Hobbits would play great roles in the events of the late Third Age of Middle-earth.
From A Quest against a dragon, to killing the Lord of the Nazgul,
to the very destruction of the One Ring. But where did this race of short beings come from?
And how did they come to settle in the land we know as The Shire?
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the History of Hobbits.
If you’re familiar with Middle-earth at all, you’ll know the basics of a
hobbit’s appearance - they’re short, usually around 3 foot 6, have slightly pointed ears,
and furry feet with leathery soles. What you may not know is that the earliest hobbits
were divided into three groups - each with their own unique characteristics.
One is known as the Stoors - the only group of hobbits said to have grown facial hair.
They enjoy water, and would often go swimming and use boats. They also are said to have worn boots.
The second group, known as the Fallohides, were taller and slimmer than the other two
groups - some growing to four feet or more in height. For reference,
they would be only slightly shorter than Merry and Pippin after drinking the Ent Draught,
causing them to be the tallest hobbits in history - somewhere over four foot five. The
Fallohides were said to be fair in both their skin and hair, and they never grew beards.
The final group is the Harfoots, who would have many of the traits and practices that
we would come to see as typical for hobbits. They were shorter and smaller than the other groups,
had no beards, were browner of skin than the others, and went barefoot.
They enjoyed highlands and hillsides and began the practice of living in hobbit holes,
also known as smials. They tended to find comfort in settling in one place for a longer period of
time, and were known to be friendly with the Dwarves who travelled through the High Pass.
While they are often referred to as a separate race, hobbits are generally
believed to be related to Men, and thus were descended from the second children of Iluvatar.
Sometime in the Elder Days, that is before the end of the First Age,
it is believed the halflings branched out from the race of Men. Their exact origin is unknown,
and hobbits don’t even appear in the histories of the elves. In fact,
they remain unknown to any of the other races of Middle-earth until at least the early Third Age.
At this point, the hobbits live in the Vales of Anduin, between Greenwood and the Misty
Mountains. The Harfoots are believed to live in the lower foothills of the Misty Mountains,
north of the Gladden River. The Fallohides dwelt under the southern eaves of the great forest,
and the Stoors in the southern vales of Anduin.
It is in this time where they are known to the Northmen - the ancestors of the
Rohirrim. During The Lord of the Rings, we learn that the Rohirrim have ancient legends of the
hobbits - and share many words that sound alike and share similar meanings. Theoden would refer
to Merry as Holbytla, meaning “hole-builder”, very similar to their proper name - Hobbit.
As time goes by in the early Third Age,
the hobbit clans grow uneasy, for around 1000 TA, Sauron takes over Amon Lanc,
which becomes Dol Guldur. This growing evil leads the forest to be called Mirkwood,
and causes Easterlings to move into Rhovanion and attack the Northmen near the Vales of Anduin.
And this is where we have the first known historical event of the hobbits, which they refer
to as The Wandering Days. Alarmed at the rise of Dol Guldur, and the influx of his servants,
the hobbits begin to travel Westward. The Harfoots are the first to leave their homes,
coming to Eriador, where they are first recorded in the Arnorian records around 1050 TA.
These hobbits are called Periannath or Halflings, by the Dunedain of Arnor.
Around 100 years after the departure of their kin, the Fallohides followed into Eriador.
By the year 1300, the Fallohides come to join the Harfoots,
who take the Fallohides as their leaders, since they were a bolder
breed of hobbit. It is also by this time that the hobbits had settled as far west as Bree,
which would remain the westernmost settlement of hobbits for quite some time.
During this time, the Stoors would follow in the migration roughly 100 years after the Fallohides,
in 1150 TA. Rather than taking the northern route, the Stoors take the Redhorn Pass - the
pass of Caradhras the Fellowship would attempt to travel nearly 2000 years later. As the Stoors
follow a southern route along the Bruinen, some break away and move to the Angle of Eriador,
south of Rivendell, many settle between Tharbad and Dunland, while most of the Stoors
move to Dunland, specifically Swanfleet - a marshy area that most resembled their former home.
Here, the Stoors would come into contact with the Dunlendings,
causing their speech to become slightly different than their hobbit kin further west. In 1356,
Angmar begins its war against the men and elves of Eriador,
with Rivendell itself coming under attack in 1409. Sometime during this 53-year period,
the Stoors of the Angle flee due to the threat of war. While some would join their southern kin,
others would return to Rhovanion, to their home in the Vales of Anduin. It is from these Stoor
hobbits that we would get Smeagol. I talk more about these particular hobbits in my Gollum video.
In 1601, two Fallohide brothers - Marcho and Blanco lead a group of hobbits further
Westward from their homes near Bree. Crossing what would later be known as the Brandywine Bridge,
they settle in an empty land within Arthedain, one of the last remnants of the kingdom of Arnor. The
King of Arthedain, Argeleb II, granted the hobbits permission to settle in what was once a great
region of farms, vineyards, and woods in Arnor - and the hunting grounds of its king. The hobbits
begin the process of colonizing this fertile land that would come to be known as The Shire
Roughly 30 years later (1630), the Stoors of Dunland move north,
joining the other hobbits in colonizing the Shire. The Stoors are specifically said to settle in
the Eastfarthing and Southfarthing. While all the hobbits would intermingle and merge over the years
and become a single group, there would be glimpses of some of their old differences
from the Harfoots, Fallohides, and Stoors. For instance, due to their time in Dunland, some
hobbits in the Southfarthing and Buckland would have some Stoorish characteristics and words.
Those of Fallohide descent were long found to be leaders among the hobbits. Certain families
were known to have particularly strong Fallohidish lines, such as the Tooks, Bolgers, and Brandybucks
- maintaining their more bold and adventurous nature, and being great leaders among hobbit-folk.
Of the Harfoots, as noted earlier, we know that they were the most numerous to colonize the shire.
And their ways would live on in the traditions and practices of their people - going barefoot and of
course, living in holes in the ground. While only coming into the stories of men and elves in
the Third Age, relatively late in the history of Middle-earth, there would be many great triumphs
and tragedies among the hobbits. In 1636, the Great Plague, which affects much of Middle-earth
claims the lives of many. In 2747, goblins of Mount Gram invade the shire
but are driven out by Bullroarer Took in the Battle of Green Fields.
In 2758, Gandalf the Grey would come to the aid of the Shire-folk
during the Great Winter, where he would learn of their hardiness, as they would
fight to outlast the following famine known as the Days of Dearth (2759-2760). 150 years later,
a second terrible winter would follow - the Fell Winter, when White Wolves entered into the Shire
and Gandalf and the Rangers of the North once again aided their allies to stave off hunger.
Through it all, the hobbits of the Shire, while not the mightiest of beings,
would prove among the most hearty. The descendants of these great folk would go on to play pivotal
roles in the reclamation of Erebor and of course, the War of the Ring - being among the bravest,
greatest, and oldest of hobbits ever to live.
Now for a fun audience question - who is your favorite hobbit of all-time? Let me know who
and why in the comments!