Tolkien Blog Party 2024 | Introducing Cloverpin Sackcobble

Greetings, my dear Shirelings!  Yesterday was Hobbit Day, and it marked the commencement of what is probably my favorite annual online event:  Rachel's Tolkien Blog Party.  Check out Rachel's kick-off post here and be sure to enter the fabulous giveaway she's hosting in honor of the party as well.

I plan to answer this year's tag questions later this week, but for today's post, I'm casting my mind back to this time last year.  During 2023's party, Rachel hosted a game that gave players the opportunity to build a hobbit name for themselves.  (You can check out that post by clicking on this link.)  Per the rules of the game, my hobbit name turned out to be Cloverpin Sackcobble, and you know something?  I actually love it.  "Cloverpin" as a hobbit name?  Are you kidding me??  So cute, so versatile.  Fantastic.

Anyway.  I enjoyed playing that game so much that it got me thinking about what my life would actually look like if I were, in fact, a hobbit named Cloverpin Sackcobble.  This led to a Pinterest vision board, a very rough Spotify playlist (which I may be 86ing shortly), and so forth.  Sharing such shenanigans with you seemed like a fitting post idea for this year's Tolkien celebrations, so here we are.

What follows, then, is a sneak peak into the alter ego I imagine for myself as Cloverpin Sackcobble, a hobbit lass.

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❧ The Setting ☙

I would live in Buckland, maybe in the Crickhollow area.  I like the fact that Buckland is a slightly more remote, slightly wilder region of the Shire, and I'd choose it both for that and for its proximity to the Old Forest and the Withywindle Valley.  I would, of course, spend a lot of time in Buckland itself, in Hobbiton, and in the other areas of the Shire, but I'd also spend hours exploring the Forest and the Valley.  I would be a friend of Goldberry's and a frequent visitor of hers and Tom Bombadil's.  Essentially, I'd get the best of both worlds:  the cozy cottage life and simple, honest industry of hobbit culture, along with the adventure and otherness of the misty, rambling, treacherous Forest and the slow, hypnotic Withywindle.

Here are some quotes from The Fellowship of the Ring to paint a picture for you.

"Long ago Gorhendad Oldbuck, head of the Oldbuck family, one of the oldest in the Marish or indeed in the Shire, had crossed the river, which was the original boundary of the land eastwards.  He build (and excavated) Brandy Hall, changed his name to Brandybuck, and settled down to become master of what was virtually a small independent country.  [...]  The Brandybucks and their numerous dependants then began to burrow, and later to build, all round about.  That was the origin of Buckland, a thickly inhabited strip between the river and the Old Forest, a sort of colony from the Shire.  Its chief village was Buckleberry, clustering in the banks and slopes behind Brandy Hall. [...]  Their land was originally unprotected from the East; but on that side they had built a hedge:  the High Hay.  It had been planted many generations ago, and was now thick and tall, for it was constantly tended.  It ran all the way from Brandywine Bridge, in a big loop curving away from the river, to Haysend (where the Withywindle flowed out of the Forest into the Brandywine):  well over twenty miles from end to end.  But, of course, it was not a complete protection.  The Forest drew close to the hedge in many places."

—

"On the far side was a faint path leading up on to the floor of the Forest, a hundred yards and more beyond the Hedge; but it vanished as soon as it brought them under the trees.  Looking back they could see the dark line of the Hedge through the stems of trees that were already thick about them. Looking ahead they could see only tree-trunks of innumerable sizes and shapes:  straight or bent, twisted, leaning, squat or slender, smooth or gnarled and branched; and all the stems were green or grey with moss and slimy, shaggy growths. [. . . ] They picked a way among the trees, and their ponies plodded along, carefully avoiding the many writhing and interlacing roots.  There was no undergrowth.  The ground was rising steadily, and as they went forward it seemed that the trees became taller, darker, and thicker.  There was no sound, except an occasional drip of moisture falling through the still leaves."

