THIS BOOK IS LARGELY CONCERNED WITH HOBBITS AND FROM ITS PAGES A READER MAY DISCOVER MUCH OF THEIR CHARACTER AND A LITTLE OF THEIR HISTORY FURTHER INFORMATION WILL ALSO BE FOUND IN THE SELECTION FROM THE RED BOOK OF WESTMARCH THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN PUBLISHED UNDER THE TITLE OF THE HOBBITTHAT STORY WAS DERIVED FROM THE EARLIER CHAPTERS OF THE RED BOOK COMPOSED BY BILBO HIMSELF THE FIRST HOBBIT TO BECOME FAMOUS IN THE WORLD AT LARGE AND CALLED BY HIM THERE AND BACK AGAIN SINCE THEY TOLD OF HIS JOURNEY INTO THE EAST AND HIS RETURN AN ADVENTURE WHICH LATER INVOLVED ALL THE HOBBITS IN THE GREAT EVENTS OF THAT AGE THAT ARE HERE RELATEDMANY HOWEVER MAY WISH TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS REMARKABLE PEOPLE FROM THE OUTSET WHILE SOME MAY NOT POSSESS THE EARLIER BOOK FOR SUCH READERS A FEW NOTES ON THE MORE IMPORTANT POINTS ARE HERE COLLECTED FROM HOBBIT LORE AND THE FIRST ADVENTURE IS BRIEFLY RECALLEDHOBBITS ARE AN UNOBTRUSIVE BUT VERY ANCIENT PEOPLE MORE NUMEROUS FORMERLY THAN THEY ARE TODAY FOR THEY LOVE PEACE AND QUIET AND GOOD TILLED EARTH A WELL ORDERED AND WELL FARMED COUNTRYSIDE WAS THEIR FAVOURITE HAUNT THEY DO NOT AND DID NOT UNDERSTAND OR LIKE MACHINES MORE COMPLICATED THAN A FORGE BELLOWS A WATER MILL OR A HAND LOOM THOUGH THEY WERE SKILFUL WITH TOOLS EVEN IN ANCIENT DAYS THEY WERE AS A RULE SHY OF THE BIG FOLK AS THEY CALL US AND NOW THEY AVOID US WITH DISMAY AND ARE BECOMING HARD TO FIND THEY ARE QUICK OF HEARING AND SHARP EYED AND THOUGH THEY ARE INCLINED TO BE FAT AND DO NOT HURRY UNNECESSARILY THEY ARE NONETHELESS NIMBLE AND DEFT IN THEIR MOVEMENTS THEY POSSESSED FROM THE FIRST THE ART OF DISAPPEARING SWIFTLY AND SILENTLY WHEN LARGE FOLK WHOM THEY DO NOT WISH TO MEET COME BLUNDERING BY AND THIS AN THEY HAVE DEVELOPED UNTIL TO MEN IT MAY SEEM MAGICAL BUT HOBBITS HAVE NEVER IN FACT STUDIED MAGIC OF ANY KIND AND THEIR ELUSIVENESS IS DUE SOLELY TO A PROFESSIONAL SKILL THAT HEREDITY AND PRACTICE AND A CLOSE FRIENDSHIP WITH THE EARTH HAVE RENDERED INIMITABLE BY BIGGER AND CLUMSIER RACESFOR THEY ARE A LITTLE PEOPLE SMALLER THAN DWARVES LESS TOUT AND STOCKY THAT IS EVEN WHEN THEY ARE NOT ACTUALLY MUCH SHORTER THEIR HEIGHT IS VARIABLE RANGING BETWEEN TWO AND FOUR FEET OF OUR MEASURE THEY SELDOM NOW REACH THREE FEET BUT THEY HIVE DWINDLED THEY SAY AND IN ANCIENT DAYS THEY WERE TALLER ACCORDING TO THE RED BOOK BANDOBRAS TOOK BULLROARER SON OF ISENGRIM THE SECOND WAS FOUR FOOT FIVE AND ABLE TO RIDE A HORSE HE WAS SURPASSED IN ALL HOBBIT RECORDS ONLY BY TWO FAMOUS CHARACTERS OF OLD BUT THAT CURIOUS