11-07-2003, 10:30 AM
It's been a long time since I've read Tolkien, so forgive the questions. Is there such a thing as hobbitish, or do hobbits just speak Westron (the common tongue that somehow everything on Middle Earth is able to speak)? And for that matter, is there anything that says that Westron is particularly different from English? I always thought of Tolkien's works as kind of a British mythology, and as such the human characters would presumably be speaking a real language rather than an imaginary one. Not sure if there is any basis for this or if it is just a conclusion I've jumped to, although in The Hobbit his description of hobbits seems to suggest that they still exist in our world today.
The other thought that popped into my mind was, is there any mention in Tolkien's works about the religious beliefs of Hobbits? I agree with your comment that it is unlikely for the hobbits to know much about the Valar... the Third Age hobbits mostly did not even know about their neighbors outside the Shire.
The other thought that popped into my mind was, is there any mention in Tolkien's works about the religious beliefs of Hobbits? I agree with your comment that it is unlikely for the hobbits to know much about the Valar... the Third Age hobbits mostly did not even know about their neighbors outside the Shire.