I think it's funny that trolls have last names. That's what "Huggins" is supposed to be, in context. In the LOTR-Middle Earth, last names are a purely hobbitish thing. Men, Elves, and Dwarves do not have them, and creatures of evil barely have first names. And here's a typical troll standing about with a last name. Seems that Tolkien had a much more "human" conception of trolls, and a more modern one.
Also, about Bilbo not knowing the "basic" skills of immitating birds -
Quote:
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But there are no legends of their deeds, for it is said that they do little, and avoid the sight of men, being able to vanish in a twinkling; and they can change their voices to resemble to piping of birds. ~Theoden, The Road to Isengard
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Since Merry and Pippin don't gainsay Theoden, I assumed this is true; what an author gives as a character's opinion is fact to the reader, unless contradicted by another fact or opinion. I never realized any problem here until this discussion took place. By LOTR logic Bilboo shouldn't have found it that difficult to immitate an owl. To make different owl hoots - that's understandable, this was probably added by the Professor as a hyperbole, but not to immitate birds. The "typical hobbit" of TH seems much more "modernised" and "city-people" than the LOTR hobbits...
Yeah, yeah, TH and LOTR are to be considered separate stories, they shouldn't be compared for canonicity, etc, ok, I'm going.