MATTER IS DEALT WITH IN THIS BOOKAS FOR THE HOBBITS OF THE SHIRE WITH WHOM THESE TALES ARE CONCERNED IN THE DAYS OF THEIR PEACE AND PROSPERITY THEY WERE A MERRY FOLK THEY DRESSED IN BRIGHT COLOURS BEING NOTABLY FOND OF YELLOW AND GREEN BUT THEY SELDOM WORE SHOES SINCE THEIR FEET HAD TOUGH LEATHERY SOLES AND WERE CLAD IN A THICK CURLING HAIR MUCH LIKE THE HAIR OF THEIR HEADS WHICH WAS COMMONLY BROWN THUS THE ONLY CRAFT LITTLE PRACTISED AMONG THEM WAS SHOE MAKING BUT THEY HAD LONG AND SKILFUL FINGERS AND COULD MAKE MANY OTHER USEFUL AND COMELY THINGS THEIR FACES WERE AS A RULE GOOD NATURED RATHER THAN BEAUTIFUL BROAD BRIGHT EYED RED CHEEKED WITH MOUTHS APT TO LAUGHTER AND TO EATING AND DRINKING AND LAUGH THEY DID AND EAT AND DRINK OFTEN AND HEARTILY BEING FOND OF SIMPLE JESTS AT ALL TIMES AND OF SIX MEALS A DAY WHEN THEY COULD GET THEM THEY WERE HOSPITABLE AND DELIGHTED IN PARTIES AND IN PRESENTS WHICH THEY GAVE AWAY FREELY AND EAGERLY ACCEPTEDIT IS PLAIN INDEED THAT IN SPITE OF LATER ESTRANGEMENT HOBBITS ARE RELATIVES OF OURS FAR NEARER TO US THAN ELVES OR EVEN THAN DWARVES OF OLD THEY SPOKE THE LANGUAGES OF MEN AFTER THEIR OWN FASHION AND LIKED AND DISLIKED MUCH THE SAME THINGS AS MEN DID BUT WHAT EXACTLY OUR RELATIONSHIP IS CAN NO LONGER BE DISCOVERED THE BEGINNING OF HOBBITS LIES FAR BACK IN THE ELDER DAYS THAT ARE NOW LOST AND FORGOTTEN ONLY THE ELVES STILL PRESERVE ANY RECORDS OF THAT VANISHED TIME AND THEIR TRADITIONS ARE CONCERNED ALMOST ENTIRELY WITH THEIR OWN HISTORY IN WHICH MEN APPEAR SELDOM AND HOBBITS ARE NOT MENTIONED AT ALL YET IT IS CLEAR THAT HOBBITS HAD IN FACT LIVED QUIETLY IN MIDDLE EARTH FOR MANY LONG YEARS BEFORE OTHER FOLK BECAME EVEN AWARE OF THEM AND THE WORLD BEING AFTER ALL FULL OF STRANGE CREATURES BEYOND COUNT THESE LITTLE PEOPLE SEEMED OF VERY LITTLE IMPORTANCE BUT IN THE DAYS OF BILBO AND OF FRODO HIS HEIR THEY SUDDENLY BECAME BY NO WISH OF THEIR OWN BOTH IMPORTANT AND RENOWNED AND TROUBLED THE COUNSELS OF THE WISE AND THE GREATTHOSE DAYS THE THIRD AGE OF MIDDLE EARTH ARE NOW LONG PAST AND THE SHAPE OF ALL LANDS HAS BEEN CHANGED BUT THE REGIONS IN WHICH HOBBITS THEN LIVED WERE DOUBTLESS THE SAME AS THOSE IN WHICH THEY STILL LINGER THE NORTH WEST OF THE OLD WORLD EAST OF THE SEA OF THEIR ORIGINAL HOME THE HOBBITS IN BILBOS TIME PRESERVED NO KNOWLEDGE A LOVE OF LEARNING OTHER THAN GENEALOGICAL LORE WAS FAR FROM GENERAL AMONG THEM BUT THERE REMAINED STILL A FEW IN THE OLDER FAMILIES WHO STUDIED THEIR OWN BOOKS AND EVEN GATHERED REPORTS OF OLD TIMES AND DISTANT LANDS FROM ELVES DWARVES AND MEN THEIR OWN RECORDS BEGAN ONLY