"The Hobbits"

What is a Hobbit?

                                 Hobbits

The Hobbits

Dominions: The Shire (mainly), Bree (numerous families), Gladden Fields (tribes)

Languages: Hobbitish, Westron

 Average height: between 2' and 4', around 60 to 120 cm. Elsewhere noted as between 3' and 4' never less and seldom more

Skin color: White, tan and dark

 Hair color: Black, brown, blonde, white and grey (in later years)

Distinctions: Small stature, sometimes heavy, curly hair, thick leathery soles and hairy feet

 Lifespan: Mature at thirty three, generally live to be one hundred 

        “They are (or were) a little people, about half of a normal height, and smaller than the bearded Dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort that helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off. They are inclined to be at in the stomach; they dress in bright colors (chiefly Green and Yellow) wear no shoes because their feet grow natural leathery soles, Hobbits ears were slightly pointed and thick warm brown hair like the stuff on their heads (which is curly); have long clever brown fingers, good-natured faces, and laugh deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner, which they have twice a day when they can get it).They have more long ages even than race of men , the average life span of a hobbit is the 100 years, though it is not a remarkable thing for a hobbit to live for several decades. For a Hobbit, the Age of maturity or being adult was 33 whereas the 50 years old Hobbit was considered a Middle Aged hobbit.”

   History

The exact origins of the Hobbits are still a mystery as what Age the Hobbits first appeared in. They, at first, appeared somewhere in the Valley of Anduin River. The earliest generations of hobbits lived in the Valley of Anduin, between Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains. During their early history, there were three subspecies of Hobbit. Other races of Middle Earth discovered the race of Hobbits and found their early several generations. According to The Lord of the Rings, they have lost the genealogical details of how they are related to the Big People. At this time, there were three breeds, or tribes, of Hobbits, with different physical specificities: Harfoots, Stoors and Fallohides. They got some connection with Rohirrim because living in the Valley of Anduin River they lived close by the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim that brought the contact between two. As a result, many old words and names in "Hobbitish" are derivatives of words in Rohirric.

In the Third Age (1050), they undertook the arduous task of crossing the Misty Mountains. Reasons for this trek are unknown, but they possibly had to do with Sauron's growing power in nearby Greenwood, which was later named Mirkwood because of the shadow that fell on it as Sauron searched the area for One Ring . The Hobbits took different routes in their journey westward, but as they began to settle together in Bree-land, Dunland, and the Angle formed by the rivers Mitheithel (Hoarwell) and Bruinen (Loudwater); the divisions between the Hobbit-kinds began to blur.

In the Third Age (1601), two Fallohide brothers named Marcho and Blanco gained permission from the King of Arnor at Fornost to cross the River Baranduin and settle on the other side. They led many hobbits, and most of the territory they had settled in the Third Age was abandoned. Only Bree and a few surrounding villages lasted to the end of the Third Age. The new land that they founded on the west bank of the Brandywine was called the Shire. The crossing of the Brandywine was the event that led to the settlement of the Shire, thus the Shire Reckoning began. Originally, the Hobbits of the Shire swore nominal allegiance to the last Kings of Arnor, being required only to acknowledge their lordship, speed their messengers, and keep the bridges and roads in repair. During the final fight against Angmar at the Battle of Fornost, the Hobbits maintain that they sent a company of archers to help, but this is not a trustworthy record. After the battle, the kingdom of Arnor was destroyed, and in absence of the king, the Hobbits elected a Thain of the Shire from among their own chieftains. The first Thain of the Shire was Bucca of the Marish, who founded the Old buck family. However, the Old buck family later crossed the Brandywine River to create the separate land of Buckland and the family name changed to the familiar "Brandybuck". Their masters of patriarchal society turned into Masters of Buckland. With the departure of the Oldbucks or Brandybucks, came a new family to select its chieftains be Thain: the Took Family (Indeed, Pippin Took was son of the Thain and would later become Thain himself). The Thain was in charge of Shire Moot and Muster and the Hobbitry-in-arms but the calm and serenity was all there in Shire as the Hobbits of the Shire led entirely peaceful, uneventful lives, the office of Thain lost its high importance and was seen as nothing but a formality. The major reason of political power in the Shire was Mayor of Michel Delving (the Shire's chief township). His duties included overseeing the post and the "police" force (Shirriffs) he was also obliged to preside at banquets. After the Fourth Age, the appropriate physical changes can be seen in the race of Hobbits as their stature become progressively smaller. But as the Galardriel says: “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.” They got the highest rank to be chosen to change the course of the future of Middle Earth, to destroy Sauron’s magical ring of power and bring peace in the Middle Earth by defeating the evil power

Types of Hobbits

• Harfoots
• Stoors
• Fallohides

Harfoots(Browns)

The most common Hobbits were the Harfoots, smaller and shorter than the other kinds with browner skin and no beards and rarely wore shoes or boots, skilled with their hands and feet and preferred hillsides and highlands to live in. Reason for that was the acquaintance with the Dwarves of the Middle Earth and lived in the foothills of the mountains for a long time. While the other varieties of Hobbits were still in the Wilderland the Harfoots moved west, travelling across Eriador as far as Weathertop.

Stoors (Facial Hair)

Stoor

Another important race of Hobbits was the Stoors. The River-folk were mainly the stoorish hobbits. The most important character of the River-folk was smeagol  who killed his cousin Deagol to win the One Ring which was found by Deagol in the deep river. After winning the ring, Smeagol abandon the River-folk and resided under mountains as the creature Gollum. 

Smeagol and Deagol

They were different in their characteristics Such as heavier and broader in build than the other Hobbits, and had large hands and feet. Among the Hobbits, the Stoors most resembled Men and were most friendly to them. Stoors were the only Hobbits who normally grew facial hair.A habit which set them apart from the Harfoots who lived in the mountain foothills, and the Fallohides who lived in forests far to the north, was that Stoors preferred flat lands and riversides. Only Stoors used boats, fished, and could swim. They also wore boots in muddy weather. The Stoors also had their own dialect of Hobbitish, owing to the fact that they spent some time in Dunland and adopted many strange words and names which they took to the Shire, and retained even until the late Third Age. 

Fallohides(Fair skins)

Fallohide

The Fallohides, the leaders, preferred trees and woodland, were the least common variety of Hobbits. They had fairer skin and hair and were taller and slimmer than the others. They were linked with the Elves of Middle-earth and got the high skills with language and song, and preferred hunting to tilling. They crossed the mountains north of Rivendell and then followed the River Hoarwell.

Although the Hobbits took different routes west, they eventually arrived in a land between the River Branduin (later Brandywine) and the Weather hills. There the divisions between the varieties of Hobbits began to blur. In the Third Age 3001 the most famous families of The Shire were:

Families of the Shire

• Bagginses,
•  Boffins
•  Tooks,
•  Brandybucks,
• Grubbs
• Chubbs,
• Hornblowers, 
• Bolgers Bracegirdles
•  Proudfoots
• Sackville

Sources:

Shire of the Hobbits(2012)

The Lord of Rings, J.R.R Tolkien

www.google.com

J.R.R Tolkien, The Lord of Rings, "Prologue" concerning Hobbits

J.R.R Tolkien, The Lord of Rings, Appendix B, "The Third Age"

J.R.R Tolkien, The Lord of Rings, "The Enchanting Prelude"