Rachel Port
Well-Known Member
Recently going through Appendix B, I noticed that Sam and Faramir were born in the same year. Since they are two of my favorite characters, it's hard to figure out why I hadn't noticed that before. That makes them both 35. So of the younger hobbits, Pippin is 29 and Sam is 35. I've been figuring Merry to be in the first couple of years of being of age, and if my mental math is right going through the post-LOTR years, he is two years younger than Sam, which would make him 33 at the time of the fellowship. And it occurred to me that young people these days think of 18 as the coming-of-age age, but in Tolkien's time (and mine, I would add) it was 21. In class we have sometimes thought of Pippin as the equivalent of today's 16 or 17. I don't think that is right - I imagine him more like 18, a time when people are kind of mostly grown up, and certainly old enough to be soldiers, to be done with school, even without the right to vote or sign contracts, and with occasional lapses into younger behavior.
I also noticed that Denethor was born one year before Aragorn - and Theoden is 17 years younger than Aragorn. I find that mind-blowing. Think of Aragorn and Eowyn with that in mind.
I also noticed that Denethor was born one year before Aragorn - and Theoden is 17 years younger than Aragorn. I find that mind-blowing. Think of Aragorn and Eowyn with that in mind.