2968 III, (S.R. 1368) Frodo* born (22nd September: S.R. 1st Winterfilth).
2982 III, (S.R. 1382) Meriadoc Brandybuck* born.
2983 III, (1383) Samwise Gamgee* born (6th April; S.R. 15th Astron).
2990 III, (S.R. 1390) Peregrin Took* born.
3001 III, (S.R. 1401) Bilbo leaves the Shire. Bilbo 111, Frodo 33 (coming of age).
3018 III, (S.R. 1418) Frodo ‘moved to Buckland’/ leaves the Shire, with his cousins Merry and Pippin and his gardener Sam. The four Hobbits meet ‘Strider’ and journey to Rivendell (23rd September – 20th October; S.R. 2nd Winterfilth – 29th Winterfilth).
Some things really do come around only with age. I’ll wager large sums of fake money that people who read the book at 50 will see a very different story than those who read it in their teens. It’s just impossible to imagine the effect of a lifetime of experience and experiences.
(You’ll see your parents a whole lot differently then too, but that’s another thread.)
But I still can’t understand why Tolkien made Aragorn 80. :dubious:
Aragorn is the last of the High Humans. Therefore he lives significantly longer and ages slower than normal men. Also, this is whay he is the only one who can lead the armies of men against Sauron.
IIRC, some of the Numenorians (High Humans) in The Silmarillion lived to be over 200 years old. This one guy who tried to take over the throne of Numenor died at age 99 – and it was considered a premature death!
In fact, I was young yet when I first read LotR and I think I got that message pretty well. Perhaps not as well as a 50 year old, but leaving a beloved and established home resonates with me.
Another thing, it is also established in the book that he liked to have adventures and had not entirely settled down (though of course he had gotten comfortable in the Shire too). He tended to hang out with a younger crowd, a classic Peter Pan complex. So I think Frodo’s feelings on leaving are rather complicated.
Hmm. I can see your point, Exapno. I first read LOTR at 12 or 13, which has probably led me to see things differently from you. Of course, my opinion of the story has changed in the decade since I first read it - perhaps when I’m a bit older, I’ll see things from your perspective.
With respect to Frodo being 50 when he leaves on his adventure, yes he would be middle aged if he were human, but as a hobbit he is only half way through his expected life span (we are told hobbits live to be 100 as often as not). So he is roughly equivalent to a regular human in their mid thirties. And we are clearly told that Frodo hasn’t visibly aged past 33, which is a third of his normal life span, or roughly 25 years old for a human. So if Frodo were a (non-Numenorean) human he would be 35 and look closer to 25.
Merry is “young adult” by hobbit standards and Pippin is simply a kid, which I think is the main reason Elrond is especially reluctant to let him join the Fellowship.
In the same way Aragorn at 80 is less than halfway through his expected life span, so he should look middle aged but with a lot of miles on him, which is more or less how the book describes him (and how the movie portrays him as well).
toadspittle, your cite is incorrect. According to Appendix C of the book, Sam is two years older than Merry, not one year younger.
Also, to nitpick a nitpick, Aragorn was 87 years old during the events of the trilogy. He was born in 2931, and the fellowship’s journey began in 3018.
Indeed, in Minas Tirith when he’s talking with what’s-his-name’s son, I seem to recall him saying that he’s “almost adult”, or words to that effect. As in, not quite a full adult yet, in Hobbit reckoning.
As for Elijah Wood as Frodo, Frodo in the books appears to stay at 33, due to the Ring, which for a Hobbit means just out of adolescence. So the actor playing Frodo should be a human just out of adolescence. So maybe Wood was a bit young, but not by much.
From the Encyclopedia of Arda:
<<The year of Sam’s birth is not absolutely certain. The date of III 2983 shown here follows the Tale of Years in Appendix B to The Lord of the Rings, but the family trees in Appendix C date Sam’s birth as SR 1380 (that is III 2980, three years earlier than the Tale of Years date). Tolkien seems to have added the reference in the Tale of Years at a comparatively late stage - it may represent a correction to the original date (which then remained in the family trees by mistake) or it may be an error in itself.>>
