My Birthday Mathom

[dreamflower02]

A little late, but still under the wire in my time zone, here is my birthday mathom for all of you:

Almost all of Bilbo's guests at his sixtieth birthday party have gone, but one good friend remains to talk...

Ten Years After There and Back Again

Comments

[harrowcatliz]

Happy birthday dear! And thank you for a great conversation. A very observant friend that one. I did post to wish you a great day but it hasn't shown up!

[dreamflower02]

Well, I thank you for the good wishes! I'm sure your post *will* show up sooner or later, LOL!

[ramblin_rosie]

Happy belated, dear Dreamflower, and thanks for this delightful mathom!

[dreamflower02]

Thank you! And you are welcome!

[lily_the_hobbit]

Happy belated birthday!

[dreamflower02]

Thank you!

[addie71]

Happy Birthday! Thank you for the lovely story. I like the idea that the Fell Winter is what caused Bilbo to become so set in his ways before Gandalf sent him on his way.

[dreamflower02]

Thank you for the good wishes!

Of course, I've been pondering Bilbo's life a lot in "Eleventy-one", so I am trying to fill in those nooks and crannies. The Fell Winter had to be a watershed event for many hobbits of his generation.

[shirebound]

It's wonderful to think that Bilbo has at least a few friends with whom he can talk like this. And yes, it must have been quite odd to slowly realize that he was definitely looking 'well preserved'. Thank you for this fic gift for us!

[dreamflower02]

I've always imagined Sigismond as his greatest childhood friend, so I think they'd still be able to talk about things like this.

I'm sure to begin with at least it merely seemed that he was holding on to his youthful appearance (and as you know I hold with the two-thirds idea, so at 50, a hobbit would appear like a Man in his early 30s, and at 60 he should be looking like a Man of 40) so to begin with the process was slow and just barely noticeable by those who were close to him. It will probably be another ten years before those who don't know him will will notice, and longer than that before they begin to think of it as "unnatural".

And by 111, he would have outlived a good many of his contemporaries, as well as some who were even younger.