Poll of the Day > So Hobbits are basically stoners, right?

(+) Yeah! (+)

They literally smoke weed all day and don't want to do work
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That's a generalization, there is that one old granny who is all like "why u not work, and you too you worthless wizard!"
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The Hobbits are useless layabouts. If Middle-earth actually existed, Sauron would've won. The whole thing is the definition of deus ex machina bullshit like some bad fanfic. At least EA, to their credit, let you slaughter everyone in the Shire in Battle for Middle-earth II and had a believable flow of events. Dump on them as a company all you want, but at least they got that right.
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Modern audiences always assume or project that pipeweed is supposed to be marijuana, but it seems kind of obvious in context that it was actually supposed to be tobacco (and is actually referred to as such a couple times in the books). The personality of hobbits is generally based on old backwoods English farmer types (more specifically, the "up North" or Yorkshire type stereotypes), who would probably enjoy a pint or three and a nice pipe.

Tolkien was basically presenting the hobbits as his sort of idealized perfect culture, but he almost certainly would have hated hippies, so he never would have seen them that way (and probably would have been annoyed by people who do).


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TheCyborgNinja posted...

The Hobbits are useless layabouts. If Middle-earth actually existed, Sauron would've won.

You're forgetting the R2-D2 of Bag End, motherfuckin' Samwise Gamgee.

Red_Frog posted...

TheCyborgNinja posted...

The Hobbits are useless layabouts. If Middle-earth actually existed, Sauron would've won.

You're forgetting the R2-D2 of Bag End, motherfuckin' Samwise Gamgee.

Except in the Rankin~Bass version
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

Modern audiences always assume or project that pipeweed is supposed to be marijuana, but it seems kind of obvious in context that it was actually supposed to be tobacco (and is actually referred to as such a couple times in the books). The personality of hobbits is generally based on old backwoods English farmer types (more specifically, the "up North" or Yorkshire type stereotypes), who would probably enjoy a pint or three and a nice pipe.

Tolkien was basically presenting the hobbits as his sort of idealized perfect culture, but he almost certainly would have hated hippies, so he never would have seen them that way (and probably would have been annoyed by people who do).

Pretty much all this. They have an idyllic agrarian lifestyle, although it's a wonder that they manage to exist undisturbed given that Middle-Earth has things like bandits and Hobbits aren't exactly able fighters, etc.
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ParanoidObsessive posted...

but it seems kind of obvious in context that it was actually supposed to be tobacco (and is actually referred to as such a couple times in the books).

It's referred to as a variant of Nicotiana so it might not be exactly the tobacco we're familiar with, but probably close enough for me.
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Zeus posted...

Pretty much all this. They have an idyllic agrarian lifestyle, although it's a wonder that they manage to exist undisturbed given that Middle-Earth has things like bandits and Hobbits aren't exactly able fighters, etc.

I thought you had certain families like the Tooks who guarded the Shire.

Blightzkrieg posted...

Zeus posted...

Pretty much all this. They have an idyllic agrarian lifestyle, although it's a wonder that they manage to exist undisturbed given that Middle-Earth has things like bandits and Hobbits aren't exactly able fighters, etc.

I thought you had certain families like the Tooks who guarded the Shire.

Did they actually guard it, though? I recall the Tooks being described in the Hobbit as having an adventurer or two in the family tree, but I can't recall it ever referencing fighting ability. You also don't have anything resembling defenses in the films -- you'll recall that a lot of other towns had walls or towers.
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IIRC the Tooks had historically lead the Hobbits in wars against Orcs and engaged in guerilla warfare after Saruman conquered the Shire. I could be mistaken though, it's been years since I read the books.

tbh, I only read The Hobbit and not the LotR trilogy so I can't really say either way. At the very least, the talk of guerilla warfare does suggest that the shire was largely absent any actual defenses although, in all honesty, I'm not sure how effective any defense would be for a township of that kind.
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I don't believe it was at all fortified at the time of the War of the Ring. My understanding is that the Shire and other Hobbit areas had historically engaged in warfare and defended themselves but had been experiencing a long period of peace.

Blightzkrieg posted...

IIRC the Tooks had historically lead the Hobbits in wars against Orcs and engaged in guerilla warfare after Saruman conquered the Shire. I could be mistaken though, it's been years since I read the books.

I seem to remember the Tooks being pretty good archers, and generally a little bigger and stronger than the average hobbit
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yup.

Tell me you wouldn't want to just eat drink and smoke all the long leafs you can without doing shitelse
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they're taking the hobbits to isengard
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While the Tooks (and the Oldbucks before them) were the hereditary line of Thains, they only commanded an armed force in emergencies to protect the Shire from invasion.

The Shire did have a police force known as the Shirriffs or the Watch. And Hobbits specifically working the border were known as Bounders. But their numbers were inadequate to thwart a determined invasion force.

The real reason the Shire was mostly undisturbed is because the Rangers guarded the borders outside the Shire.


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they smoke and eat all day

they're stoners
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umH5WRu3kgw
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Energy Surge posted...

While the Tooks (and the Oldbucks before them) were the hereditary line of Thains, they only commanded an armed force in emergencies to protect the Shire from invasion.

The Shire did have a police force known as the Shirriffs or the Watch. And Hobbits specifically working the border were known as Bounders. But their numbers were inadequate to thwart a determined invasion force.

The real reason the Shire was mostly undisturbed is because the Rangers guarded the borders outside the Shire.

Don't forget the fact that they border friendly countries
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I don't know about the whole stoner thing, since pipeweed was more akin to tobacco than cannabis, but yes, they do eat a lot. Six/Seven meals a day is quite a bit, though a normal person could manage that if the meals weren't over-indulgent.

It's simply a laid-back lifestyle that the Hobbits have. No need to rush about, no worries aside from their daily routines, no lack of fresh air and green landscapes. It's peaceful, though I can see why some Hobbits would prefer adventures - peacefulness can lead to boredom for some.
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Yeah they're hippies that can hug one tree and raise an army of them.
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are there hobbit criminals

do they even have jail
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Zeus posted...

They have an idyllic agrarian lifestyle, although it's a wonder that they manage to exist undisturbed given that Middle-Earth has things like bandits and Hobbits aren't exactly able fighters, etc.

It's kind of mentioned in the books that a large part of that is the fact that the Shire doesn't really have to deal with things like bandits or orcs because the Rangers sort of patrol their borders and keep the nasty things out. They're sort of isolated from the darker side of the world.

Granted, hobbits who leave the Shire (even to travel as far as Bree) would be more forced to deal with those sorts of things, but it's also kind of established that hobbits leaving the Shire is an incredibly rare thing. There's a reason why everybody thinks Bilbo is a weirdo for going on his adventure.


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