I know, it's chromosome number thing. If the animals are to produce offspring, they need to have the same number of chromosomes to do it. However, I didn't know that 10 years ago. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I guess I don't have a problem with Hobbits being descended from Men, since that's obviously what Tolkien said (and he IS the final authority on all things Ea), but why then could they (Smeagol, Bilbo, Frodo) resist the power of the Ring longer than anyone of any other race could???

Any ideas?

Hobbits were naturally more doughty creatures. They didn't have that desire for power, and deep-seated greed, that is in the hearts of most Men. They were a pastoral folk, and appreciated the simple things in life. But, these seemingly bucolic people, once roused, could be daunting foes. If they had to defend their country, and their loved ones, most Hobbits would have no qualms about picking up weapons and fighting. They fought, when they absolutely needed to. They also had a deep-seated strength that characterizes all of their "heroes." Once that little spark was ignited, nothing short of death could turn them back from their goal. As for resisting the Ring, they just merely had different priorities. The Ring works through greed, deceit, and desire for power. The Hobbits just didn't have that (except for a couple like Lotho and Ted [img]smilies/mad.gif[/img] ). They just didn't worry about that, and thus, the Ring didn't really have much of a channel to work with, unless that person bore it over time, in the case of Smeagol, Bilbo, and Frodo.

Yes, I understand that perfectly, but where did that come from if they were basically Men?

I think I liked Bethberry's theory the best! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] Just think what kind of roosts there would have to be outside the Gamgees' house! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

As for why hobbits could resist the Ring longer, it is hard to say, but perhaps it is related to their smallness. The Ring gives power to each according to his measure, and the hobbits as a rule just didn't measure very high. Maybe, for this reason, they couldn't conceive of using it for the gaining of power. They just never needed it or even gave it a thought.

Another idea that is kicking around in the vastness of the empty space in my brain is that perhaps their separate and unique physical characteristics were concentrated by the relative isolation of the cultures and societies in Middle Earth in the Third Age. Simply, they interbred, perhaps with these three variations on a theme (Harfoot, Stoor and Fallohide) in close proximity, creating a pocket of Men of VERY different characteristics.

I believe Tolkien had said something to the effect that Smeagol and Deagol were ancestors of what became the Stoors, or something like that, so the Stoors had ancestors as recently as 500 years earlier. Perhaps they only had a limited gene pool and the hobbit variation on Men was the result of a few dominant strains concentrated in a certain geography.

Just a few thoughts! Now back to musing on big, hairy feet... :P

Cheers,
Lyta (who has little hairy feet)

[ November 22, 2003: Message edited by: Lyta_Underhill ]

[ November 23, 2003: Message edited by: Lyta_Underhill ]

I agree with whoever it was that said hobbitses were cross-breeds of men & dwarves. Maybe it was like this: a dwarf married a curly-haired woman, but all their offspring had beards on their feet not on their heads. Somewhere in JRRT's books it said that hobbits were smaller than the bearded dwarves. Or maybe a Vala made them as a mockery of Aule & Iluvatar. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

i think that hobbits came from men. The hairy feet, Maybe it's because they don't wear shoes, that's how I would explain it. It's like those chinese people wearing tiny shoes, which make their feet not grow. In the same way, Hobbits don't wear shoes, which allow a lot of hair to grow, and their feet grow much faster. And it is also because they are from the north [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

I refer you to my previous response on that issue. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Men, They came from men. They have hairy feet because they are from the north and they also did not wear shoes, which allowed their feet to grow much bigger, and hair to grow freely. I hope I was at least a little help [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] OOOOOPPPPPS!!! sorry for that! I did not notice my reply in there, (thought it did not enter in) So sorry about the double thing. ill be more careful in the future. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

I'm really not sure about where hobbits came from - I've had the same question myself actually, but the idea that they came from men seems rather strange. A lot of their characteristics (both physical and their personalities) don't match up at all.

I do have an idea about why they weren't in records though. In TTT when Gandalf, Theoden, Eomer, Aragorn, etc come to Isengard and meet Merry and Pippin Merry comments that the Rohirrim were the only people he had met that knew of Hobbits. Eomer says that they didn't know any tales and that all they knew was that they were a small people who lived in holes. He said that it was said that they didn't do much and could disappear in a twinkling. This could be a reason that there were no records of them if no one thought that they did anything.

The Hobbits(kuduk) cama from the Vales of Anduin and there they would come into contact with Dwarves, Noldo, Sindar, Avari, and the Northmen. They aren't descended from Rohirrim because the most of the hobbits came across the Misty Mts. around the 1100's TA and the Eotheod went to the Vales of Anduin around 1977 TA.

------------------------------
"Show it to me"
Thingol to Beren

There also weren't many actual records of hobbits because most people just thought of them as a fairy tale. If you recall, the Gondorians were surprised to see a halfling in person. They thought they didn't really exist...
hmm...humans thinking that fantasy folk are just fantasy folk and then finding out that they're real and just lived in a distant corner of the world...

Gil-numen, the Hobbits could have still been related to the Eotheod. Just because their respective "territories" were settled at different times, doesn't necessarily mean that they weren't related.