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As fantasy figure go , J.R.R. Tolkien call a Ithiel Town where hobbits live Hobbiton seems like a unspeakable and obvious name forLord of The Rings , but it ’s actually the perfect choice for Frodo ’s village . Tolkien is well - lie with for inventing his own languages and creating an amazingly elaborate world forLord of the RingsandThe Hobbit . The reason is thatTolkien used real - life influenceswhen creating the languages for the wash of Middle - earth , along with a dose of clever fantasy world - building . A philologue , he was an expert in Old English and other Teutonic languages and worked on fictional languages since he was 13 - year - old . Tolkien ’s extensive knowledge lead in at least two fully produce phantasy languages ( Quenya and Sindarin ) , and around 20 incomplete one .
His dedication went beyond spoken communication and was reflect in the story of Arda itself , comprehend unlike time periods of Middle - earthdefined by significant events . He drew detailed maps , making it well-fixed to calculatehow long Frodo took to go from the Shire to Mordor . And , of course , all the slipstream he created had their own culture , customs , retiring and unequalled characteristic . Rivalries , honest-to-goodness alliance , warfare , and ancient artifact apply Tolkien ’s world texture and depth . This allowed even items such asGaladriel ’s Fellowship gifts to have special meaningand a lot of history behind them . With so much point and effort go into the creation of Middle - earth , it ’s easy to wonder why Tolkien thought Hobbiton would go with more elegant elven words such as Rivendell and Lothlórien or the intimidating Barad - dûr and Gorgoroth . Compared to those , Hobbiton does n’t sound as inventive or sorcerous , but that ’s on the button the point .
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Tolkien live exactly what he was doing by give a hobbit village a vernacular name like Hobbiton . The choice was think to ruminate the unproblematic and straightforward nature of hobbit . In fact , he also used simple name for other localization relate to them : Old Forest , Hedge , Bag End , and Old Mill . At the very scratch ofThe HobbitandLord of the Rings , hobbits are shown as simple folk who enjoy a good smoke , intellectual nourishment , parties , and are mainly farmers . They have never check conflict beyond their borders , scarcely ever provide their lands , and are naturally suspicious of outsiders . The idea of a hobbit will the shire horse in search of adventure was shameful , which is why Bilbo Baggins was such a foreign shape to the residential district inThe Fellowship of the Ringand why Frodo admired his uncle so much . Cleverly , Tolkien used language to solidify his globe - edifice and show the uniqueness of each airstream he invented . In the case of the hobbit , this meant going for the simplest names .
Another important thing about Hobbiton is how it also respects real - life naming practices for human settlements . It ’s common for Town and cities to be key according to either natural feature nearby ( such as a river or a Benny Hill ) , for notable figures , or because of the hoi polloi who lived there ( such as Washington or Queen ’s Park ) . A town founded by hobbit to be a very unsympathetic community would naturally be called Hobbiton . This practical agency of constitute things also use to other more common terms rule inLord of the Rings , such as Mount Doom . “ Originally ” named Amon Amarth in Sindarin , its literal rendering is “ Doom Hill . ” Yes , Mount Doom is a bit slaphappy ( even without wonderingwhy the Eagles could n’t fly Frodo to the vent ) , but there are similar cases in real life . For lesson , the name of the Mexican volcano Popocatépetl literally translates to “ Smoking Mountain . ”
Thanks to his expert knowledge and deliberate selection , Tolkien madeLord of the Ringsinto one of the most iconic fantasy worlds in lit and one of the most successful franchises to alsomove to the small screen . And that involved observe real - life logic and the case-by-case culture of each society he imagined . After all , the function of naming places is to describe them and guide people to their location . Considering this goal , it make perfect sense for Tolkien to practice obvious and descriptive gens even in a world where magic subsist .
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