"Coming to the opening they found that they had made their way down through a cleft in a high steep bank, almost a cliff.  At its feet was a wide space of grass and reeds; and in the distance could be glimpsed another bank almost as steep.  A golden afternoon of late sunshine lay warm and drowsy upon the hidden land between.  In the midst of it there wound lazily a dark river of brown water, bordered with ancient willows, arched over with willows, blocked with fallen willows, and flecked with thousands of faded willow-leaves.  The air was thick with them, fluttering yellow from the branches, for there was a warm and gentle breeze blowing softly in the valley, and the reeds were rustling, and the willow-boughs were creaking."

—

"Just as they felt their feet slowing down to a standstill, they noticed that the ground was gently rising.  The water began to murmur.  In the darkness they caught the white glimmer of foam, where the river flowed over a short fall.  Then suddenly the trees came to an end and the mists were left behind.  They stepped out from the Forest, and found a wide sweep of grass welling up before them.  The river, now small and swift, was leaping merrily down to meet them, glinting here and there in the light of the stars, which were already shining in the sky.

The grass under their feet was smooth and short, as if it had been mowed or shaven.  The eaves of the Forest behind were clipped, and trim as a hedge.  The path was now plain before them, well-tended and bordered with stone.  It wound up on to the top of a grassy knoll, now grey under the pale starry night; and there, still high above them on a further slope, they saw the twinkling lights of a house.  Down again the path went, and then up again, up a long smooth hillside of turf, towards the light.  Suddenly a wide yellow beam flowed out brightly from a door that was opened.  There was Tom Bombadil's house before them, up, down, under hill.

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*chef's kiss*

❧ The Vibes ☙

Below is the Pinterest board I've assembled for Cloverpin:  snapshots of what I'd spend my days doing, wearing, appreciating, etc.

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Lots of leaves.  Foraging.  Earth tones for days.  Knits and linens.  ALL THE TREES AND ALL THE MOSS.  Windows and natural light.  Li'l trinkets.  Farm and woodland animals.  Honestly, best-life scenario.

❧ The Tunes ☙

As I indicated earlier, I did put together a rough draft of a Spotify playlist as part of this little creative exercise, but I'm not linking to it as it's not polished to my satisfaction and I will in all likelihood never publish it.  However, never let it be said of me that I was backward in coming forward when it came to curating the appropriate melodies for any given situation.  Here, then, are a few songs that seem like a fitting soundtrack to my fictitious hobbity lifestyle.

"Would That I" by Hozier  — for balmy mornings of cool wind and lemony sunlight

"This Wandering Day" by Rachel Hardy — for nights around the communal fire weaving song and story by the light of the flames

"Spirit Cold" by Tall Heights — for pale winters spent wandering the frozen Old Forest

"Fireflies" by Cullen Vance — for the lights of Brandy Hall shining out on a summer evening after a long day of exploring

"Just Like Autumn" by Jordy Searcy, Carly Bannister, The Tuesday Crew — for slow autumn walks collecting leaves and acorns

"Mulberry Mouse" by Alan Gogoll — for hours of foraging berries and herbs and wild apples

"Come Wind Come Rain" by Vashti Bunyan — for cheerful rambles over hill and dale

"The Voice" by Celtic Woman — for the break of dawn on adventuring days

"Old Neptune, He's Roaring" by Brian Sauve — for journeys beyond the borders of the Shire

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There you have it!  My ultimate wish-fulfillment deep-dive into an imaginary hobbit life, haha.  If you're into Middle-earth/hobbits at all, I highly recommend trying your hand at something like this — it was genuinely so fun, made me so happy, gave me all the cozy, satisfied fangirl feelings, and got me comfortably settled into the mood for my upcoming reread of The Lord of the Rings.

Once again, be sure to check out the 2024 Tolkien Blog Party happening this week over at The Edge of the Precipice, and I'll (hopefully) see you soon for another Middle-earth inspired post.  TTFN!

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What would your life look like if you were a hobbit?