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Old 04-13-2017, 06:20 AM   #13
PrinceOfTheHalflings
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc View Post
I think hewhoarisesinmight is right about the medieval measure of time. Concerning hobbits - as we know, hobbits had many things which were not that much medieval (umbrellas...), so perhaps they had even mechanical clock?
I realise that this comment was made 10 years ago, but I often see the Hobbits' use of umbrellas mentioned as some kind of unwarranted intrusion from the "modern world". However, collapsible umbrellas similar to what we use today have existed for at least 2000 years - being described in ancient Chinese texts - and indeed one from the first century AD was recently found in a Korean tomb. The technology may well have existed for centuries before that.

In any case, simple umbrellas existed for thousands of years before that in various cultures, and it isn't obvious that the umbrellas in the Shire are anything like modern ones in any case.

Back on topic, the idea of clocks is also pretty ancient. Water powered mechanical clocks existed in Ancient Greece, Rome and China - although were probably fairly rare. Sundials and other timekeeping methods were quite common. As far as ancient cultures being able to tell time by some kind of division of the day into hours - well, even a culture with only sundials would understand the idea. The Ancient Egyptians divided the day up into 24 hours - which seems to have stuck with later civilizations in the West. They also developed the water clock, an accurate time measuring device, at least 3,500 years ago.

The English word "clock" derives from the Middle English clokke - which means "bell", and of course in earlier times bells would be rung to mark the passing of hours. Clokke is cognate with Middle Dutch, French and Latin words that also mean bell.

As with "umbrella" I don't necessarily think that we are meant to think that "clock" means a Victorian Era mechanical model. It makes perfect sense that if the Hobbits had a complicated Calendar (which we known they did) then they would also be interested in measuring the passage of time in units of measure smaller than a day. Perhaps the Hobbbits borrowed the actual design of their clocks from Dwarves (or Elves) or perhaps they even bought such things from the Dwarves.

As for Ghân-buri-Ghân - I'm sure he was a quick learner!
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