[queenoftheshire]

What would a hobbit of about 12 years look like? Or what age would he appear to be by our reckoning? I should say.

[Roisin]

I'd say toddler or pre-schooler.

Roisin

[BittenBuggy]

Hobbit's, at least to my knowledge, don't age any differently from humans until they reach adulthood (Which I think was 30 according to Pippin in RotK?) But after that they age slower, and look younger for longer. I think part of that is attributed to the lack of facial hair, but I guess that also means they don't get wrinkles as early and the like.

As far as a twelve year old hobbit, they would probably look "twelve" by our standards, not figuring in the height. So they would be proportionally about up to an adult hobbit's shoulder.

[SilverMoonLady]

The "coming of age", being set at 33 is probably actually a cultural standard rather than a purely physiological one. Since hobbits live easily to 90 (apparently), there is no huge rush to marry and propagate, unlike humans, who live shorter lives (not counting numenoreans of course) and die around 60 or so (in preindustrial cultures). Odds are good that physical maturity (full height & sexual maturity) are reached in the early twenties just like the rest of us, but society allowed for a longer period of 'apprenticeship'/adolescence.



Just realized I didn't actually answer the question...

I imagine that to a human, a hobbit child of 12 would *look* like a 12 year old in features (lost the chubbies of childhood, some adult features forming & strengthening) but much much shorter. To a six foot tall man a twelve year old can come anywhere between shoulder and sternum... same deal for a hobbit male who averages 4 feet tall, so.... 3 feet at most. (imagining my four year old.. hip high on a 5 ft tall female... ) yeah 36 inches:)

Hope that helps:)

[HollyTook]

All the above replies are probably right, but if you want to be really knitty-gritty (nitty-gritty?) about it, you can do a proportion. Yes, I am that much of a geek.
If 18 is our coming of age, and 33 is the hobbits', then you can say that:

12/33 = x/18

x is the respective age of a 12 year old hobbit, which comes out to be 6 and a half. But then, Tolkien never said that hobbit maturity was directly proportional to humans....

[HollyTook]

All the above replies are probably right, but if you want to be really knitty-gritty (nitty-gritty?) about it, you can do a proportion. Yes, I am that much of a geek.
If 18 is our coming of age, and 33 is the hobbits', then you can say that:

12/33 = x/18

x is the respective age of a 12 year old hobbit, which comes out to be 6 and a half. But then, Tolkien never said that hobbit maturity was directly proportional to humans....

[HollyTook]

hm...sorry about that double post.

[Varda]

HollyTook: you can of course delete the second one (and the apology) by clicking the 'delete' button (but then I'll need to delete this ).

May the stars shine upon the button and enlighten thee

[HollyTook]

yes, the delete button, of course...! ::feels like an idiot for not seeing where it is::

[Varda]

You mean even knowing there is a delete button you still can't find it?
It's to the right of the subject (which is just above your message),
it's where the quote button/link is located (and it's where edit and delete
appears for your own messages).

Let the button shine brightly,
and may it not blind thee,
for the button is mighty,
and yet it is flighty.

[Robbie]

[HollyTook]

I swear, I'm not stupid! Nor am I blind. But where you described the button to be, there is only 'quote' and 'edit.' Am I missing something?

[HollyTook]

::gasp!:: aha! I just looked at that last post and it has a delete button. Yay! But, see, the others still don't. Maybe I can't delete messages that I posted on my first day.

[HollyTook]

wait a second...after I posted that *last* post, *its* delete button disappeared! Ahhhhhhhhhh!

[Varda]

OK, evidently only the last post on a topic has the delete option and only for the topic poster.

Explains a lot doesn't it?

Well, in the end I guess this means that the Delete button is written in a special ink - visible only in the light of the [full moon]

Of course it is still kind of weird since the posts are still editable - and thus their entire content can be deleted leaving empty posts -- which means this is most weird and non-logical behaviour.

May the brightness of the moon never overshadow the beauty of the starry sky.