Education in Middle Earth

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Of the Dwarves, we know they wrote rambling contracts in legalese (Thorin for instance), and their avidity for commerce and their natural acquisitiveness made them a likely race for cultural literacy; for where there are accountants, there is the writing of lists, documents, inventories and such. Tolkien mentions on several occasions the Dwarves' fondness for the Cirth, as well as their secret language.

We also know that dwarves could be very competent musicians--look at the effect their playing had on Bilbo.

Originally Posted by Morthoron

In the Shire, one would assume that the mass of the population was illiterate, save for the middle and upper classes (for whom there was a thriving postal service). For instance, the Gaffer, based on his colloquial and malaprop ridden speech, was illiterate, and Samwise only learned to read based on the kindly intervention of Bilbo and Frodo. Interestingly, we know some female Hobbits could read (based on their correspondence with Bilbo). I would assume the dissemination of knowledge was strictly a family affair, passed on from parents to children.

One wonders if each hobbit farm produced its own beer as I think once was done in English farming communities. Now brewing is a fine art! And there would be weaving and sewing and quilting as home work, for clothes and bed linens. Tapestry produced some art works of considerable historical importance in our own Ages--perhaps Arwen's influence as Queen might have been to inspire a LotR Bayeux Tapestry of the War of the Ring. We could speculate endlessly whether this would have been produced in The Shire or Gondor, or possibly by both, each society producing different sections. No doubt the reason for Tolkien's reticence in including this possibility, while he does mention Arwen's banner for Aragorn, lies more with the French ownership of the famous artefact concerning the Anglo Saxon defeat. Nothing French in his Legendarium!

Plus those family genealogies had to come from some form of literacy. And, as I posited above, any society which produces its own calendar is not devoid of knowledge.

A formal system of education is not the only means of developing character, industry, skill, and art. Just the most bureacratic.