Quote:
To the last battle at Fornost with the Witch-lord of Angmar they sent some bowmen to the aid of the king, or so they maintained, though no tales of Men record it.
Were the little guys lying?
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I don't think they would downright lie ! Perhaps as the years passed and the tale was told and retold, the number af archers they sent would increase and their feats exaggerated etc . Perhaps it was only a very small number or, as the Phantom suggested, they might have arrived too late .. but anyhow it was in this battle the North Kingdom ended and the Dunedain had to flee. Perhaps those who had seen the hobbit-archers hadn't survived the battle to tell of it... Did those archers themselves return to the Shire at all ? We just don't know it.
How do you suppose Tolkien thought the Hobbits would live in
his time? (Since he hinted they were still around in the NorthWest of the old World, although rare and dwindled.) They could hide themselves, but what about their settlements and tilled fields ?
edit: cross-posted with Estelyn.
I agree, this bit about the poor hobbits living in primitive burrows, sounds disturbing, once I stop to think of it! And what about the very rich ones?
Where did the fabulous wealth of Bilbo's father Bungo originally come from?
The Shire isn't just a community of farmers... there are gentlehobbits and working class hobbits ...and even paupers?
Really,the Shire is not all that idyllic as most people seem to think!