Hobbit Breeds

[Stormrider]

Harfoots--browner of skin, smaller and shorter, beardless, bootless, neat and nimble hands and feet, preferred highlands and hillsides

Harfoots knew Dwarves in ancient times. They lived a long time in the foothills of the mountains. They were the first to move westward over Eriador as far as Weathertop. They are the most normal and representative variety of Hobbit and the most numerous. They were the most likely breed to settle and stay in one place and kept the habit of living in tunnels and holes.

Stoors--broader, heavier in build, larger hands and feet, preferred flatlands and riversides and built boards our of reeds.

Stoors lived a long while by the banks of the Great River Anduin and were less shy of Men. Second to travel West after the Harfoots, they followed the Loudwater southwards and lived a long time between Tharbad and the borders of Dunland before they moved north again. Sméagol was a Stoor.

Fallohides--fairer of skin and hair, taller and slimmer, lovers of trees and woodlands

Fallohides are the least numerous and were more friendly with Elves and had more skill in language and songs instead of handicrafts. They preferred hunting to tilling. They crossed the mountains north of Rivendell and down the River Hoarwell.

In Eriador, Fallohides mingled with the other breeds. They were bolder and more adventurous, so became the leaders or chieftains among the clans of the Harfoots or Stoors. The great families like the Tooks and Masters of Buckland had strong Fallohide strains in them.

[Andorinha]

Ah, thanks for starting this topic, I'm off to find what I can about "hobbit breeds" now! I seem to recall that in real life history there were three different Germanic invasions of Roman Britain, three separate "folk movements," wonder if Tolkien was using this as a model for his hobbits?

Back later...

[Stormrider]

I would like to set down a bit of the history of the merging and moving of the Hobbit Breeds into their new lands such as The Shire and Bree.

The beginning of Hobbits starts in the Elder Days and they lived quietly in Middle-earth for many years before any other people became aware of them!

The earliest tales (since they did not begin keeping records until they moved to The Shire) tell that they lived in the upper vales of the Anduin between Greenwood the Great and the Misty Mountains. Because of the multiplying of Men in their land and a shadow that fell on the forest making it dark giving it the new name of Mirkwood, the hobbits made a hard and perilous crossing of the mountains into Eriador. Before this crossing, the Hobbits had already been divided into the three breeds mentioned above.

In the westlands of Eriador (between the Misty Mountains and the Mountains of Lune), the Hobbits found both Elves and Men. These Men were the Dúnedain that came over the Sea out of Westernesse. There was much land available for newcomers to settle and the Hobbits settled into ordered communities. The first settlement was at Bree and the Chetwood.

A legend tells of the reckoning of years in the year 1601 of the Third Age when the Fallohide Brothers, Marcho and Blanco, left Bree and obtained permission from the high king at Fornost (Argeleb II) to cross the River Baranduin with a group of hobbits. They took the land between the river and the Far Downs to settle. The king demanded that all they had to do was keep the Great Bridge in repair and all the other bridges and roads so the king's messengers could get through quickly. This started the Shire-reckoning and the crossing of the Brandywine (the Hobbits renamed the river) became Year One of the Shire from which all later dates were reckoned from.

....more to follow....

[Stormrider]

Hobbits were subjects of the King (while there still was one) but they had their own chieftains and did not bother with the outside world. However, they did send some bowmen to the battle at Fornost against the Witch-lord of Angmar. That is what they claim but there are not records written down. This war ended the North Kingdom and the Hobbits took the land for their own and chose a Thain to take the place of the king that was gone.

For 1,000 years the Hobbits were not troubled by war and prospered and multiplied until the Long Winter and famine when thousands died. But their land was rich and good for farmland so they were able to thrive again and get back on with their simple, ordered lives and ignored the outside world more and more and came to believe that peace and plenty were common everywhere. They were sheltered and didn't remember that the Rangers were protecting them.

Basically Hobbits were not warlike and never fought among themselves. But in the olden days, they had to fight to maintain themselves in a hard world.

One Battle was fought within the borders of the Shire--The Battle of Greenfields S.R. 1147. Bandobras Took stopped an invasion of Orcs. there old weapons were stored in their museum at Michel Delving and what weapons that were not in the Mathom House, were displayed as trophies.

Anyway, they had pretty good weather after that battle and they learned to live in peace but they were still pretty tough and could survive rough handling due to grief, foes, or weather. They were slow to quarrel and could shoot well with a bow and arrow although they did not shoot living things for sport.

[Andorinha]

Trying to think of alternative sources... Hammond and Scull, "Readers' Companion" for LOTR may have some material, and then the relevant HOME volumes have earlier versions to get an idea how JRRT developed his hobbit lore through time. There must have been an early version of the prologue material and maybe the appendices? Then the annotated Hobbit may have some further insights in its notes. Oh, yeahRateliff's two volumes on the different versions of The Hobbit may also have some material on hobbit breeds. Sigh, need also to run through The Letters again... See what I can find.

[Stormrider]

Surprisingly enough while reading through The Atlas of Middle Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad, I found this. This book is proving to be a very handy reference book not only for the maps but for her descriptions as well. She has broken the book down by the ages and also by areas. There is a page dedicated to the migration of the Hobbits! Karen Wynn Fonstad was a cartographer from Wisconsin.
She states:
--Hobbits lived in the upper vales of Anduin.
--The original Hobbit lands extended in the west along the Great River between the Gladden and the Carrock, which had also been inhabited at one time by the Rohirrim.
--The Fallohides crossed the Misty Mountinas north of Rivendell
--The Stoors climbed the Redhorn Pass
--The Hobbits would probably have stayed where they were but the lands were getting more populated by Men and Greenwood the Great was turning evil.
--This started the Wandering Days for the Hobbits
--In T.A. 1050 the Harfoots went west into Eriador--some as far as Weathertop.
--A century later the Harfoots were joined by the Fallohides and the Stoors.
--The Fallohides were few and mingled with the other hobbit breeds.
--Many Stoors settled apart near Tharbad in Dunland.
--In 1300, hobbits living in the north fled fron Angmar
--Some Stoors went south joing their kin in Dunland and others returned ti Wilderland and lived along the Gladden (ancestors of Sméagol)
--But most of the Hobbits moved West.
--The earliest and most important settlements were in Bree and Staddle.
--In 1601 a large group of Hobbits moved from Bree to west of the Baraduin River, and thirty years later they were joined by Stoors of Dunland, and then most of their people settled there in The Shire.

[Stormrider]

Here is the map from The Atlas of Middle-Earth showing the migration of the Hobbits.