How old are the hobbits?

[Mason]

How old are the hobbits supposed to be? I know that Frodo is supposed to
be in his 50's, which I suppose isn't the equal to humans in their 50's.

But I was reading RoTK and Pippin stated he was still considered not
much older than a boy by his people. That in a couple of years he would
reach his "coming of age". So how old is the coming of age?

[Stuart Johnson]

On Sat, 24 Aug 2002 16:11:24 -0400 (EDT), Mas...@webtv.net (Mason)
wrote:

I seem to recall it said coming of age was at 30.

Stuart Johnson
stuart@_SPAM_BLOCK_inetnebr.com

Stuart's Castle http://incolor.inetnebr.com/stuart/
Henshin Hall Of Fame http://henshin.250x.com/

[Speaker-to-Customers]

33. It's stated on the second page (maybe even the first page in some
editions) of Chapter One, "A Long-expected Party", of "Fellowship of the
Ring". And in other parts of the same chapter.

It is usually a good idea to read a trilogy starting with Volume One rather
than with Volume Three.

Paul Speaker-to-Customers

[the softrat]

On Sat, 24 Aug 2002 21:14:37 GMT, stu...@inetnebr.com (Stuart Johnson)
wrote:

>On Sat, 24 Aug 2002 16:11:24 -0400 (EDT), Mas...@webtv.net (Mason)
>wrote:
>>How old are the hobbits supposed to be? I know that Frodo is supposed to
>>be in his 50's, which I suppose isn't the equal to humans in their 50's.
>>
>>But I was reading RoTK and Pippin stated he was still considered not
>>much older than a boy by his people. That in a couple of years he would
>>reach his "coming of age". So how old is the coming of age?
>>
>I seem to recall it said coming of age was at 30.
>

Your memory fails you. It was at 33.

the softrat "He who rubs owls"
the Zulu Princess
mailto:sof...@pobox.com
--
Keep this up and we'll have a vicious triangle.

[Mason]

>It is usually a good idea to read a
>trilogy starting with Volume One rather
>than with Volume Three.

I started with Volume One some time ago. It's been a long time because I
don't have the time to sit and read it everyday.

[David Salo]

In article <329-3D67...@storefull-2213.public.lawson.webtv.net>,
Mas...@webtv.net (Mason) wrote:

By the end of Third Age 3018,

Frodo is fifty (but still looks only in his early 30s).

Samwise is thirty-eight.

Merry is thirty-six.

Peregrin is twenty-eight.

In human years, these might be the equivalent of 31, 24, 22 and 17,
respectively (assuming hobbit coming of age at 33 more-or-less = human
21).

DS

P.S.: At the time of Bilbo's Party, the characters were 17 years
younger: Frodo 33, Sam 21, Merry 19, and Peregrin 11. Thus Merry
appears in "A Long-expected Party" (though he seems very mature for his
years) and Pippin does not -- unless he is one of the young Tooks in
the "impromptu orchestra" that strikes up in the middle of Bilbo's
Farewell Speech.