Hobbits

The Hobbits, also called the Halflings, were a small and unassuming people of Middle-earth, a branch of the race of Men though unlike them in stature and temper. Dwelling chiefly in the Shire and at Bree in Eriador, they were little known to the great folk of the world, yet they came to play a decisive part in the War of the Ring.

Description

Hobbits were small, generally between two and four feet tall, with curly hair and large, tough, leathery feet that needed no shoes. They were inclined to be stout and good-natured, loving peace, quiet, good tilled earth, and above all food, drink, and the comforts of home. Despite their unwarlike ways, they possessed an unexpected toughness and resilience that surprised those who underestimated them.

Kinds and origins

The Hobbits reckoned three kindreds among themselves: the Harfoots, the Stoors, and the Fallohides. Their early history was little recorded; they wandered westward out of the vales of the upper Anduin and at length settled the Shire, which they tended and farmed in long peace under the distant protection of the Rangers of the North.

Resistance to the Ring

Hobbits proved remarkably resistant to the corrupting power of the One Ring, owing perhaps to their humility and lack of ambition for dominion. Bilbo Baggins bore the Ring for many years with relatively little harm, and it was the hobbit Frodo, with his servant Samwise, who carried it to the Cracks of Doom. Sméagol-Gollum, himself of hobbit-kind, endured the Ring's malice for centuries, twisted but not wholly destroyed.

Role in the War of the Ring

Four hobbits, Frodo, Sam, Meriadoc, and Peregrin, went out from the Shire and became central to the overthrow of Sauron. Their deeds, all but unknown to the wider world, were honoured by the great after the war, and they returned to scour and heal their own land.