Boromir, pointing at the hobbits: I don’t know how your ages work

Boromir, pointing at Legolas and Gimli: I definitely don’t know how either of your ages work

Boromir, pointing at Aragorn: I thought I knew how your age worked but apparently I was wrong

Boromir, pointing at Gandalf: I especially don’t know how your age works

Gandalf: It doesn’t, but carry on

animatedamerican replied to your post “I want to know what was going on with the part of Fellowship where…”

those are for SURE rhyming idioms like “red sky at night, sailor’s delight” that they’re quoting at each other.

although i do not doubt for a second that they could make those up on demand if called for.

Just a couple days into the quest the hobbits start playing “Gondorian idom, or just Boromir and Aragorn at it again?” because the two of them keep saying stuff like this without warning

#no hes….80 when he goes on the quest for the ring#and bilbo is 100 at the start of that quest#and we know bikbo turned 51 on the quest#so aragorn is 30/31 when hes in rivendell#i mean…..sure but that would mean that legolas went i. search of a child ranger at the end of BOTFA#im just saying

That’s the movie timeline! He would still be only 20 or so by that particular reckoning (it’s actually Bilbo’s 111th birthday that sets things off), but in the books there are actually 17 years between Bilbo’s birthday party and the start of the Quest. Hence, Bilbo is 128 when the bulk of LotR takes place and Aragorn is 87, which is a difference of 41 years. So with Bilbo being 50/51 for the events of the Hobbit, that puts Aragorn (or rather, little Estel) at solidly 9 or 10.

You can also calculate it from the dates on the timeline in the Appendices. Aragorn is born in the year 2931 (specifically on March 1st – for some reason, he’s one of the only characters that Tolkien gave a full birthday!), and the events of the Hobbit take place in the year 2941.

All that to say yes, the movies have a completely different timeline, so depending on the canon you prefer it might be different! But according to Tolkien he was 10, and I think that’s incredibly funny.

#it’s just wild because most of the Lorien elves are very reserved and distrustful and probably full of Elf Depression#but this one dude is just#really upset that he didn’t have the chance to teach this hobbit about Fancy Elf Rope#i love him

I can’t emphasize how much this has undone me. The fact that in Middle Earth the stars are so heavily associated with the elves, in their very mythology and throughout every single work, but Gimli, Gimli who grows so close to an elf despite their rocky start, Gimli who is named elf-friend, Gimli who sails to Valinor with Legolas – his name means star, too. And Tolkien absolutely did it on purpose! The themes! The symbolism! Sir!!!

Aragorn, twenty years old, only just found out about the whole “destined to be king” thing, confiding in his mother: Arwen is so beautiful…

Gilraen: Well look who’s aiming high!

arofili replied to your post “Oh, other LotR thoughts: Obsessed with the fact that the alternate…”

To be fair tossing the cursed magic item into the ocean worked for Maglor

cozyastronaut replied to your post “Oh, other LotR thoughts: Obsessed with the fact that the alternate…”

Just like good ol Maglor

And how is Maglor doing emotionally. I know it’s you Glorfindel.

Bows and arrows: $200
Armor: $150
Cool dungeons: $800
Wine: $3,600
Fortifications that would keep Gollum from escaping: $150

Someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. The Greenwood is dying

eregyrn-falls replied to your post “How bothered do you think Thranduil is that by the Third Age there are…”

Just for the drama of it, I would like to say: Very, Very Bothered. But: would he (or anyone aside from Elrond and Galadriel) actually know that Gandalf has Narya? Like that’s revealed as Gandalf is about to get on the ship at the Grey Havens, right… but I’ve always been at least a little unclear as to whether that is only a revelation to the hobbits/us readers. (And I have no memory for if it’s mentioned in the appendices or elsewhere.)

Did they just think Narya was “lost”?

I think this may be a case where there isn’t conclusive information, in which case the “just for the drama of it” rule is both fair play and how I usually like my headcanons/interpretations of canon, so I’m inclined to say he could know.

Alternatively, maybe he doesn’t know for sure but he has a suspicion, and is the kind of person who would be real salty about it anyways.

cozyastronaut replied to your post “How bothered do you think Thranduil is that by the Third Age there are…”

^^^ agreed. Also, I forgot that Sinda elves are not Eldar. So again, WOULD he care for Feanorian trinkets?

Fair point, I didn’t note that! I think you could make a call either way – since Celebrimbor was a descendent of Fëanor and a Noldor (in the published version of Silmarillion at least – it looks like, as with many things, Tolkien bounced around a few ideas), history might be the defining factor. But at the same time, the rings were Second Age creations contemporary to him and he might perceived them a little differently than, say, the Silmarils.

The other variable, I suppose, is the shifting politics of Middle Earth by the time of LotR. My main thought re: him being super bitter about it was that the rings are powerful artifacts that explicitly help Elrond and Galadriel maintain their realms and keep them safe and protected – while Mirkwood is the realm under the most direct onslaught for hundreds of years before it’s everyone else’s problem thanks to Dol Guldur, and thus is stuck with shrinking territory as they fight against assorted forces of darkness and could probably really use the extra help! I could see there being some jealousy there however he feels about the rings’ creation. (That’s just my two cents though)

#evidence: part of Merry and Pippin’s prep for leaving the Shire is to re-write the Misty Mountain song#so they have a thematic send-off to sing#(and they otherwise don’t write poems/songs that we know of which makes it a lot funnier)#when Bilbo and Sam write songs they’re always to ‘an old tune’ which is very filk#yes i know that’s also how folk music in general works but consider: this is way more amusing#also Bilbo’s the sort of person who would semi-accidentally monopolize a circle#because he goes 'oh that reminds me of something’ after every song someone else sings#and then does a ten-minute ballad that he wrote#scribe rereads lotr#listen. listen: pre-Quest Rivendell filk circle

If there was a pre-Quest Rivendell filk circle I am 90% sure Legolas would have joined in also, 50% sure it would have been most of the hobbits’ first real interaction with him, and 100% sure that if it did happen it would have been really adorable