Hobbits are the mainstay of so many of the stories that take place in Middle-Earth. FromThe HobbittoThe Lord of the Rings, hobbits tend to be what captured Tolkien’s attention the most, as they often end up being his main characters. They’re unlikely heroes, coming from a society that prides itself on being as uninteresting as possible, which is exactly what makes them fascinating.The Rings of Poweris no exception to this, as the show also seems interested in following Hobbits.
To be more specific, the show follows the Harfoots, particularly the character of Nori,a curious girlwhose nature doesn’t exactly fit in with the decidedly less adventurous culture of her community. The show has introduced the audience to the Harfoots on a base level, but has yet to fully explain who they are and why the group of halflings is important to Middle-Earth. What exactly are Harfoots, and how do they relate to the Hobbits everyone knows and loves inThe Lord of the Rings?
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To get technical, Harfoots were one of three types (or “breeds”) of Hobbits, along with the Stoors and the Fallohides. It is not known exactly when Hobbits arrived in Middle-Earth, but they had been around for many generations by the time they were discovered by other people groups in the world. The earliest known Hobbits were found in the Vales of Anduin between Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains. It’s thought that they may have been an offshoot of Men, but by that point, they had lost all ties to those they called “Big People.” In the year 1050 of the Third Age (TA), the Hobbits migrated across the Misty Mountains, likely because ofSauron’s growing influencein Mirkwood near their habitation.
The three tribes of Hobbits all split up during the journey but settled in the same areas (Bree, Dunland, and the Angle), which is why the division between the different types began to blur and become more uniform, much like how it is inThe Lord of the Rings.By the Third Age, groups of Hobbits moved over the river Baraduin to settle there, which became the Shire. Back East, only Bree and a few other villages remained of the original Hobbit settlements into the Third Age.
The Harfoots themselves were the most common type of Hobbits. Their distinctive physical characteristics included being the shortest of the three types of Hobbits, as well as having naturally browner skin. They did not grow any facial hair and went around barefoot, and they were very skilled with their hands. They preferred tolive in the hillsides and highlandsin holes that they called smials, which is a tradition that was kept even into their migration to what would become the Shire. The Harfoots were friends of the Dwarves, and were the first group of Hobbits to migrate west. They made it as far as Weathertop while the Stoors and Fallohides were still in the Wilderlands.
When the Harfoots moved West into Arnor, they were discovered by the Dúnedain, who referred to them as “Periannath” (or “halflings”). The Harfoots settled for long periods of time and set up many villages in and aroundthe area of Weathertop. By the TA 1300s, they had reached Bree, which became the farthest West of any Hobbit habitations, and remained that way for quite a while. This is also when they were joined by the Stoors and Fallohides, and not long after (in TA 1601) the Shire was founded, mostly by the Harfoot population.
InRings of Power, the Harfoots are living in Rhovanion but are clearly preparing to migrate, which is likely in reference to them being the first tribe of Hobbits to begin migrating away from their original home. Rhovanion is a plains area that sits in betweenthe Misty Mountains and Mirkwood, which is where the tribes of Hobbits originally lived in that original Tolkien lore. They haven’t said yet in the show exactly where they plan on migrating to, but it’s safe to assume that they’re going to begin moving westward and perhaps eventually settling down in the Shire.
The Harfoots are obviously a timid people when it comes to outsiders, as they are adept at hiding from the “Big Folk” and prefer to remain unseen by the world. This, of course, is disrupted by the appearance of the man in the meteor, whom Nori tries to befriend and her other friend Poppy is (perhaps rightfully) wary of. It will be interesting to see howThe Rings of Powercontinues to explore the Harfoots and their relationship with the wider world, and whether it will lead to them settling in what many fans now know as the Shire. One thing is for certain:Rings of Poweris continuing theLord of the Ringstradition of centering its Hobbit characters, which is understandable when they’re as endearing as they are.
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