What shall we do with the drunken guardian...

[Balin999]

We all know the scene in the Hobbit when the elven guardians of the imprisoned dwarfs are drinking too much and therefore off guard.
And we all know that Tolkien actually wrote The Hobbit for his children.
I think that this goes a little bit too far, but could it be that Tolkien wanted to show his kids that drinking alcohol is dangerous not only to the body, but also for your head (if you take my meaning)?
Comments appreciated.

[Fincarnwen]

You might be interested in this if you can track down a copy:

Wells, Andrew. "The Drinks of Middle-Earth." Amon Hen 137 (January 1996), 9. [Drinking in the novels of English author J.R.R. Tolkien.]

I wouldn't over-analyse this - Tolkien liked his beer!

[Beren87]

That's true, the "coalbiters" club that Tolkien was a part of was pretty much all about drinking and reading Norse sagas.

[The Saucepan Man]

I agree. I don't think that JRRT was seeking to make any point here about the dangers of alcohol. Nor do I think the passage remotely likely to encourage children to drink alcohol. I would have thought that any child of Hobbit-reading age (unless they live in a tee-total society) will be aware that alcohol makes people act strangely or become sleepy (I know mine do smilies/eek.gif ).

I remember that one of my favourite films as a kid was Disney's "Dumbo", and I loved the scene where Dumbo and Timothy mouse get drunk and see the Pink Elephants on parade. And I'm none the worse for it ... oh, but then again ... smilies/wink.gif