Oxonmoot 2024

Tolkien was, as we know, an avid, one might even say passionate, pipe smoker. Pipe smoking was also an ingrained part of Hobbit culture and the source of some pride for them, as “Hobbits first put it into pipes”. From the Hobbits, the art (as they preferred to call it) spread to various other folk, to Dwarves and Dúnedain, Bree-dwellers and Wizards. Some of Tolkien’s readers feel uncomfortable with this, as pipe smoking is definitely not in vogue in today’s society. – This non-judgmental paper will explore both Tolkien’s own attachment to the pipe smoking art, and the role  it plays in his books.