Tolkien Reading Day 2018: Nurturing Your Inner Hobbit

The Green Dragon Inn, Hobbiton Movie Set, Matamata, New Zealand. Photo credit: Valdis Longbeard.

Tolkien Reading Day 2018 is upon us! I should begin by wishing everyone a Happy Gondorian New Year!

Tolkien Reading Day takes place on March 25 each year, the date that marks the downfall of Sauron with the destruction of the One Ring. The Tolkien Society started Tolkien Reading Day in 2003, to encourage fans to celebrate and promote the work of J. R. R. Tolkien by reading and sharing favorite passages of the Professor’s works. 

A special theme is selected for every Tolkien Reading Day. This year, the theme is “Home and Hearth: The many ways of being a Hobbit.” The staff of Middle-earth News has been thinking about how each one of us nurtures our respective “inner Hobbit.” In other words, how do we each feel the most hobbity? Read our thoughts below, then share your thoughts in the comments below! Be sure to read to the end of the article for a surprise of special magnificence!

Image from ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,’ credit courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

Alice

One of the things that always made me identify myself with Hobbits is their passion for food. I’m from Italy and I’ve grown up with my mom’s delicious cuisine, healthy but yummy meals have always been a priority for my family and this is something I’d like to pass to posterity. I can’t help but smile every time I read The Hobbit and Professor Tolkien mentions how many cakes Bilbo’s eating!

They had not been at table long, in fact they had hardly reached the third cake, when there came another even louder ring at the bell. “Excuse me!” said the hobbit, and off he went to the door.

— ‘The Hobbit,’ J.R.R. Tolkien

Photo credit: Maria Messer.

Maria

To me, the moments I feel most like a hobbit is when I’m with my family and friends, eating and having a great time. For 2018, the theme is “Home and Hearth”, but I don’t associate a physical place with being home. Home can be everything as long as you’re surrounded with the ones you love. Moreover, I’m feeling as much ‘at home’ in my local park as I feel in my own four walls. So when I’m not in with my friends and family, I feel the most like a hobbit when I’m in nature, at my favourite park. Just going for a stroll, listening to birds, and just ‘be in the moment’ so to say is as important to me as spending time with my loved ones.

Photo credit: Maria Messer.

Myla

I’ve always identified with being a hobbit, with their relaxed lifestyle and love for good food! I feel like I’m at my peak-hobbit when I’m in a comfy spot with a book in my hands and a full stomach. My space is a little bit like Bilbo’s (my most favorite hobbit), with books and papers scattered everywhere. I think I blame him a little bit for how messy it can get, haha.

Hobbiton Movie Set, Matamata, New Zealand. Photo credit: Myla Malinalda.

One of the times I’ve felt most “at home” was when I was wandering the paths of Hobbiton in New Zealand a couple years back. It was all very surreal to see Bag End and the Green Dragon, I never wanted to leave (I’m sure everyone would agree with me). The lush greenery and all-around happy atmosphere just solidified how much I wished I was a hobbit!

Bag End, Hobbiton Movie Set, Matamata, New Zealand. Photo credit: Myla Malinalda.

Valdis

“Home and Hearth” really brings the idea of feeling like a hobbit into focus for me. I feel particularly hobbit-like when I’m snug at home, seated in my chair in front of the fire with a book in hand, most often with a cat in my lap (with apologies to the Professor, who hated cats). I sometimes find this song of Bilbo’s running through my head:

I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;
 
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.

The song goes on for several stanzas, and is rather melancholy, but I find it warming nonetheless. Maybe like Bilbo, I find my thoughts turning both back and forward, and to friends and family across the globe. My hobbity self feels those connections strongly in those fireside moments. 

Photo credit: Valdis Longbeard.

Now for the surprise — a giveaway in honor of Tolkien Reading Day!

In the comments below, tell us how you nurture your inner Hobbit, and you will be entered to win one of these prizes! 

• Great Garden Smial Hobbit Hole by Weta Workshop.
• Vintage paperback edition of a Tolkien book.

Giveaway Rules

• The winner will be drawn at random from the comments. Only one entry per person, please!
• The giveaway is open for everyone, regardless of location.
• The winner will be drawn on March 31, 2018 by 6:00 PM EDT. The decision of the Middle-earth News staff is final.
• The winner will be contacted through email. Be sure to use a valid email address with your comment so that we can contact you if you win!
• If we cannot contact the winner, or if they fail to respond to our email, we will choose a new winner at random from the other comments.

We look forward to hearing from you!