An old word from the lexicon of the Hobbits, referring to an item that had no particular immediate use, but whose owner had no wish to throw away. These mathoms therefore tended to collect over time in the homes of Hobbits, and would not infrequently be given away as gifts to others.
For particularly unusual or curious mathoms, the Hobbits maintained a Mathom-house at Michel Delving to store and exhibit them. It was here that Bilbo Baggins' mithril coat was kept for several decades after his return to the Shire in III 2942. Bilbo recovered it from the Mathom-house and later gave it to Frodo to wear during the Quest of Mount Doom (thereby finding a use for it, and thus by definition bringing its mathom status to an end).
Notes
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The word mathom is derived from Old English māðm, meaning a treasure or precious thing, especially a small or ornamental gift such as a ring or jewel. It came from ancient times, when the Hobbits lived near the ancestors of the Rohirrim in the upper Vales of Anduin. By the later Third Age, The Hobbits had largely abandoned this old language in favour of the Common Speech, but a few terms survived in everyday use, and mathom was one of these.
The word mathom is modernised from Old English by Tolkien to represent the actual word used by the Hobbits, which was kast (and the equivalent word among the Rohirrim would be kastu, represented by actual Old English māðm).
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- Updated 24 March 2021
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