A few random thoughts:
If in the tweens, hobbits are irresponsible, then perhaps responsibility (and other such Baggins-like traits) is something that gets instilled into young hobbits as they mature.
I'm guessing that much Dora's long correspondence with Bilbo and the good advice she gave him probably was mostly regarding proper hobbit values. Perhaps similar advice from elders is how these values are generally instilled.
It's not surprising that the Bilbo had no close friends among these responsible hobbits (of age), but instead among his younger (and presumably less responsible) cousins.
"Outlandish folk" (like dwarves). Doesn't outlandish just mean something that is outside of our land? So anything outside the Shire would be outlandish (even Buckland). I'm guessing that it was this meaning that Tolkien mostly intended.
If in the tweens, hobbits are irresponsible, then perhaps responsibility (and other such Baggins-like traits) is something that gets instilled into young hobbits as they mature.
I'm guessing that much Dora's long correspondence with Bilbo and the good advice she gave him probably was mostly regarding proper hobbit values. Perhaps similar advice from elders is how these values are generally instilled.
It's not surprising that the Bilbo had no close friends among these responsible hobbits (of age), but instead among his younger (and presumably less responsible) cousins.
"Outlandish folk" (like dwarves). Doesn't outlandish just mean something that is outside of our land? So anything outside the Shire would be outlandish (even Buckland). I'm guessing that it was this meaning that Tolkien mostly intended.
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