The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring may have brought Middle Earth to our world in a very real, on-screen way just over 20 years ago, but the cast of the franchise is still bringing some major joy to the fandom. The four hobbits from the world-famous franchise recently reunited at a restaurant, and a nearby fan found himself dining in the shire as his day was totally made by eating near the Lord of the Rings reunion.
One fan had his geek dreams realized when he and his wife went to dinner and got sat next to not one, not two, but four Lord of the Rings hobbits. Frodo Baggins’ Elijah Wood and Samwise Gamgee’s Sean Astin were joined for dinner at the restaurant by none other than Pippin and Merry, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, respectively. You can check out the evidence of the Lord of the Rings hobbit reunion in Monaghan’s official Instagram post, below:
If you find yourself grinning from ear to ear when looking at the photo, don’t worry, you’re not the only one. The joy this photo brings is immeasurable, and it certainly looks like there was some major joy to be had while taking the photo as well. Just look at Dominic Monaghan’s face, it’s pure hobbit fun.
Peep that face peeking out behind Dominic Monaghan’s, though, and you’ll see an elated fan photobombing probably one of the most cherished images he’ll ever find himself in (sorry wedding photos and new baby births). Even cooler, though, is the fact that Monaghan gives him a shoutout in his photo caption.
The event wasn’t just captured once in this photo, though, because the photobomber himself basically live-tweeted the whole encounter. Even though he *swore* he wouldn’t intervene in their lowkey reunion, he totally did in the best way possible, as we get to kind of relive it through his many tweets. Here’s the words behind the first innocent post on fan Cam Olsen’s Twitter, stating he was totally “geeking out” over sharing a space with the four hobbits:
My wife and I are out to dinner and we just were seated next to Elijah Wood and Sean Astin. I’m going to respect their space and not bother them, and playing it cool and all, but I’m definitely geeking out.
The tweet is followed by a string of tweets that update his followers, and now everyone who found the encounter between a man and his hobbit heroes to be as endearing as I do, on the developments of the dining experience. At one point he totally admits to photobombing a photo of the four Lord of the Rings stars, and finally sends out a tweet proving he was, in fact, not “playing it cool and all”:
I couldn’t help it. On the way out I thanked them for their labor in bringing LOTR to life. They were so kind and I shook Sean Astin’s hand. I experienced the Shire tonight and loved it.
I have no doubt in my mind the four Lord of the Rings stars totally noticed the fan freaking out over his salad at dinner, but their kindness in letting him come to them on his own terms is noted. While being recognized as a hobbit in public is probably a regular occurrence that comes with being a part of one of the most beloved franchises in the world, it’s got to feel good when fans thank you for your work and know your characters have connected with fans and have a place in their fantasy loving hearts.
While we won’t see any of the hobbits in the now-named LOTR series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the massive budget of the Amazon production will still bring Middle Earth back in a new way for fans who still want more of the story the hobbits, and their actors, helped finish. We still have plenty of questions about the upcoming Lord of the Rings series, including the exact release date, but longtime fans and newcomers to the franchise will be able to stream the series when it does become available with an Amazon Prime subscription.
