Best Summary

So I'm putting together a vid of "The Empyrean as Vines" and I thought I would post a little sneak peek of some of my personal favorites!❤️

I'll post the full vid on YouTube soon! (it's a little long lol)

As Tolkien often observed; “names often generate a story” and always nearly contributed or suggested something of the nature or personality of the character, thing or place that has been named. Yet the most intriguing name he has created in my opinion, is the main protagonist of “The Hobbit” Bilbo Baggins who is the hero of the classic tale, and despite being seen as such, his name holds interesting and contradicting connotations. For Baggins suggests harmless, humble and well- contented characters (though with criminal undertones!) Yet the name Bilbo suggests an individual who is sharp, intelligent and even dangerous….

The family name of Bilbo is  “Baggins” which derives from a double source-the English Somerset surname Bagg, which means “moneybag” or “wealthy.” The term “Baggins" itself means “afternoon tea or snack between meals” and at first is appropriate in describing our well off  hobbit. Initially he is presented as a mildly comic, home-loving, upper middle class “gentle hobbit” who seems harmless and composed enough, if given to some annoyance. He is mostly concerned with his mothers dishes, doilies, domestic comforts and food. However, once recruited by Thorin and his Company, we see the respectable gentle hobbit reveal his true colours- he is an excellent and highly skilled burglar.

Tolkien has maintained that his tales are often inspired by names and words from the real world, and indeed, in the jargon of the nineteenth-and early twentieth century criminal underworld there were a cluster of names around the term “bag” and forms of theft. “To bag” means to capture, to acquire, or to steal. “A baggage man” is an outlaw who carries off the loot and a “bagman” is the man who collects and distributes gold on the behalf of others by dishonest means or purposes.

His surname not only characterises himself, but also plots out the narrative for the story. For in the hobbit we discover Baggins is hired by Dwarves to bag the Arkenstone. He then becomes the baggage man who carries off the loot. When he realises Thorin has fallen under the gold sickness, he becomes the bagman and is dishonest to the newly crowned king, distributing the Arkenstone to Thrandruil and Bard. After the Battle Of The Five Armies he hands out the treasure to those who are rightfully in need of it, and thus ends him being the bagman.

Another aspect of Bilbo Baggins character can be revealed by the analysis of his first name. The word “Bilbo” entered the English language in the late sixteenth century as a name for a short and deadly piercing sword of the kind once made in the Spanish port city of Bilbao where the name derives from. This is an excellent description of Bilbo’s elvish sword (often called a letter opener) named “Sting.” Found in the troll hoard, Bilbo’s “bilbo” can pierce through any animal hide that would break any other sword. In The Hobbit however, it is the hero’s sharp wit rather than his sword that gives Bilbo his sharpness. Bilbo’s well-honed wits allow him to survive the journey and to trick monsters, a dragon  and to get himself out of bad situations. 

When we put these two names together as Bilbo Baggins, we fully understand the two aspects of his character, showing someone who is dangerously witty, but ultimately good and humble to a fault. If we want to dig deeper into how these names also affected the events of the Lord Of The Rings, one has to look no further than Frodo Baggins.

 Along with the Baggins family name, further “baggage” is passed on to Bilbo’s nephew and heir, Frodo Baggins who in the context of the one ring is a link to another underworld occupation; the bagger or the bag thief. This bagger or bag thief has nothing to do with baggage, but is derived from the French word bauge, meaning “ring.” A bagger then, is a thief who specialises in stealing rings by seizing a victim’s hand and stripping off its rings. It had common usage in Britain’s criminal underworld between 1890 to 1940. The Baggins name holds the idea and plot for both The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings. For Bilbo’s skill as a burglar, one might say that in the perspective of outsiders, the Baggins baggers of Bag End, Bilbo and Frodo, are naturally born ring thieves.

she's everything

I just started cackling

Should i cry or laugh???

Love these

LGBTQ+ Sweets Headers

please rb if saving :)

requests are open in the comments

So Meg and I were chatting on Discord the other day and came to a realization:

Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander?

Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder?

Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin,

White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!

This is the rhyme that Tom sings when he’s looking for the ponies. The first five of them are Merry’s ponies: presumably one for each of the hobbits to ride, and one more for the baggage. (The last is Tom’s own pony.) And Meg noticed a surprising parallel between the ponies’ names and the hobbits:

Sharp-ears = Merry

Throughout the story, Merry is shown to be the one with the best head for details. He’s “sharp”, if you will; observant and intelligent.

EDIT: Merry is also the one who spies on Bilbo and Frodo to learn about the Ring! He’s got very “sharp” ears, and eyes too.

Wise-nose = Frodo

This is the easiest one. Frodo’s name means “wise” or “wisdom”, so this pony fits him well.

Swish-tail = Pippin

Tell me whose vibe fits Swish-tail better than Pippin. That’s right; you can’t. The name conjures a picture of careless jollity, which couldn’t be more Pippin.

Bumpkin = Sam

A “bumpkin” is defined as “an unsophisticated or socially awkward person from the countryside”. As much as I would be the last person in the world to call Sam a backwards yokel, he is nonetheless the most “country” of the four hobbits, and his name literally means “half-wise”, or “lacking wisdom”.

That leaves White-socks to be the baggage pony, which likely doesn’t have much significance (aside from the fact that he’s an outlier because hobbits don’t wear socks).

We’re not sure there’s any particular point to this. We’re also not sure whether or not Tolkien did it on purpose. But either way, it’s a fun thing to think about!

Fuuuuuuuuck him fuuuuuuuuuck Nazis

what do you mean elon musk did a nazi salute on live tv at the united states presidential inauguration twice and is now erasing the evidence off the internet by replacing the footage with the crowd cheering instead?

would be a shame if people reblogged this, wouldn’t it?

gromit you should leave him girl

BUZZFEED UNSOLVED - but it’s just memes

[part 2.0] ; [part 3.0]

Now im imagining Doof as Bill Nye and I want it!!!

god how on earth did disney not greenlight Doof 101 for a whole series. its obviously a pilot and i know they wouldve pitched it and i wouldve watched a MILLION episodes of doof being a bumbling father while fucking up teaching us misc. science topics