Hobbit

Hobbits are a race from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth universe which first appears in the book The Hobbit. They also play a major role in The Lord of the Rings.

History

Historically, the Hobbits are known to have originated in the Valley of Anduin, between Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains. According to The Lord of the Rings, they have lost the genealogical details of how they are related to the rest of humankind. At this time, there were three Hobbit-kinds, with different temperaments. The Harfoots, the most numerous, were almost identical to the Hobbits as they are described in The Lord of the Rings. The Stoors had an affinity for water, boats and swimming; the Fallohides were an adventurous people. (Both of these traits were much rarer in later days.) While situated in the Vallery of the Anduin River the Hobbits lived close by the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim, and this led to some contact between the two. As a result many old words and names in "Hobbitish" are derivatives of words in Rohirric, so much so that even someone without linguistic training could make out the relation (Merry would later write an entire book devoted to the relationship, Old Place Names in the Shire).

Related Topics:
Anduin - Mirkwood - Misty Mountains - The Lord of the Rings - Harfoots - Stoors - Fallohides - Eotheod - Rohirrim

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Some time near the beginning of the Third Age, they undertook, for reasons unknown, but possibly having to do with Mordor's power, the arduous task of crossing the Misty Mountains. Some of the Stoors, however, stayed behind, and it is from these people that Gollum would come many years later. The Hobbits took different routes in their journey westward, but eventually came to a land between the River Baranduin (which they renamed Brandywine) and the Weather Hills. There they founded many settlements, and the divisions between the Hobbit-kinds began to blur.

Related Topics:
Third Age - Mordor - Misty Mountains - Gollum - Baranduin

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Around the year 1600 of the Third Age, two Fallohide brothers decided, again for reasons unknown, to cross the River Brandywine and settle on the other side. Large numbers of Hobbits followed them, and most of their former territory was depopulated. Only Bree and a few surrounding villages lasted to the end of the Third Age. The new land that they found on the west bank of the Brandywine is called the Shire.

Related Topics:
Bree - Shire

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A map of the Shire and surrounding regions may be found at Eriador.

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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 nowhere else recorded. 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 chieftans.

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The first Thain of the Shire was Bucca of the Marrish, who founded the Oldbuck family. However, later on the Oldbuck family crossed the Brandywine River to create the separate land of Buckland and the family name changed to the familiar "Brandybuck". Their patriach then became Master of Buckland. With the departure of the Oldbucks/Brandybucks, a new family was selected to have its chieftans 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 as the Hobbits of the Shire led entirely peaceful, uneventful lives the office of Thain was seen as something more of a formality.

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