Hobbit "social" mores, aye, we wonders... - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

***Gilthalion*** · 12-20-2001, 04:40 PM

Perhaps "rural middle-class Victorian sensibilities" strikes nearer the mark. I suppose that rural folk are less brittle than city folk of that era. I'm not thinking of tea and crumpets Victoriana, but of the still homely and simple merry folk of the country.

Watch the old black and white version of "THE SECRET GARDEN" some time to get an idea of the difference.

Tolkien's Shire was a radiant idealized memory of the pastoral England of his childhood, a society that was already passing under the domination of industrialization.

The common folk of that day was more like the folk of Chaucer's day than we are today.

Rural European peasantry and English yeomen had plenty of strictures and customs. They married late (it is thought to keep population pressures down), had long courtships, and were innocent of the cosmopolitan lifestyles that were more like our own.

More commonsense and down to earth in many ways. More religious. Less apt to change.

12-20-2001, 04:40 PM	#8
*Gilthalion* Hobbitus Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: South Farthing Posts: 635	Perhaps "rural middle-class Victorian sensibilities" strikes nearer the mark. I suppose that rural folk are less brittle than city folk of that era. I'm not thinking of tea and crumpets Victoriana, but of the still homely and simple merry folk of the country. Watch the old black and white version of "THE SECRET GARDEN" some time to get an idea of the difference. Tolkien's Shire was a radiant idealized memory of the pastoral England of his childhood, a society that was already passing under the domination of industrialization. The common folk of that day was more like the folk of Chaucer's day than we are today. Rural European peasantry and English yeomen had plenty of strictures and customs. They married late (it is thought to keep population pressures down), had long courtships, and were innocent of the cosmopolitan lifestyles that were more like our own. More commonsense and down to earth in many ways. More religious. Less apt to change. __________________ Please read my fan fiction novel THE HOBBITS. Wanna hear me read Tolkien? Gilthalion's Grand Adventures!