AFTER THE SETTLEMENT OF THE SHIRE AND THEIR MOST ANCIENT LEGENDS HARDLY LOOKED FURTHER BACK THAN THEIR WANDERING DAYS IT IS CLEAR NONETHELESS FROM THESE LEGENDS AND FROM THE EVIDENCE OF THEIR PECULIAR WORDS AND CUSTOMS THAT LIKE MANY OTHER FOLK HOBBITS HAD IN THE DISTANT PAST MOVED WESTWARD THEIR EARLIEST TALES SEEM TO GLIMPSE A TIME WHEN THEY DWELT IN THE UPPER VALES OF ANDUIN BETWEEN THE EAVES OF GREENWOOD THE GREAT AND THE MISTY MOUNTAINS WHY THEY LATER UNDERTOOK THE HARD AND PERILOUS CROSSING OF THE MOUNTAINS INTO ERIADOR IS NO LONGER CERTAIN THEIR OWN ACCOUNTS SPEAK OF THE MULTIPLYING OF MEN IN THE LAND AND OF A SHADOW THAT FELL ON THE FOREST SO THAT IT BECAME DARKENED AND ITS NEW NAME WAS MIRKWOODFORTY LEAGUES IT STRETCHED FROM THE FAR DOWNS TO THE BRANDYWINE BRIDGE AND FIFTY FROM THE NORTHERN MOORS TO THE MARSHES IN THE SOUTH THE HOBBITS NAMED IT THE SHIRE AS THE REGION OF THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR THAIN AND A DISTRICT OF WELL ORDERED BUSINESS AND THERE IN THAT PLEASANT COMER OF THE WORLD THEY PLIED THEIR WELL ORDERED BUSINESS OF LIVING AND THEY HEEDED LESS AND LESS THE WORLD OUTSIDE WHERE DARK THINGS MOVED UNTIL THEY CAME TO THINK THAT PEACE AND PLENTY WERE THE RULE IN MIDDLE EARTH AND THE RIGHT OF ALL SENSIBLE FOLK THEY FORGOT OR IGNORED WHAT LITTLE THEY HAD EVER KNOWN OF THE GUARDIANS AND OF THE LABOURS OF THOSE THAT MADE POSSIBLE THE LONG PEACE OF THE SHIRE THEY WERE IN FACT SHELTERED BUT THEY HAD CEASED TO REMEMBER ITAT NO TIME HAD HOBBITS OF ANY KIND BEEN WARLIKE AND THEY HAD NEVER FOUGHT AMONG THEMSELVES IN OLDEN DAYS THEY HAD OF COURSE BEEN OFTEN OBLIGED TO FIGHT TO MAINTAIN THEMSELVES IN A HARD WORLD BUT IN BILBOS TIME THAT WAS VERY ANCIENT HISTORY THE LAST BATTLE BEFORE THIS STORY OPENS AND INDEED THE ONLY ONE THAT HAD EVER BEEN FOUGHT WITHIN THE BORDERS OF THE SHIRE WAS BEYOND LIVING MEMORY THE BATTLE OF GREENFIELDS IN WHICH BANDOBRAS TOOK ROUTED AN INVASION OF ORCS EVEN THE WEATHERS HAD GROWN MILDER AND THE WOLVES THAT HAD ONCE COME RAVENING OUT OF THE NORTH IN BITTER WHITE WINTERS WERE NOW ONLY A GRANDFATHERS TALE SO THOUGH THERE WAS STILL SOME STORE OF WEAPONS IN THE SHIRE THESE WERE USED MOSTLY AS TROPHIES HANGING ABOVE HEARTHS OR ON WALLS OR GATHERED INTO THE MUSEUM AT MICHEL DELVING THE MATHOM HOUSE IT WAS CALLED FOR ANYTHING THAT HOBBITS HAD NO IMMEDIATE USE FOR BUT WERE UNWILLING TO THROW AWAY THEY CALLED A MATHOM THEIR DWELLINGS WERE APT TO BECOME RATHER CROWDED WITH MATHOMS AND MANY OF THE PRESENTS THAT PASSED FROM HAND TO HAND WERE OF THAT SORTNONETHELESS EASE AND PEACE HAD LEFT THIS PEOPLE