what happend to Bilbo?

[Pontin_Finnberry]

I'm assuming this is how he looks during the Birthday event, but I've never notice this, why does he have beard?

[Valakircka]

I'm assuming this is how he looks during the Birthday event, but I've never this, why does he have beard?

wow! redesigned bilbo!
now i m sure about a new hobbit subrace is coming!
ofc its another lore big bending since bilbo is a fallohide.......

[Vanyaerunanethiel]

Nonsense , hobbits cannot grow beards unless you are Stoor and even then its extremely rare.

Another fine lore-breaking point.

[Loochaldo]

Nonsense , hobbits cannot grow beards unless you are Stoor and even then its extremely rare.

Another fine lore-breaking point.

This is right. This ruins the game for me. I can't even play it anymore.

[Lady_Lethargy]

I liked the Bilbo redesign until I noticed the beard. Just get rid of that and he'll be cool. I'd also like it if he got a new voice instead of the generic hobbit one.

[Arabani]

Yes, Bilbo is a Fallohide, that is why he can have facial hair. Only Harfoots were beardless.

"Before the crossing of the mountains the Hobbits had already become divided into three somewhat different breeds: Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides. The Harfoots were browner of skin, smaller, and shorter, and they were beardless and bootless; their hands and feet were neat and nimble; and they preferred highlands and hillsides. The Stoors were broader, heavier in build; their feet and hands were larger, and they preferred flat lands and riversides. The Fallohides were fairer of skin and also of hair, and they were taller and slimmer than the others; they were lovers of trees and of woodlands. "

The absence of facial hair is specifically stated for only one kind of Hobbits. So, when you speak about lore, please use actual facts and not just your opinion on the matter.

[TharbadThief]

Yes, Bilbo is a Fallohide, that is why he can have facial hair. Only Harfoots were beardless.

"Before the crossing of the mountains the Hobbits had already become divided into three somewhat different breeds: Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides. The Harfoots were browner of skin, smaller, and shorter, and they were beardless and bootless; their hands and feet were neat and nimble; and they preferred highlands and hillsides. The Stoors were broader, heavier in build; their feet and hands were larger, and they preferred flat lands and riversides. The Fallohides were fairer of skin and also of hair, and they were taller and slimmer than the others; they were lovers of trees and of woodlands. "

The absence of facial hair is specifically stated for only one kind of Hobbits. So, when you speak about lore, please use actual facts and not just your opinion on the matter.

Read also what it says a couple of pages after that paragraph. I don't have access to English LotR so I won't give a citation .. but I have a hunch there's something about hobbit beards, too

[Radhruin_EU]

Yes, Bilbo is a Fallohide, that is why he can have facial hair. Only Harfoots were beardless.

"Before the crossing of the mountains the Hobbits had already become divided into three somewhat different breeds: Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides. The Harfoots were browner of skin, smaller, and shorter, and they were beardless and bootless; their hands and feet were neat and nimble; and they preferred highlands and hillsides. The Stoors were broader, heavier in build; their feet and hands were larger, and they preferred flat lands and riversides. The Fallohides were fairer of skin and also of hair, and they were taller and slimmer than the others; they were lovers of trees and of woodlands. "

The absence of facial hair is specifically stated for only one kind of Hobbits. So, when you speak about lore, please use actual facts and not just your opinion on the matter.

Yes, when you speak about lore please do use actual facts, Arabani:

"The Hobbits of that quarter, the Eastfarthing, were rather large and heavy-legged, and they wore dwarf-boots in
muddy weather. But they were well known to be Stoors in a large part of their blood, as indeed was shown by the
down that many grew on their chins. No Harfoot or Fallohide had any trace of a beard."

[Arabani]

"The Hobbits of that quarter, the Eastfarthing, were rather large and heavy-legged, and they wore dwarf-boots in
muddy weather. But they were well known to be Stoors in a large part of their blood, as indeed was shown by the
down that many grew on their chins. No Harfoot or Fallohide had any trace of a beard."

Right, wich only means that having beard was not the custom among Shire Hobbits. Look at the exact wording and the opositions: Stoors grew , which means they did it intentionally - while other Hobbits decided not to. Says nothing about mustaches, by the way. Only Harfoots were unable to have facial hair by nature, but we can also safely assume that there were marriages between different kind of hobbits over the years and so the curent genetic pool of an average Shire hobbit is somewhere in between.

As for Bilbo, he is old, very old.

[Pontin_Finnberry]

...No Harfoot or Fallohide had any trace of a beard."

you are right and i have read all this, it is mainly why i brought this up.

As for Bilbo, he is old, very old.

just cause a Hobbit or anyone is very old doesn't mean they can grow a beard, also bilbo isn't Stoor and shouldn't have a beard, but he does in game.

Yes, Bilbo is a Fallohide, that is why he can have facial hair. Only Harfoots were beardless.

as shown above it says they had no trace of beard so this false.

[Arabani]

as shown above it says they had no trace of beard so this false.

