Concerning Hobbits

Chronologically this reading doesn't have a location; but considering from here on out the chief stories of Middle-earth will feature Hobbits prominently it seems like a good place to include some information about this diminutive race. For those that have read The Fellowship of the Ring you'll recognize the title of this blog post as the same of the prologue of that book. Although some dates and histories are given most of the reading focuses on features of the Hobbit race. I think bullet points will be of best use:

• Hobbits are ancient folk, unobtrusive, and "...they love peace and quiet and good tilled earth..." (p. 10, The Fellowship of the Ring).
• They tend to dislike and shy away from the Big Folk
• "They are quick of hearing and sharp-eyed, and though they are inclined to be fat and do not hurry unnecessarily, they are nonetheless nimble and deft in their movements" (p. 10, The Fellowship of the Ring). In other words they seemed to be able to disappear to Men even though they possessed no magic. This nimbleness, in part, was a catalyst for Gandalf pairing Bilbo with Thorin Oakenshield.
• They range between two and four feet tall, not much shorter than Dwarves but much less stout and stocky. It is said that Bandobras Took reached four and a half feet tall and was able to ride a horse!
• "They dressed in bright colours, being notably fond of yellow and green; but they seldom wore shoes, since their feet had tough leathery soles and were clad in thick curling hair, much like the hair of their heads, which was commonly brown" (p. 11, The Fellowship of the Ring).
• They were a joyful people. "Their faces were as a rule good-natured rather than beautiful, broad, bright-eyed, red-cheeked, with mouths apt to laughter, and to eating and drinking. And laugh they did, and eat, and drink, often and heartily, being fond of simple jests at all times, and of six meals a day (when they could get them). They were hospitable and delighted in parties, and in presents, which they gave away freely and eagerly accepted"  (p. 11, The Fellowship of the Ring). Indeed, I feel they would make good company indeed and it seems their love language is gifts.
• It would seem that Hobbits, despite their short stature, were most akin to Men of all the races in Middle-earth. But what ancestry there may have been was lost through the years. However, it's clear the race of Hobbits began back in the First Age, during the Elder Days and they lived in Middle-earth for many long years before others were aware of them. "And the world being after all full of strange creatures beyond count, these little people seemed of very little importance" (p. 11, The Fellowship of the Ring).
• It seems the Hobbits moved westward and settled in the Shire; where they began to keep some loose records. The reason for this migration is not fully known. "Their own accounts speak of the multiplying of Men in the land, and of a shadow that fell on the forest, so that it became darkened and its new name was Mirkwood" (p. 12, The Fellowship of the Ring).
• There were three main divisions of Hobbits: the Harfoots (smaller, darker skin, beardless, who preferred hillsides and highlands, most likely to settle in an area--the most numerous group), the Stoors (broader and heavier, preferring riversides and flat land), and the Fallohides (fairer skin and hair, lovers of woods and trees, the least numerous and the most daring, the Fallohidish strain was noted in many of the leading families in the Shire). One of the first settlements of the Hobbits after their migration was in Bree.
• The Shire was founded in 1601 Third Age by two Fallohide brothers, Marcho and Blanco. They gained permission from the High King, Argeleb II, to cross over a stone bridge and maintain and settle in the land beyond the river. The Hobbits named the river the Brandywine. At the time the Northern Kingdom of the Dunedain was in decline so there was room to spare. "All that was demanded of them was that they should keep the Great Bridge n repair, and all other bridges and roads, speed the king's messengers, and acknowledge his lordship" (p. 13, The Fellowship of the Ring).
• The Hobbits fell in love with the Shire and in their peaceful unobtrusive ways fell, for the most part, out of knowledge of Men and Elves again even though they were subjects of the King, at least in name. In days of old the land had been used for farming by the Northern Kings so it is small wonder why the Hobbits loved it so. Little trouble found the Hobbits other than the Dark Plague.