STILL CURIOUSLY TOUGH THEY WERE IF IT CAME TO IT DIFFICULT TO DAUNT OR TO KILL AND THEY WERE PERHAPS SO UNWEARYINGLY FOND OF GOOD THINGS NOT LEAST BECAUSE THEY COULD WHEN PUT TO IT DO WITHOUT THEM AND COULD SURVIVE ROUGH HANDLING BY GRIEF FOE OR WEATHER IN A WAY THAT ASTONISHED THOSE WHO DID NOT KNOW THEM WELL AND LOOKED NO FURTHER THAN THEIR BELLIES AND THEIR WELL FED FACES THOUGH SLOW TO QUARREL AND FOR SPORT KILLING NOTHING THAT LIVED THEY WERE DOUGHTY AT BAY AND AT NEED COULD STILL HANDLE ARMS THEY SHOT WELL WITH THE BOW FOR THEY WERE KEEN EYED AND SURE AT THE MARK NOT ONLY WITH BOWS AND ARROWS IF ANY HOBBIT STOOPED FOR A STONE IT WAS WELL TO GET QUICKLY UNDER COVER AS ALL TRESPASSING BEASTS KNEW VERY WELLALL HOBBITS HAD ORIGINALLY LIVED IN HOLES IN THE GROUND OR SO THEY BELIEVED AND IN SUCH DWELLINGS THEY STILL FELT MOST AT HOME BUT IN THE COURSE OF TIME THEY HAD BEEN OBLIGED TO ADOPT OTHER FORMS OF ABODE ACTUALLY IN THE SHIRE IN BILBOS DAYS IT WAS AS A RULE ONLY THE RICHEST AND THE POOREST HOBBITS THAT MAINTAINED THE OLD CUSTOM THE POOREST WENT ON LIVING IN BURROWS OF THE MOST PRIMITIVE KIND MERE HOLES INDEED WITH ONLY ONE WINDOW OR NONE WHILE THE WELL TO DO STILL CONSTRUCTED MORE LUXURIOUS VERSIONS OF THE SIMPLE DIGGINGS OF OLD BUT SUITABLE SITES FOR THESE LARGE AND RAMIFYING TUNNELS OR SMIALS AS THEY CALLED THEM WERE NOT EVERYWHERE TO BE FOUND AND IN THE FLATS AND THE LOW LYING DISTRICTS THE HOBBITS AS THEY MULTIPLIED BEGAN TO BUILD ABOVE GROUND INDEED EVEN IN THE HILLY REGIONS AND THE OLDER VILLAGES SUCH AS HOBBITON OR TUCKBOROUGH OR IN THE CHIEF TOWNSHIP OF THE SHIRE MICHEL DELVING ON THE WHITE DOWNS THERE WERE NOW MANY HOUSES OF WOOD BRICK OR STONE THESE WERE SPECIALLY FAVOURED BY MILLERS SMITHS ROPERS AND CARTWRIGHTS AND OTHERS OF THAT SORT FOR EVEN WHEN THEY HAD HOLES TO LIVE IN HOBBITS HAD LONG BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO BUILD SHEDS AND WORKSHOPSTHE HABIT OF BUILDING FARMHOUSES AND BARNS WAS SAID TO HAVE BEGUN AMONG THE INHABITANTS OF THE MARISH DOWN BY THE BRANDYWINE THE HOBBITS OF THAT QUARTER THE EASTFARTHING WERE RATHER LARGE AND HEAVY LEGGED AND THEY WORE DWARF BOOTS IN MUDDY WEATHER BUT THEY WERE WELL KNOWN TO BE STOORS IN A LARGE PART OF THEIR BLOOD AS INDEED WAS SHOWN BY THE DOWN THAT MANY GREW ON THEIR CHINS NO HARFOOT OR FALLOHIDE HAD ANY TRACE OF A BEARD INDEED THE FOLK OF THE MARISH AND OF BUCKLAND EAST OF THE RIVER WHICH THEY AFTERWARDS OCCUPIED CAME FOR THE MOST PART LATER INTO THE SHIRE UP FROM SOUTH AWAY AND THEY STILL HAD MANY PECULIAR NAMES AND STRANGE WORDS NOT FOUND ELSEWHERE IN THE SHIRE
