Well, to the Prologue, plenty of strange and interesting titbits here.
From the description of Hobbits, did anyone else think Leprechauns? Their ‘magical’ disappearing acts (to us ‘Big Folk’), diminutive size, dressing in green and yellow, curly hair, delight in simple jests and, to anticipate, Mad Baggins appearing with a bang and a flash laden with gold and jools. Maybe the Irish retain the last folk memories of Middle Earth, corrupted by the passage of millennia though they be?
The Harfoots’ section reminded me of ‘Of Dwarves and Men’. Here it seems as if the Harfoots, living on the Eastern foothills of the Misty Mountains in ancient times must have been the food-suppliers for Khazad-Dum.
Ancient hobbit settlements throughout Eriador sound intriguing, watch out in your next RPG, that Barrow might turn out to be an abandoned hobbit-hole!
Now we come to a really interesting bit-
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For the Elves of the High Kindred had not yet forsaken Middle-earth, and they dwelt still at that time at the Grey Havens away to the west, and in other places in reach of the Shire.
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OK, so we know the Grey Havens and the second dwelling of High Elves must be Rivendell. This leaves at least one other High-Elven settlement in Eriador, so where is it? I guess the candidates are Minhiriath, Enedwaith and around the Ered Luin. Minhiriath is most mysterious, plenty of white space on the map for unexpected places. Enedwaith seems least likely, extensively logged by the Numenoreans in the Second Age etc. I fancy the southern part of the Ered Luin, where the map shows a forest, as the most likely place. Any other bids?
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They claim, of course, to have done everything before the people of the Shire, whom they refer to as “colonists”;
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Breelanders seem just like us ‘Cheeky Brits’
Always been interested in the ‘Bounders’ and the wandering Hobbits that lived outside the Shire. I wonder if life was a little less comfortable on the marches of the Shire, even given the Rangers’ protection?
The riddle ‘Authorities’ made me smile, sounds like a version of the MCC earnestly debating the merits of silly-mid-off (that’s cricket for the “colonists” information!). By the way did you notice that Merry eventually became a philologist? I guess it would be stretching the suspension of disbelief too far for Pippin to take up such an interest, as he merely becomes an ancient historian!