Sport in Middle-Earth - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Elianna · 06-14-2004, 11:49 AM

You are quite right Selmo (although it's found in "Flies and Spiders"), in The Hobbit there's a whole list of "quiet games of the aiming and throwing sort"that Hobbits play: quoits, dart-throwing, shooting at the wind, bowls, and ninepins. Now I have no idea what half of those are, but still, they're nice Hobbit-games.

The Moria orcs might've played "Pin the wings on the Balrog".

(well, I think it's funny...)

I'm in the process of making up a hand game for the little girls of Minas Tirith to play, though I doubt that counts as a sport.

Carnimírië · 06-14-2004, 12:12 PM

Well, Deagol was a great fishing enthusiast...before his untimely death...(wonders if fishing is considered a Middle-earth sport).

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The Moria orcs might've played "Pin the wings on the Balrog".

mark12_30 · 06-14-2004, 01:11 PM

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Hobbit croquet, complete with flamingos - wait, wrong book

Perhaps just the wrong edition. I think hobbits played eggplant-croquet with emus.

Rimbaud · 06-15-2004, 05:22 AM

I was always enamoured with the tale of the invention of golf; it is fun when Mr T (ever seen them in the same room?) loosens his belt a little and lets his fairly dry wit shine through.

The Squatter of Amon Rûdh · 06-15-2004, 05:33 AM

I couldn't agree more. Giving the most unmartial of games such a warlike and gruesome origin is a stroke of comic genius. The obvious implication is that the traditional golfing outfit of ludicrous patterned sweaters, chequered plus-fours and a jaunty bag of a hat are, in fact, descended from those brightly coloured clothes so beloved of hobbits.

Estelyn Telcontar · 06-15-2004, 06:31 AM

In rereading the Prologue, I found a reference to hobbits and hunting:

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...for sport killing nothing that lived...

So hunting as a sport was not practiced among hobbits - I wonder, does that tell us that JRRT didn't approve of the English aristocracy's sport hunting? His attitude toward the use of weapons both for provision of food and for fighting is that of necessity - only when needed.

Sauron_the_Abhorred · 06-18-2004, 12:51 PM

I remember one part of the Hobbit, when the Bilbo and Co. were crossing the Misty Mts., and they see and hear the Stone-Giants, it says something about how the Stone-Giants could have picked Bilbo up and kicked him like a foot-ball . Maybe it was just a way of saying what the Giants could've done, but I think it may mean that Hobbits had football...

06-14-2004, 11:49 AM	#1
Elianna Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ad finem itineris Posts: 384	You are quite right Selmo (although it's found in "Flies and Spiders"), in The Hobbit there's a whole list of "quiet games of the aiming and throwing sort"that Hobbits play: quoits, dart-throwing, shooting at the wind, bowls, and ninepins. Now I have no idea what half of those are, but still, they're nice Hobbit-games. The Moria orcs might've played "Pin the wings on the Balrog". (well, I think it's funny...) I'm in the process of making up a hand game for the little girls of Minas Tirith to play, though I doubt that counts as a sport. __________________ Enyale cuilenya, ú-enyale mandenya.

06-15-2004, 05:22 AM	#4
Rimbaud The Perilous Poet Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Heart of the matter Posts: 1,062	Plus-fours, plus fores I was always enamoured with the tale of the invention of golf; it is fun when Mr T (ever seen them in the same room?) loosens his belt a little and lets his fairly dry wit shine through. __________________ And all the rest is literature

06-15-2004, 05:33 AM	#5
The Squatter of Amon Rûdh Spectre of Decay Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Bar-en-Danwedh Posts: 2,178	Nine-irons for mortal men... I couldn't agree more. Giving the most unmartial of games such a warlike and gruesome origin is a stroke of comic genius. The obvious implication is that the traditional golfing outfit of ludicrous patterned sweaters, chequered plus-fours and a jaunty bag of a hat are, in fact, descended from those brightly coloured clothes so beloved of hobbits. __________________ Man kenuva métim' andúne? Last edited by The Squatter of Amon Rûdh; 06-15-2004 at 06:50 AM.

06-18-2004, 12:51 PM	#7
Sauron_the_Abhorred Animated Skeleton Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ephel Duath Posts: 40	I remember one part of the Hobbit, when the Bilbo and Co. were crossing the Misty Mts., and they see and hear the Stone-Giants, it says something about how the Stone-Giants could have picked Bilbo up and kicked him like a foot-ball . Maybe it was just a way of saying what the Giants could've done, but I think it may mean that Hobbits had football...