Chronicled in Michel Delving of i Drann in Eriador,
On this the 43rd day of Firith in the Year 3018 of the Third Age.
Much thought have I given to my maudlin mood of yesterday, and so sought the opinion of the Goodbodys this morning. Both Master Maneser and Mistress Rue prescribed a second breakfast and Old Toby (a variety of galenas), which indeed improved my outlook! It is their view that I yet suffer greatly from my wounded heart and mind, and my feelings of healing and recovery are but the denial of my grief, tempered with the peacefulness of the Shire; and my distress of Arda Marred, together with my dread of seeing its consequences first-hand after my cosseted childhood in Mithlond, did lead to my despair. Pessas nin! For my new friends may be small in stature, but great they are in wisdom and mighty in fëa!
Regarding my chronicles, they bid me continue recounting my journey, for they believe that composing my thoughts might aid in purging the shadow in my heart.Thus encouraged, I therefore resume my record of Ennor:
Of the history of Hobbits and the Shire, I have learned much from the Goodbodys and the inhabitants of Michel Delving. Although their origins ere the year 1050 of this Age are long lost, it is earliest recorded that Hobbits once dwelled below the northern Vales of Anduin in Rhovanion, between Taur-nu-Fuin and Hithaeglir.
A map of Wilderland from the Mathom House collection
Nigh the Éothéod they dwelled and there was good will between the two kindreds; thus of old the Hobbits spoke the languages of Men, in their own fashion, and therefore many words and names in the Hobbit's tongue are derived from Rohirric. Now Bree-land scholars are in agreement that Men are closest in kin to Hobbits; far more closely than Men are to either Elves or Dwarves. The ancestral details of how Hobbits are kin to the 'Big Folk' (as they call Men) are also long lost, but it is commonly understood that Hobbits too were of the Secondborn, or Younger Children of Ilúvatar, in the time of beginning, and were therefore also created within Ainulindalë.
Now in those days in Wilderland, there lived three branches of Hobbit-kind:
~ The Fallohides were bold hunters and intrepid adventurers. They loved trees and woodland, and were friendly with the Elves and thus skilled in both speech and song. More tall and less stout than their kin they were, and also fairer of skin and also of hair. The Fallohides were the least numerous of Hobbit-kind, and dwelled at first on the northern reaches of the River Anduin. The Fallohidish line is yet seen in the families of the Tooks, the Bolgers and the Brandybucks.
~ The Harfoots were settlers and burrowers of 'smials', and they preferred highlands and hillsides. Smaller and shorter were they, and browner of skin; their hands and feet were neat and nimble. They were friendly with Dwarves who travelled through Cirith Forn en Andrath on the Great Road. The most common of Hobbit-kind, the Harfoots dwelled at first in the lower foothills of the Misty Mountains in the Vales of Anduin.
~ The Stoors were fishermen and boatsmen, and liked flat lands and riversides. Broad and heavy they were, with large hands and feet; of all Hobbit-kind they most resembled Men and were less shy of them.They dwelled southward of their kin in the Vales of Anduin. Stoorish characteristics remain among the Hobbits of the Eastfarthing, Buckland (such as the Brandybucks) and the Bree-hobbits. The Stoors also had their own dialect of Hobbitish, fort they spent some time in Dunland (Nîn-in-Eilph near Tharbad).
With the rising evil power in Dol Guldur in Mirkwood at the turn of the second millennium of this Third Age, they traversed the Misty Mountains and began thus their 'Wandering Days'; for this is the name given by Hobbits to their centuries of migration into the west. The Harfoots wandered westbound in III 1050, and the Fallohides followed them nigh a century later. The Stoors lingered long in the vale of Anduin, but between III 1150 and III 1300 they too removed westwards. Diverse though the courses of the three clans were, they came at last to the land between the River Baranduin (which they renamed Brandywine) and the Weather Hills. Here they founded many settlements, and the divisions between the Hobbit-kindred diminished over time.
Elsewhere have I briefly described my first impression of the Shire-folk and told that they are a little people; but they are diverse in stature, standing between two and four feet in height, though it is said that they have dwindled since ancient days; but most commonly they reach three and a half feet tall, though the taller amongst them can attain well-nigh four feet. The tallest recorded in Hobbit-lore is one Bandobras Took, known as the 'Bullroarer'; he was distinguished by his considerable height of four foot five, and he won great renown during the Battle of Greenfields against invading goblins in the year III 2747.
However, their small size is not to be mistaken for weakness, for Hobbits are stout of both heart and limb. It was through their exceeding courage and profound pity for one another that they survived the Long Winter of III 2758 and the Days of Dearth that followed; for famine is profoundly harder on a folk who delight in eating six meals a day. And there came in III 2911 the cold Fell Winter when again food became in short supply, and when White Wolves traversed the frozen Baranduin they were repelled by the indomitable boldness of the Hobbits.
But in days of peace and prosperity they are a merry folk. Even now, while the Shadow of Mordor lengthens across Ennor, little do the Shire-folk heed the cares of the outside world; for they love peace and quiet and good tilled earth, and laughing, eating, and drinking, often and heartily. Much I have grown to love the Little Folk during my stopover in Michel Delving, but I must ere long don my travelling robe and shoulder my pack once more, and resume my journey onwards to Bree.
| {Previous entry} | {Next entry} |
