The hobbits of Middle-earth eat their way from breakfast through supper, treating food as one of life’s great pleasures, a commitment that has earned them no shortage of affectionate ridicule. The second breakfast at the center of that schedule turns out to be older, more widespread and more stubbornly human than the laughter it usually gets. On Hobbit Day, the more interesting story turns out to be the one Tolkien was borrowing from.
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