?'
Jillian Amster: I wouldn't call it knowledge in the sense of discovery and education.
Lihan Taifun: books of geneology and local history were considered very important
AelKennyr Rhiano: Why not?
Lihan Taifun: they did not have great curiosity for what was outside their immediate lives
Jillian Amster: Exactly. They were more interested in tracking what was already established, not discovering new ideas.
Lihan Taifun: "education" seems to have been mostly on the apprenticeship system -- learning what would be immediately useful for a trade
AelKennyr Rhiano: Which is a pre-industrial form of education
Jillian Amster: It seemed to me that most hobbits followed the family business...farming mostly, or crafts.
Lihan Taifun: right
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'It was the useful, practical form of knowledge. Not the pursuit of information simply to gather it.' Rhûn Darkmoon smiles, 'I wonder just how thick the family recipe books became over time.'
AelKennyr Rhiano: and had been used for centuries, historically in Europe and England.
Lihan Taifun: and a pre-industrial society frequently values ideas that are historically known to work, rather than innovations, which might or might not work. a conservative society
AelKennyr Rhiano: Easy to see why. An idea goes bad, and people could starve, for example. I think it is important not to judge the hobbit way of life by industrial standards
Lihan Taifun: exactly. There is not a lot of margin for an idea that doesn't work. And not much place for someone who goes gallivanting around in the wilderness instead of doing productive work
AelKennyr Rhiano: Tolkien, I believe, grew up in the Birmingham area. So names like Underhill and the description of the industrialization of Isengard and the Shire..those were comments on England's industrialization.
Lihan Taifun: "cutting down trees and polluting the air and the rivers"
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'I think it was a very effective comment on it too, when I consider the destruction of the forests around Isengard.'
AelKennyr Rhiano: yes
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'Yes.
AelKennyr Rhiano: And we must not forget the influence of WWI.
Lihan Taifun: weapons technology?
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'The destruction of an innocent way of life, perhaps?'
Jillian Amster: And an aggressive fighting force.
AelKennyr Rhiano: yes, yes, and yes
AelKennyr Rhiano: Nevertheless there is a strong theme of despair in the face of new mechanized warfare that Tolkien himself had experienced in the trenches of World War I. The development of a specially bred Orc army, and the destruction of the environment to aid this, also have modern resonances; and the effects of the Ring on its users evoke the modern literature of drug addiction as much as any historic quest literature.
that came from Wiki, but i have encountered other sources who say the same.
When you are talking about the shire, Some describe the element of the passing of a mythical "Golden Age" as influenced by Tolkien's concerns about the growing encroachment of urbanisation and industrialisation into the "traditional" English lifestyle and countryside.
Traditional is a good description for the hobbit way of life.
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'I have often wondered why, with such a simple and fulfiling lifestyle such as that enjoyed by the hobbits, one would ever seek more.'
Lihan Taifun: very few of them did. Bilbo didn't want to go off on his adventure. and neither did Frodo
AelKennyr Rhiano: But the downside to their peaceful lifestyle was that it did not promote individuality.
Jillian Amster: Well...children, if they're lucky, live simple and blessed lives, but they still want to leave home and explore.
AelKennyr Rhiano: Lihan is right
Rhûn Darkmoon nods
AelKennyr Rhiano: So it would be fair to say that to rp a hobbit could be difficult, if you were true to their culture as explored in Tolkien's works.
Rhûn Darkmoon tilts his head and looks at Ael, 'How did their lifestyle not promote individuality? Can you explain that please?'
Jillian Amster: Well, you'd almost have to play an "eccentric" hobbit...or an NPC.
AelKennyr Rhiano: ooooh....Well, Rhun, in pre-industrial society, great emphasis is placed on conformity.
Rhûn Darkmoon nods and listens
AelKennyr Rhiano: Group mentality, the good of the whole. To strike out on your own, to stand out, to be a rebel...that was very dangerous, to the person and to their community. It happened far less than books and movies portray.
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'So how would you definite individuality? You are not talking of personality but more living a life that pursues individual interest rather than a collective interest?
Jillian Amster: One of the worst punishments in early colonial America was banishment.
AelKennyr Rhiano: Correct, Rhun.
Rhûn Darkmoon nods, 'Ahh, thank you for explaining that.'
AelKennyr Rhiano blushes...np
Rhûn Darkmoon smiles shy back
Lihan Taifun: or you would need to play a character who was forced by extreme circumstances to do something that wasn't in his nature
AelKennyr Rhiano: yes
Jillian Amster: True, but that still qualified as "eccentricity" in the eyes of Tolkien's hobbits.
AelKennyr Rhiano: But the tendency in rpers is to play a hobbit with wanderlust, forgetting that it was not that quality that thrust Bilbo or Frodo into the world beyond the Shire.
Lihan Taifun: Even the Tooks,who were considered "adventurous" ... might go on a trip of a couple days to Bree
Rhûn Darkmoon: 'Perhaps that is because their attention is drawn to the heroes, as attention so often is. So few in RP in any role really seek to play an ordinary person, doing ordinary things. Yet.. yet these are the ones who are the cornerstone of society.'
Jillian Amster: Well, once they had come back, they never really fit back in with the others. Bilbo wanted to explore again, and Frodo kept correspondence with elves. Even Sam, who stayed behind, stood out as an almost mythical character. Hobbit roleplayers could have grown up influenced by that.
AelKennyr Rhiano: And who often have the greatest adventures....looks at Shawn...right?
Rhûn Darkmoon smiles, 'Indeed they do.'
AelKennyr Rhiano smiles
Shawn Daysleeper smiles
AelKennyr Rhiano: Shawn has taken a sea merchant and become one of the most loved rp characters of the 4th Age.
Lihan Taifun: he has!
Shawn Daysleeper blushes
Rhûn Darkmoon smiles and nods in total agreement
Lihan Taifun: it doesn't hurt that Nole is one of the few characters in Alqualonde who can cook
AelKennyr Rhiano: lol And Lihan has taken a dwarf mother, and made everyone wait with anticipation to see if she would be safe.