Welcome to the Lord of the Rings lore cast, the show that explores the background of

Tolkien's amazing world from the very beginning.

So I've been thinking about the word exceptional lately.

When you hear the word exceptional, what do you think about?

If somebody tells you, wow, that child is exceptional, typically you think that that's a good thing, right? That means that they stand out from the crowd, that they are unique in some ability or achievement.

But exceptional doesn't always mean a good thing. It can actually mean the opposite, because

the word exception means to be left out, to be not among what is common.

In the realm of psychology, the word exceptional gets used when describing somebody who has one or more neurodivergent qualities.

So, for example, somebody who is diagnosed as both gifted and ADHD would be twice exceptional.

Somebody who's also autistic would be thrice exceptional.

Now, most people view something like gifted as being a good thing, and so exceptional would make

sense with that, but really any neurodivergence means that you're just different from everybody

else. Autism can have its ups and its downs. ADHD can have its benefits and its drawbacks. Gifted can have both as well.

The word exceptional simply means that you stand out and are different from everybody else in some

key way. Now, why have I been thinking about this in regards to The Hobbit? Well, one of the things that becomes more and more

clear as the story goes on is that Bilbo is exceptional. Exceptional in the traditional sense of

being or having a quality that sets him apart from everyone else in a good way. He's clever

in a way that the dwarves aren't. He's careful in a way

that they aren't. He thinks ahead like all of the best leaders, including Gandalf. And now that

we're most of the way through the Merkwood section, Bilbo has proven himself a few times to help the

dwarves get out of sticky situations or himself get out of a sticky situation. So he's exceptional in that regard, but he always was exceptional.

When the dwarves meet him, they're apprehensive about bringing along this little

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