Written in golden ink, but who read it?

[Kalimac]

Hello fellow Downers, a wildly trivial question which came to mind as I was writing thank you notes. For Bilbo's famous Long-Expected Party, of course, all the splendid invitations were written in golden ink, and sent out to about three-quarters of the Shire (the other quarter just turning up anyway); I believe there's reference to hobbits anxiously awaiting the postman for their invites. And of course, after the party, there are all those wonderful gift-labels "For the collection of Hugo Bracegirdle, from a contributor" and so forth, along with the more "serious" presents for the Gaffer and so forth.

All well and good. The only question I have about that is, how did the hobbits read all of these things? Tolkien makes reference to hobbits learning to cook "which they learn before their letters (which many never reach)" so the implication is pretty clear that a good portion, if not the majority, of the Shire, is functionally illiterate, with Bilbo and Frodo, as the local gentry, being the big readers of the group. With the invitations it *might* not be such a big deal - if you get a splendid, golden-ink invitation with the Bag End crest, or whatever, it would be pretty clear what it was for. But how about the gift labels? Even assuming that most of Bilbo's relations were fairly upper-crust and mostly able to read, that still leaves the presents for the "poorer folk." How did they figure out what they got? Did Frodo (or more possibly Merry) stand up front and say "Annnnd for Gaffer Gamgee....this beautiful....SACK OF POTATOES AND WAISTCOAT!" Can't quite picture it, somehow smilies/smile.gif.

Any ideas? Just curious, I'd love to know if anyone has a hypothesis (or even if you don't smilies/smile.gif).

[Nevfeniel]

Hmmm. . . perhaps certain people were invited to Bag End, and when they arrived, Frodo would give him/her his/her gift. That's how I always imagined it.

[Losthuniel]

im not the most intelligent of people here, but i think it said that Frodo was helping people find their gifts, and stopping people from taking things that were not labelled for them. that was why he was so tired out when Gandalf came by. Just my thoughts.

[Gandalf_theGrey]

Hail and Well Met, Kalimac.

* bows an introductory greeting, offers you a pinch of Longbottom Leaf for your smoking pleasure * Anyone who shares my own deep appreciation for all things Hobbit I like to consider an automatic friend. smilies/smile.gif

Perhaps this information may be helpful. In any case, I find it intriguing.

Now the Fallohides, being somewhat less shy and more worldly than the other breeds, had learned the art of writing from the Dunedain, and in this, as in many other things, they were the first among Hobbits, so it should not be surprising that the Fallohide strain was well represented in the choice of the messengers. But when the messengers going forth into the land came upon scattered groups of Hobbits living in holes in the riverbanks or in hollow trees, and read to them from the scrolls, they found that they were asked to read the messages over and over again, so keen were these Hobbits to hear the words of their estranged kindred. And so it was that the wandering hobbits gladly forsook the wilderness and came to The Shire, welcomed by their kindred, and were there free to make their living as circumstances and their inclinations dictated. As it happened, the three sorts of Hobbits tended towards different sorts of livelihoods, so there was little tendency towards friction between them, and a great advantage in the diversity of talents. Once the Stoors and Harfoots realized the advantages of reading and writing, schools were established and they learned quickly; within a mere hundred years or so they became nearly as proficient as their Fallohide teachers.


This proffered explanation hails from the following website, which to my mind offers a goodly, whimsical wealth of information on Hobbit anthropology and culture:
http://www.shirepost.com/HistoryPractice.html

This website also gives quite a fascinating historical account of the development of the messenger service / postal service in the Shire.

At your Service,

Gandalf the Grey

[ June 19, 2002: Message edited by: Gandalf_theGrey ]

[Niphredil Baggins]

Well, I sure learned first to read and write my own name, and I would imagine the hobbits most knew that too, since it would be so useful- I mean, their official papers might require the signatures of three witnesses in red ink; them being hobbits, maybe the witnesses didn't actually have to read the stuff! smilies/smile.gif

[Estelyn Telcontar]

That was a wonderful site with a whimsical explanation indeed, Gandalf! I loved:
within a mere hundred years or so they became nearly as proficient as their Fallohide teachers. smilies/wink.gif

[ June 20, 2002: Message edited by: Estelyn Telcontar ]

[Aldagrim Proudfoot]

Thanks for the link Gandalf.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Gandalf -- That website is a lot of fun. My RPG character is based on it, as she is a member of the Shire messenger service and is also a Fallohide. However, a lot of what is in that website would definitely fall under the category of fanfiction rather than "canon" as it was mostly made up out of someone's head. That includes the bit about reading and schools, I believe. (correct me if I'm wrong)

However, I will say that the existence of a messenger service, which the Hobbit definitely implies, suggests that someone was capable of reading beyond just the richest folk.

By the way, I have a shire postal map hanging in my house which shows the various communities included in the routes and also indcates the required postage. You can get the stamps too, but those I don't have!

sharon, the 7th age hobbit

[Gandalf_theGrey]

Estelyn Telcontar: and
Aldagrim Proudfoot:

Am glad you both like the link. smilies/smile.gif

sharon, the 7th age hobbit:

Yes, you're quite right about the information at that Shire website being unofficial and not strict canon. In fact, you might almost consider it a loose cannon. * horribly bad pun, I know, worse for being anachronistic! *

That said, we share the same sentiments that the website's a lot of fun. And I completely agree with your outlook regarding Shire literacy as surmised from the existence of messengers in Bilbo Baggins's wonderful book, There and Back Again. Finally, that Shire map of yours must be a work of art. If I weren't such a wanderer and had a reliable wall to call my own, I'd happily display such a map myself. smilies/smile.gif

At your Service,

Gandalf the Grey

[mark12_30]

Gandalf, Sharon, et al:

*bows a greeting*

I also found that Shirepost map wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. I used it extensively while writing, and imagine my horror when I found that there was disagreement on the actual location of Long Cleeve! It is one of my main locations, and having it next to Lake Evendim is absolutely critical for the peice... but Karen Wynn Fonstad has Long Cleeve out west, towards the White Downs.

Feh! They why would they be the "North Tooks" of Long Cleeve??? They'd be the "West-Northwest Tooks Of Long Cleeve." She MUST be wrong.

SHIREPOST MAP RULES!!!

At least, as far as my story is concerned!

--Helen

[Nimrodel]

Thank You Gandalf the Grey. That was wonderfully informative.

[Feadolena Nolfare]

What an interesting problem. Can't believe that never occurred to me smilies/tongue.gif
I do love a good hobbit-related website, many thanks, Gandalf!
Helen- right on! that's my name too! *grin* smilies/biggrin.gif

[Belin]

That’s a very interesting site, Gandalf. Thanks.

On the other hand, I wonder if this is actually a literacy issue at all. Whether other hobbits could read the labels or not, I would certainly expect Frodo to supervise the claiming of the presents, probably checking all the labels himself. After all, what else keeps Lobelia from walking off with everything?

Of course, I’m sure he’d be very polite about it. smilies/wink.gif

--Belin Ibaimendi

[merlilot]

*bows in true hobbit-style*

Greetings and well-met, everyone!

(Yall had a good idea - so sue me for stealing it)

Anyway, I want one of those post maps. Where can I get one?

As for the names and labels and stuff: I'm sure they knew their names. I doubt Bilbo would have written a joke on there if they couldn't read it, anyway.