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Originally Posted by davem
perhaps we both need to leave this particular issue where it is & look at the wider question?
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I agree; unless someone brings something new to that part of discussion, I believe we all said what could have been said.
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Originally Posted by davem
Also, I was thinking about the attitude of Hobbits to the Big Folk. It seems that in the Shire Men are seen almost, but not quite, as enemies. They are at the very least seen as a potential threat. Even the term 'Big Folk' seems to be used perjoratively, & they are percieved as enough of a threat post the War of the Ring that they have to be banned from entering the Shire
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The apparent deterioration of this relation was noted in HoME XII:
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Originally Posted by The Atani and their languages, Late Writings
With Men of normal stature they recognized their close kinship, whereas Dwarves or Elves, whether friendly or hostile, were aliens, with whom their relations were uneasy and clouded by fear. Bilbo's statement that the cohabitation of Big Folk and Little Folk in one settlement at Bree was peculiar and nowhere else to be found was probably true in his time (the end of the Third Age); but it would seem that actually Hobbits had liked to live with or near to Big Folk of friendly kind, who with their greater strength protected them from many dangers and enemies and other hostile Men, and received in exchange many services.
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