• They were ruled be their own and meddled little in events outside of the Shire. "To the last battle at Fornost with the Witch-lord of Angmar they sent some bowmen to the aid of the king, or so they maintained, though no tales of Men record it. But in that war the North Kingdom ended; and then the Hobbits took the land for their own and they chose from their own chiefs a Thain to hold the authority of the king that was gone" (p. 14, The Fellowship of the Ring).
• The peace the Hobbits lived in was not due to their warrior nature. They had never been warlike and never even fought amongst themselves. When need arose they were hardy, as Bandobras Took once routed some invading Orcs who raided the Shire in the Battle of Greenfields in 2747 Third Age--the only battle to take place within the Shire. The plenty and peace the Hobbits experienced was due to others. "They forgot or ignored what little they had ever known of the Guardians, and of the labours of those that made possible the long peace of the Shire. They were, in fact, sheltered, but they had ceased to remember it" (p. 14, The Fellowship of the Ring).
• Because of this peace there were few weapons in the Shire and most found their home in a museum in the chief city of the Shire; Michel Delving. "The Mathom-house it was called; for anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a mathom" (p. 14, The Fellowship of the Ring). Don't we all have our share of mathoms?
• Even with years of peace the Hobbits were deceptively tough able to shoot bows well and very accurate when throwing rocks and beasts knew to run for cover should a Hobbit stoop for a stone. "They were, if it came to it, difficult to daunt or to kill; and they were, perhaps, so unwearyingly fond of good things not least because they could, when put to it, do without them, and could survive rough handling by grief, foe, or weather in a way that astonished those who did not know them well and looked no further than their bellies and their well-fed faces" (p. 15, The Fellowship of the Ring). These traits would serve Bilbo and Frodo well on their adventures.
• Hobbits originally dwelt in holes in the ground but by the days of Bilbo only the very rich or the very poor kept this tradition. This was because suitable sites to build massive tunnel dwellings (called smials) were hard to find and only the rich could afford. While the poor literally lived in holes in the ground. There is some debate if the Hobbits learned their building craft from Elves, Men, or Dwarves (probably a combination of all three). "A preference for round windows, and even round doors, was the chief remaining peculiarity of hobbit-architecture" (p. 16, The Fellowship of the Ring). This architecture still inspires today. Check out some examples here, here, and here. Indeed, this love of land led to most Hobbits having deep misgivings about all types of water, especially the Great Sea, and very few of their race could actually swim.
• "There is another thing about the Hobbits of old that must be mentioned, an astonishing habit: they imbibed or inhaled, through pipes of clay or wood, the smoke of the burning leaves of herb, which they called pipe-weed or leaf, a variety probably of Nicotiana" (p. 17, The Fellowship of the Ring). Mystery surrounds the origin of pipe-weed. Meriadoc (Merry) Brandybuck traced the first growth of the leaf to Tobold Hornblower of Longbottom in the Southfarthing in 1070 Shire Reckoning (2670 Third Age). The best leaf resided in that area with favorites being Longbottom Leaf, Old Toby, and Southern Star.
• It appears to have originated in the North and many thought the Dúnedain brought the weed with them from Númenor as they called it sweet galenas. They held it in high esteem for its fragrance. As Merry wrote: "But even the Dúnedain of Gondor allow us this credit: Hobbits first put it into pipes" (p. 18, The Fellowship of the Ring). And one certain Wizard was quite fond of the pipe-weed.
• One final note about Hobbits. They were also known as Halflings. "They did not of course call themselves Halflings; this was the Númenorean name for them. It evidently referred to their height in comparison with Númenorean men, and was approximately accurate when given" (p. 287, Unfinished Tales). Men from Númenor were taller then Men of Middle-earth. Though no Hobbits lived in Gondor legends of the Halflings were known to its people since they had been in close communication with the Northern Kingdom where the Hobbits lived.

Middle-earth timeline: Third Age, 2941 (April)

Today's reading comes from: The Fellowship of the Ring, pages 10-18 and Unfinished Tales, page 287