I suggest you reading my posts more carefully. Also remember that there are no "accidental" words in a fiction work, especially when it's written by a philologist.

[Radhruin_EU]

Right, wich only means that having beard was not the custom among Shire Hobbits. Look at the exact wording and the opositions: Stoors grew , which means they did it intentionally - while other Hobbits decided not to. Says nothing about mustaches, by the way. Only Harfoots were unable to have facial hair by nature, but we can also safely assume that there were marriages between different kind of hobbits over the years and so the curent genetic pool of an average Shire hobbit is somewhere in between.

As for Bilbo, he is old, very old.

Saying they had no trace of a beard implies exactly what it says, that Fallohides and Harfoots didn't have any beard to grow. Even Stoors were only supposed to grow a bit of down on their chins, which is not what we see in that screenshot in any case but would be rather more like that wispy bumfluff that adolescents sprout and which looks like you could wipe it off with a flannel.

The devs done goofed, that's all there is to it.

[Starsmith]

Aaaghh! Begone hobbit scruff!

For the hair splitting: A five o'clock shadow is a TRACE of a beard, of which Harfoots and Fallowhides had none.

[Arabani]

Radhruin_EU, I know it might be hard to understand a fiction text without proper training, but try to be objective while reading the quoted passages. Every text has 3 layers of information after all.

[Radhruin_EU]

Radhruin_EU, I know it might be hard to understand a fiction text without proper training, but try to be objective while reading the quoted passages. Every text has 3 layers of information after all.

Or you could stop trying to imagine layers and just read what it says right there in plain English. No trace means just that.

[Wolfhelm]

Also remember that there are no "accidental" words in a fiction work, especially when it's written by a philologist.

Good, so Tolkien must have meant what he said when he wrote "No Harfoot or Fallohide had any trace of a beard."

[Altair6]

It's obviously something to do with having possessed a ring of power. Cirdan has a beard and we all know Gandalf has one. Maybe Frodo will grow one eventually. Tho' I doubt Galadriel will.

Gollum we can dismiss because he was so old that his hair had mostly fallen out. He may have spent many bearded years under the mountain.

As for Elrond, well, who knows. Does the book say he doesn't have a beard?

All the dwarves had one, obviously, 'cos dwarves.

As for the Kings of Men, well, they're wraiths now, so we can't see if they have one or not. (Bet they do tho'.)

[NeoBasilisk]

Great debate everyone. For the next topic, why don't we discuss whether balrogs have wings?

[Raymore]

Don't you mean 'wiiings'?

This egregious error is a disaster of biblical proportions!!!

[Narthalion]

The way things are going, I expect the next time I log in the Devs will have put beards on all the stable mounts as well.

[Bakenellan]

In a couple of months we'll have beardless Dwarves (some probably in pink dresses) running all around the world. One bearded hobbit is hardly a disaster or even a compensation We need beards for hobbits!

[LabadalofDorlomin]

This thread is hilarious...

It could have been a slur..... "No Harfoot or Fallohide had any trace of a beard.".
Is it not possible that Tolkien was introducing us to bigotry? I mean how many layers of meaning do you want or require? Perspective is key after all.

You could read it as a slur "haha they cannot even grow facial hair" or "haha look at them... they grow facial hair, they even wear dwarf boots and have strange names and use peculiar words."

We will never know either way but it is enjoyable watching you all squabble over meaningless twaddle.

[Lord.Funk]

This thread is hilarious...

It could have been a slur..... "No Harfoot or Fallohide had any trace of a beard.".
Is it not possible that Tolkien was introducing us to bigotry? I mean how many layers of meaning do you want or require? Perspective is key after all.

You could read it as a slur "haha they cannot even grow facial hair" or "haha look at them... they grow facial hair, they even wear dwarf boots and have strange names and use peculiar words."

We will never know either way but it is enjoyable watching you all squabble over meaningless twaddle.

/Signed

I thought the same thing but wasn't going to say anything until I saw that You did. Now that You already poked the hornest nest I might at at least post in agreement with You.

On the other hand (yes I at least try to see things from more than one perspective and not from only my own perspective, taste or opinion) what is important to one person or some might mean nothing to others and vice versa. Just like some things I think is very important might be silly to others. So everyone is of course entitled to their own opinion and view of the importance of this beard or stubble on Bilbo. If it's game "breaking" to them I guess it is.

For some game breaking or not making the game worth playing can be PvMP not getting any attention. For some too few raids. For some the opposite and too much raid focus in design. To some not being able to get a certain cosmetic and complete their collection. To others it might be lootboxes or other monetizations schemes. Then to some it's lore breaking stuff. For some a combination of things. Just as there are various reasons to keep playing the game to different people. I guess all reasons whatever they might be are just as valid to each individual.

[Wolfhelm]

This thread is hilarious...

Posted in error, please disregard.

[TharbadThief]

Great debate everyone. For the next topic, why don't we discuss whether balrogs have wings?

That would actually be debatable. This is as debatable as the existence of 6' tall hobbits .

..although now that I think of it, one of my friends is very much like a huge hobbit.