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I was just pondering some aspects of the shoelessness of hobbits

posted 9 years ago by grazatt
4 replies | jump to latest

Ok, Tolkien said that hobbits did not wear shoe as the tops of their feet were covered in thick hair (protecting them from the cold) and the bottoms had thick soles (protecting them from sharp objects).

However, given the fact that there was no motorized transport and everyone relied on horses,donkeys,oxen to get around why was steeping in poo not a problems for hobbits? (the movies implied that hobbits had something akin to modern plumbing so I guess they didn't worry about steeping in each-other's waste , but I don't know if this is canon)

[–] indy_go_blue44 9 years ago

I would assume that Tolkien didn't get into the nuances of what hobbits stepped into because readers would take this as symbolic of something and probably not applicable to the lives of mid-20th century people.

👀

[–] PKLarkins 8 years ago

When you go barefoot a lot, you learn to steer clear of these things.

Earth without art is just "eh."

[–] contreraschz 8 years ago

In the Back to the Future III DVD they explain that in the saloon scene at the beginning Bufford Tannen was originally intended to be stained with horse manure instead of a spittoon until a crew member that had grown up in a farm pointed out that touching manure wasn't a big deal for rural people manure because manure is everwhere. I figure it's the same with the Shire.

[–] PKLarkins 8 years ago

Hobbits didn't use ponies that much, and they never used horses, donkeys or oxen. They liked to walk.

It's probable that people used to pick up what manure there was to use on their gardens and fields. They didn't have any other fertilizer.

Earth without art is just "eh."