Frodo was born in S. R. 1368. His parents died in 1380, and Bilbo adopted him in 1389.

Sam was born in 1380, Merry in 1382, and Pippin in 1390.

Age is one of the things that bothered me a lot in the movies. Elijah Wood is all cute and everything, but he's just too young. I realize that hobbits don't show their age like humans do, but still, the actor should have been at least in late 20s or 30s. I hadn't remembered that Frodo was supposed to be older than Sam, but it certainly makes their relationship make more sense.

John, I might hit you up for your suggestions of stuff to do when we get back to Scotland. We're there for like nine days, and I've already done the touristy stuff, at least in Edinburgh.

SA, that would be fine. When are you heading back? Would you have access to a car?

Don't forget that PJ (et al) decided to toss out the 17-year gap when nothing much happens, so that Frodo gets the Ring when Bilbo leaves (and he turns 33, not mentioned in the film) and leaves relatively soon thereafter (I like to imagine it was a year later, that they were celebrating his birthday at the Green Dragon before Gandalf returned, but it's not stated as such).

Also, remember that for hobbits, 33 equals 18-20 in Man years. I like to subtract 12 years for a human equivalent of hobbit ages.

Insent to profile addy, John.

I realize that the 17 years were not covered, and certainly understand that, but still think that he should have considered them in casting, given the character in the book.

I do think it is important that Sam is younger than Frodo in the books and quite older in the movies. Even though I hadn't remembered the birth dates before, their relationship just makes so much more sense when Frodo is older and more experienced. I still love the movies, and even EW. For me, this is the kind of nitpicking that I only do with things I really care about.

For me, the class setup means the age difference is more coincidental to their interaction.

Perhaps the reason that the ages are important for me is that the class setup is so unfamiliar to me. My brain understands it, but it doesn't really resonate without the age difference added in.

To my ear, Sam comes from Devon and Frodo comes from Poshshire.

In his latest DVD Bill Bailey does a nice bit of stand-up about the accents in LotR, he talks about a scouse Hobbit!

I was ok with Frodo's lack of aging, because I figured the ring was in his possession, so no matter how long it was between Bilbo leaving and Frodo taking the ring to the elves, Frodo wouldn't age much.

Females alone can harvest and process the super-nourishing wheat of the gods into "way bread" for journeys. They routinely "see farther" than men and summon sacred trees to grow. They bring inspiration and instill hope. They listen to the woes of the world, encourage resistence, and shed tears of pity.

So we can bake, see, farm, play muse, and listen to people kvetch. Joy. I don't want to listen to the woes of the world; I want to either be the one fixing the woes or making them, depending on how much listening to the woes of the world I've been doing of late.

Pfft.

Australian actress Miranda Otto is expecting her first child with actor husband Peter O'Brien. The couple, who married on New Year's Day 2003, are "thrilled", according to a spokesperson. Otto, 37, who starred in as elf Eowyn in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, recently finished filming Steven Spielberg's War Of The Worlds, in which she plays Tom Cruise's pregnant wife.

I mean, good for Ms. Otto, but where are their fact checkers?