Chapter Text
Love is a powerful and mysterious phenomenon. Something explainable yet is unknown. An occurrence experienced in some way by everyone, whether platonic or romantic. Yet different cultures and societies have many different ways to interpret the feeling. Many with different rules and ideas on what love is. With the Men, love seems to be this fleeting thing many chase after. something you experience when you see someone who's pretty or when you find something you care about. Men seem to hold love to such powerful importance as the other races in Middle Earth. With Concepts like ‘ture love’ and ‘soulmates’ to be nothing more than fairy tales that young girls dream about. Maybe it’s because Men don’t live as long as the other races that they don't have the time to waste on such things. As they seem to take on many romantic partners and marriage to them seemingly is nothing more than a contractual compaintion between pairs. They are also the only race prone to divorce, a concept widely appalled by the other races. But the Men were always such strange beings.
From there you have the Elves, who’s opinions on love are vastly different than that of the Men. Elves have always considered themselves the first to bring the concept of soulmates to the discussion table. Unlike Men, who don't believe soulmates are real, simply because it doesn't happen within their society. But Elves have the proof for their claims, in the form of a little mark on their wrist. A little gray blob that, when you first touch your soulmate, turns into a beautiful symbol of the love between you and your partner.
For this reason, Elves don't believe in any form of romantic or sexual relationship outside of one’s soulmate. They consider it taboo. It doesn’t matter if you're part of the rare few Elves who were born markless. Or even if your soulmate has died, regardless if you had a chance to meet them or not. You're expected to remain celibate, unless you're with the partner Eru has destined for you. Because why would you love another when Eru has already given you the perfect lover for you?
While their thoughts on love may seem pretty harrowing to an outside perspective.
The Elves are content with their thoughts about love. Many don't even worry about it. The ones that do mainly worry about how long it will be before they find their soulmate. Something that Elves have found a pleasant solution for eons ago, in the form of a solstice celebration. Every summer solstice they hold a week-long festival, where those who haven't met their soulmate dance with each other starting at sundown. Not stopping until their mark has formed signifying the completion of a soulbond, leaving the rest of the un-bound elves to dance among themselves until the sun sets behind the horizon and the dance is over.
The Dwarrow believes a similar thing. That soulmates are real. That you only love once. Unlike the Elves though, Dwarrow don't have marks on their wrists. Instead their soulmates began when Mahal first created Dwarfs. When he split their souls in two making your soulmate, your One, he other half of your soul. That's why Dworrow believe that they only love once; Because there's only one person out there who'll complete them. This doesn't deter Dwarrow from taking on other partners before they meet your One, however, because the sad truth is. Very few Dwarves ever do. It's rare that a Dwarf even has a One even if it's the other half of them. It just means they were meant to meet in this current lifetime. This is why some Dwarrow don't marry, as a way to stay loyal to their other half. Some don't even bother taking on romantic partners, deciding instead to focus their time on their craft. Then there's the majority who do find their one love outside of their true One. not caring if their partner isn't the other half of their soul. But for the few pairs of One's that do find each other it's something to always something to celebrate. It means that they've been blessed by Mahal and is usually a big thing that's followed by a big wedding and an even bigger feast.
Lastly, there are the Hobbits, a simple race created by Yavannah. Filled with the love of the earth, the need to grow things, and live for the simple things in life such as good food, a warm fire, and a happy family. Many would believe the Hobbit's concept of love is just as simple as everything about them. That's until you ask a Hobbit what their opinion about love is and they give you a warm smile and an answer that's deeper than what Men have. Hobbits love freely, in a hippy sort of way. They love their garden, the food they eat, and the birds that tweet, all the life that Yavanna created. It's actually easier for them to tell you what they don't love.
Now if you specifically ask for their opinion on ‘true love’. Then you get the simple answer you were expecting, because your soulmate is your true love of course.
Soulmates are also a simple thing with Hobbits. It's practically unheard of for a Hobbit to not have a soulmate. The person that at the end of the day will love more than anything else. No matter if the Hobbits are platonic soulmates, because even they will tell you their true love is their soulmate. This is why Hobbits consider soulmates, no matter platonic or romantic, to be as good as married when they come of age (as long as the pair already know who they are. If they meet their soulmate after they come of age, then they’re considered married the moment they find each other.) Though some of the more romantic soulmates like to have a wedding, a trend started when they learned about the concept from the Men. (it's also just a good excuse to throw a party. Another thing hobbits love.) Hobbits are also expected to live with their soulmate after they come of age too. Other than that if the pair wants, they can take on other partners. A practice more commonly seen with platonic pairs than with romantic ones.
Another simplicity with Hobbit soulmates is that they don't have to go through the hurdles Elves and Dworrow do to find them either. Every hobbit knows who their soulmate is, or rather, where their soulmate is. You see, once a Hobbit turns 5 they develop something akin to a sixth sense. Almost like a gut feeling that lets them know where their soulmate is, and now before you get any misconceptions. Let me explain that this does not mean they know their soulmate's actual location, but rather it's like Hobbits have a built-in soulmate GPS or compass. That points them in the direction of their soulmate. They always know how far away their partner is and how to get to them.
Not that there aren’t any struggles for Hobbits when it comes to finding their soulmate. Sometimes their soulmate is too far away for them to meet right away. Meaning they have to wait until they are old enough to go out and find them. Most of the time this just means waiting until they're in their teens, when their parents finally let them travel to the other side of the Shire. However, the even unluckier Hobbits, the ones whose soulmate is outside of the Shire, must wait even longer before they can even think about finding their soulmate. Since no faunt under the age of 33 can travel outside the Shire without a parent.
Unlucky Hobbits like Bilbo Baggins, who seem to be even unluckier than most.
That was until now at least.
Because now the day has come where Bilbo has finally turned 33.
Bilbo can now freely leave the Shire and find their soulmate and Bilbo's not going to wait another second.
His luck was finally turning around, and would you believe it? His soulmate happened to be heading this way!