September 22 is a special day indeed for those among us who hold hobbits dear in our hearts.
For those not in the know—it’s Hobbit Day, in honor of both Frodo and Bilbo Baggins’s birthdays in The Lord of the Rings. It also marks a midway-ish point in Tolkien week—a week-long celebration of the beloved author and his works that’s been observed by fans since 1978.
But why hobbit day? Why are hobbits the ones who get the honor of sharing the week with Middle-Earth’s most important storyteller? What makes hobbits so special, anyway?
Why Hobbits are Special in The Lord of the Rings
There are the obvious considerations, of course. It was a hobbit that found the Ring when it was lost and hid it away from Sauron’s many eyes (even if it was for selfish reasons) for decades. It was a hobbit who reclaimed the Ring from the darkness, and a pair of hobbits who brought it all the way across the continent to finally destroy it in the fires of Orodruin.
Without hobbits, the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain would never have taken back their home from Smaug, and it is possible that the Ents would never have been moved to take action against Saruman before the world was covered in darkness.
But why are hobbits the heroes of the tale? Why not elves, tall and fair and wise (for the most part)? Or wizards, with all their power and knowledge? Even humans, far more well-versed in the art of war, seem more likely candidates.
- Hobbits are special precisely because, in many ways, they are not. Hobbits do not have magical powers, or incredible strength, or the wisdom of ages. And they’re fine with that. They alone, among the other races of Middle-Earth, do not seek power or control or dangerous knowledge, for good or for evil. They simply want to live in peace, and that is a special kind of wisdom and zen.
- Hobbits are resilient to corruption. The One Ring and other forces of corruption draw their power from an individual’s darkest fears and desires. This is why Gandalf and Galadriel both refuse it; if they took it, they would be all the more terrible to behold because they would be so utterly powerful—and so utterly consumed by it. Hobbits, meanwhile, can imagine few things more satisfying than a simple life filled with simple pleasures; power just seems like far too much work and worry. Thus, they offer little in the way of sustenance for the evils of the world that feed on things like greed. (Though one wonders what the Sackville-Bagginses would have become under its influence…)
- Hobbits are cast as the underdogs of the tale. This is played up by their height; all of the other races literally tower over them, in addition to possessing more power and worldly knowledge. Pitting a powerful wizard against a powerful necromancer would have given us a pretty light show, to be sure, but a poor little hobbit against one of the Biggest Bads the world has ever faced? Now that is a nailbiter.
- Hobbits epitomize one of the major themes of the story. People who like to complain about the Fellowship not using the eagles to get to Mount Doom more quickly are missing one of the most important elements of both plot and theme in The Lord of the Rings—and indeed, The Hobbit. In the end, it’s not bloodshed or big battles that bring resolution and peace, but caution, common sense, and cleverness. If the Fellowship had hailed the eagles for a lift, they would have been easily spotted and defeated by Sauron and his Black Riders long before they even reached Mordor.
- Hobbits never cease to subvert expectations. They are easily overlooked by the taller, more worldly races due to the relative simplicity of their views, values, and the lives they lead—which makes it all the more satisfying when these low expectations are subverted or far exceeded. Bilbo’s triumph is in constantly proving the dwarves’ assumptions about his cowardice and incompetence wrong; the sweetness of Frodo’s victory is as much about saving Middle-Earth as it is about proving that even seemingly “inconsequential” and vulnerable people can prove far braver and more durable than even they know.
In other words, while Gilraen may have given all of her hope to the Dúnedain, it is hobbits who give us readers hope—hope that good will triumph over evil, no matter how unfair the odds may seem, and that even us “regular” people can make a substantial difference in our own world before we leave it.
Why Hobbits Have a Special Place in the Fantasy Genre
Hobbits are special in the larger scheme of things, too—not just within the context of Tolkien’s works. Of the many ways in which the tales of Middle-Earth influenced the fantasy genre, one of the most recognizable is the presence of “halflings” in many a magical tale. In Unfinished Tales, we learn that Dúnedain first dubbed hobbits halflings upon realizing that the Harfoots, one of the older hobbit families, stood about half as tall as the Men of the West.
Hobbits, like many other elements of Middle-Earth lore, caught on quickly in the fantasy world. The actual word “hobbit,” however, is trademarked—which is why the hobbits of the original Dungeons & Dragons game were quickly changed to (non-trademarked) “halflings.” The Dragonlance series and many other books and games besides have since continued using the term to describe small-statured folk with country sensibilities in fairy tales and epic works alike. Some variations add extra nuance or change the meaning; in Terry Brooks’s Shannara books, for instance, halflings merely denote people with mixed blood, such as those with half-human and half-elf parentage.
Some creators take further precautions by using a different name entirely for characters or races otherwise clearly recognizable as literary descendants of Tolkien’s hobbits. In the world of Dragonlance, which began as a D&D campaign before spawning a slew of books and other adaptations, kender are described as small, no more than four feet tall or so, and far too clever for their own good. They are almost childlike in their love of mischief and crueler sometimes than hobbits, but with similar potential for great acts of courage… under the right circumstances, of course.
In short—ha, ha—hobbits are special because they have not only changed the fate of Middle-Earth, but many other worlds besides. It is likely we would not have beloved characters like Shea Ohmsford and Tasslehoff Burrfoot if we had not first been introduced to the Bagginses all the way back in 1937.
Further Considerations Concerning Hobbits
I could go on for days—clearly—about hobbits and my love for all things fantasy. And perhaps that’s because hobbits are special to me on a personal level, too. I grew up singing along with the old Rankin/Bass animated adaptations; one of my favorite childhood memories is reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings for the first time by the light of my bedside table with my mom. When the Peter Jackson adaptations came out, it was an event for family and friends alike.
What I’m saying is, hobbits have been holed up in my heart for as long as I can remember. I no longer even imagine what it was like to be a person who did not know that “in a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit,” or that “even the smallest person can change the course of the future.” That person existed only briefly, and is now long past my ability to recall.
Perhaps the real reason hobbits are special, to me and to so many others like me, is because they remind us that power is not strength, knowledge is not wisdom, and happiness cannot be counted in coin. What matters—what truly matters, at the end of the day—is whether you have food on your table, drink in your cup, and a few good companions to share them with.
As Thorin Oakenshield told Bilbo Baggins, “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” It was, perhaps, the truest thing he ever said.
I’m certainly no J.R.R. Tolkien—or hobbit, for that matter—but if you’d like to read a few of my own fantasy stories, you can check out the first chapter of The Harbinger’s Head online before you buy, or play the free demo of The Dragon’s Last Flight. You can also read a few of my earlier attempts at fantasy fiction and poetry right here.
