The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
III 2883 - III 3002 (1283 - 1402 by the Shire-reckoning, lived 119 years); head of the Took family after the death of her husband Fortinbras II in III 2980 (S.R. 1380, Lalia headed the family for 22 years)
Race
Culture
Family
Born a Clayhanger; married into the Took family
Settlements
Dwelt after her marriage at Great Smials
Meaning
Uncertain1
Titles

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About this entry:

  • Updated 26 May 2023
  • Updates planned: 1

Lalia Clayhanger

The long-lived matriarch of the Took clan

The wife of Thain Fortinbras II, who long outlived her husband and ruled the Tooks of Great Smials for twenty-two years. She was famous for her tremendous girth (she was known in less polite circles as Lalia the Fat), which was rumoured to have prevented her attendance of Bilbo's famous Birthday Party. She died the following year in an unfortunate incident involving a tipping wheelchair and a flight of garden steps.


Notes

1

The meaning of the name Lalia is uncertain. In its (rare) modern use, it is thought to derive from the Greek for 'speech', implying a person who speaks well (but Lalia Clayhanger's rather fearsome reputation does not seem fit well with this interpretation). Indeed, it is far from clear that Tolkien intended the name to carry any particular meaning at all, though one alternative would be Latin lalia, 'lilies'. This would fit with the Hobbits' fondness for giving flower names to girls (and there was indeed one Hobbit known to have been named after this particular flower, Lily Baggins).

As with her given name, the meaning of Lalia's family name of Clayhanger remains uncertain. The -hanger perhaps relates to Anglo-Saxon hangra, a hillside or slope, especially one covered with grass or trees. If so, Clayhanger would mean something like 'clay hillside' (which might in turn imply that the family's Hobbit-hole had originally been made in such a place).

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 26 May 2023
  • Updates planned: 1

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