What's so special about '50'? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Linnahiril Tinnufinwen · 02-21-2004, 01:16 AM

I think that, though fifty is definitely an older Hobbit, we must remember that thirty-three was the Hobbit coming-of-age. Thirty-three to them was like eighteen to us. Their twenties (or "tweens"), was like our teens. So a fifty-year-old Hobbit is definitely going to look younger than a fifty-year-old human. Not to say that they were really young; they were probably equvalent to a human in their thirties.

As for the reason Tolkien chose this particular age, I really have no idea what he was trying to do, if in fact he was trying to do anything.

02-21-2004, 01:16 AM	#10
Linnahiril Tinnufinwen Haunting Spirit Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: California Posts: 77	I think that, though fifty is definitely an older Hobbit, we must remember that thirty-three was the Hobbit coming-of-age. Thirty-three to them was like eighteen to us. Their twenties (or "tweens"), was like our teens. So a fifty-year-old Hobbit is definitely going to look younger than a fifty-year-old human. Not to say that they were really young; they were probably equvalent to a human in their thirties. As for the reason Tolkien chose this particular age, I really have no idea what he was trying to do, if in fact he was trying to do anything. __________________ The world is a great book, of which they who never stir from home read only a page