It's well documented that men are the "mortals" of Lord of the Rings ' Middle-earth , cursed with feeble, fleeting lifespans. But there are certain lines of men in Tolkien's world who, while still undoubtedly mortal, possess more longevity than the average human.
While Aragorn may not live as long as his ancestors once did, he's still part of that lineage, with his age directly referenced in The Two Towers. Even more so than Gandalf, Legolas' age is very hard to pin down, and the elf is one of the few main Lord of the Rings characters that Tolkien doesn't date specifically.
As the Elves are timeless and Legolas' father was born in the First Age, Legolas could've conceivably been born as early as the Second Age, over years before The Fellowship of the Ring. It's equally possible that Legolas was born some time within the Third Age, which could put him at "only" a few hundred years old. Clues within the text are conflicting, which doesn't help to backdate proceedings here. Legolas refers to his fellow Fellowship members except Gandalf, of course as children, suggesting he's much older than any of them.
On the other hand, Legolas also describes years in fleeting, flippant terms. Considering all the evidence, Legolas is most likely somewhere between and years old, although there's plenty of leeway on either side of this estimation.
Dwarves are canonically more straightforward than Elves, so it is fitting that Gimli's age in The Lord of the Rings is much clearer than that of his pointy-eared rival. Although Eru decrees that he had already foreseen the creation of the Dwarves and therefore permitted their existence, the race would not be granted the same immortality as the Elves, but nor would they suffer the same short lives as men, as they needed to endure the dark influence of Morgoth. Dwarves typically live between two and three hundred years, which casts Gimli in a relatively young light at This is counter to Gimli's curmudgeonly and set-in-his-ways nature, although these could be considered traits of Tolkien's Dwarves in general.
Like his fellow Hobbits, Merry is portrayed on film as more or less the same age as Frodo, helping to sustain the idea of a younger protagonist group, yet this isn't far off Tolkien's books in Merry's case. Of course, we know that these are works of fantasy and fiction, but the beauty of literature and film is that it allows readers and audiences to escape reality for a moment and become a part of something beyond the real world.
Granted, some fanatics can take things a little far, but hey, if you're not hurting anyone what's the problem? With all of the excitement building with the upcoming final installment of The Hobbit series, I was curious as to a very important question that popped up in my head: how old is Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit versus in The Lord of the Rings?
Although I have limited knowledge of the Lord of the Rings universe beyond sporadically watching some of the films, I do know that the ring gives immeasurable power to its owners and could definitely do some pretty bad damage bless Gollum's heart, he didn't know what was coming to him. I like to think i'm a more sensible gal when it comes to literature and film, but I will gladly let my curiosity take the best of me at times, like when I became obsessed with the show LOST and would sign into message boards to discuss characters and their lives when they weren't even real.
Bilbo traveled with the wood-elves down to Mirkwood, and then went to Beorn's house with Gandalf. They dug up some of the buried treasure the dwarves had buried earlier, most of which Bilbo offered to Gandalf to use to aid the peoples of Middle-earth.
When they at last came to the borders of the Shire, the two parted, with Gandalf going his own way. Bilbo eventually made it back to Hobbiton, where he found an auction taking place at which his relatives, the Sackville-Bagginses , believing him dead, were selling most of his possessions to the other hobbits. The Sackville-Bagginses were vexed to see Bilbo alive, since they wanted to live in Bag End themselves. Bilbo had to buy back his sold possessions in order to avoid quarreling with the purchasers.
After some years, Balin and Gandalf visited him, where they reported the current news of Middle-earth. The worst of these problems came from the Sackville-Bagginses, who were angry that they were not able to possess Bag End when he was thought to be dead.
This jealousy and anger increased when Bilbo adopted his second-cousin-once-removed Frodo a Brandybuck on his mother's side as his heir presumptive. Bilbo ignored these things said about him and avoided the Sackville-Bagginses as much as he could, even using the Ring once to hide from them. Bilbo was very generous with his money and most people were willing to forgive him for his oddities.
He had many friends especially amongst the Gamgees whom he consulted frequently on landscaping and on the growing of vegetables. His good friend The Gaffer even allowed him to tutor his son Samwise Gamgee.
