Liza

Thorin! Plays the harp.

Just imagine this—on the surface, an incredibly cold King of the Dwarves, and in his spare time, he's strumming a harp.

I'm pretty sure hobbits really appreciate musical talent and good music.

Now imagine that Bilbo, out of sheer stubbornness and pure principle, saved Thorin (call-back to my previous post) and let's even say she didn't dump him after everything that went down. And then, at some point afterward, she finds out Thorin plays the harp.

I'm certain that on quiet evenings, Bilbo would sit next to Thorin, listening to the harp and mentally drifting back home. Yeah, she doesn't consider the Shire her home anymore, but the harp lets her remember those wonderful moments and feel like she's there.

Bilbo was about fifty when he set off with the dwarves. Tolkien wrote that Bilbo was in his prime—hobbits live a bit longer than Men. If you convert Bilbo’s age to human terms, he’d be about thirty-five. Give or take.

Now just picture a story where a thirty-five-year-old woman goes on a road trip with a bunch of male dwarves to slay a dragon and help them reclaim their home (which also happens to be full of gold).

Imagine a well-off, thirty-five-year-old woman with her own house.

She would absolutely not tolerate anyone crossing her boundaries or talking down to her! She’s thirty-five. She owns a massive hobbit-hole. She does not need this crap.

I can totally see this conversation happening when someone on the road tells Bilbo she’s useless and won’t be any help:

“My dear, if I were useless, I wouldn’t be here. I can turn around and go back to my lovely home any second. I’m only here to help you get your home back.”

And if Bilbo and Thorin happen to realise there’s something more between them…

Bilbo would never let him be rude or treat her badly. And she’d knock some sense into that thick head of his when he started going mad over the gold and all that.

Bilbo Baggins would, out of pure principle, not let that stubborn idiot die. Even if she later dumped him and rode back to her lovely home.