Bilbo taught him to read and write, and at some point taught him various bits of poetry and told him tales of the elder days. Yet, he slowly began to become weary of his settled and sheltered life at Bag End. Bilbo was the bearer of the One Ring for six decades, ignorant of its significance. However, by TA , the Ring had begun to affect him. He did not appear to have aged at all, although he felt older and thin inside.
He decided that he wanted to partake in one more adventure before he found a place to settle down and finish his account of the Quest for the Lonely Mountain.
On September 22, a farewell Birthday Party was held in his honor, where he announced his intention to leave the Shire, to the shock of his family and friends. Immediately afterward, he put on his ring and disappeared, as a joke on his neighbors. He returned to his house where he was confronted by his friend Gandalf, who tried to persuade him to leave the Ring for Frodo.
Bilbo initially agreed, but then became hostile and accused Gandalf of trying to steal the ring for his own benefit, which he referred to as his "precious. Horrified by Bilbo's outburst, Gandalf stood to his full height and ordered Bilbo to leave it behind. Immediately Bilbo returned to his senses, apologizing and admitting that the Ring had been troubling him lately.
After a moment of inner struggle, Bilbo finally dropped the ring to the ground, becoming the first ring-bearer to give up the ring of his own will.
Bilbo and Gandalf bade each other goodbye, and Bilbo left the Shire for his journey. On the same day, Bilbo left the One Ring and his home of Bag End in the possession of his relative, Frodo Baggins, who was eager to be his own master despite the loss of Bilbo, for he was not yet ready to leave the Shire. After his departure, Bilbo wandered to Rivendell and then, after a rest, accompanied some Dwarves to Dale and the Lonely Mountain, before returning to Rivendell.
He also studied the Elvish language and compiled a three-volume history of the Elder Days , which he called Translations from the Elvish.
In October , Frodo arrived at Rivendell. Bilbo learned that his nephew was on a quest to destroy the One Ring and offered to take the Ring to Mordor himself at the Council of Elrond.
His offer was politely declined due to his age, so Bilbo gave Frodo the sword Sting and for protection his mithril shirt. However, he remained in Rivendell while Frodo traveled south.
After Frodo returned, Bilbo had noticeably aged, partially freed from the Ring's effects, although he continued to desire it. Since Bilbo had been a ring-bearer , he was allowed to accompany Frodo away to the Undying Lands. His fate afterward is not known but as he too was a mortal being, he most likely died in the light of the Blessed Realm of Valinor.
Bilbo was a very friendly and well-mannered hobbit fond of food, drink, a full pipe, his friends and good cheer, and was known for greeting strangers and friends with hospitality saying; "At your service and your family's.
He secretly relished having adventures, but still wanted to remain settled and would afraid in face of a real prospect of adventure. Bilbo seemed to be happy with his life at Bag End, and would have been content to remain a child of his father, had adventure not come upon him.
Still very afraid and wishing he had never left his hobbit-hole, the Took side eventually won out, even after he returned home to his old life. Thus, his desire for another adventure never truly departed from him in his heart even into his old age.
This he demonstrated in his sudden departure from Bag End in TA Tolkien Author of the Century. However he himself announced that it was his th birthday on the party. That leaves him 51 years old when Gandalf meets him for the first time. But on the contrary he shows no sign of old age. You are correct, Bilbo is 50 when he meets Gandalf in the Hobbit He will turn 51 later that year in the story. Hobbits live longer then Humans, shown by the fact that Bilbo's age at the party of is not that unusual, what is unusual is how young he looks for his age due to the ring.
Also Hobbits come of age at age 33, rather than is typically for Humans today. You say that Bilbo is quite young in the movie. Martin Freeman is 41 years old now, so was around 40 when filming the movies. Given that Hobbits live longer, I don't think its unrealistic to think that he doesn't look typically old for a 50 year old Hobbit. The reason why Bilbo and Frodo look younger than what their age really is is because Hobbits life expectancy is around , with some living three decades past So they age slightly slower than humans For Example: An 18 year old human is equivalent to a 33 year old hobbit A 35 year old human is equivalent to a 50 year old hobbit.
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