Harfoots

Harfoots are one of the three races of Hobbits.

The Harfoots were the most common of Hobbits, and in their earliest known history they lived in the lower foothills of the Misty Mountains in the Vale of Anduin, in an area roughly bounded by the Gladden River in the south and the small forested region where later was the Eagles Eyrie near the High Pass to the north.

Nature

They were browner of skin than the other Hobbits, had no beards, and did not wear any footwear. They lived in holes they called smials, a habit which they long preserved. They were also on very friendly terms with the Dwarves, who travelled through the High Pass on the Great Road.

History

The Harfoots were the first to migrate westward into Arnor, and it was to them that the name Periannath or Halflings was first applied by the Dúnedain when they were first recorded in Arnorian records around 1050 of the Third Age. They tended to settle down for long times, and founded numerous villages as far as Weathertop.

By the 1300s of the Third Age they had reached Bree, which long was the most western village of any Hobbits.

The Harfoots were joined between T.A. 1150 and T.A. 1300 by the Fallohides and some Stoors. The Harfoots took Fallohides, a more bold race, as their leaders.

When The Shire was colonized in Third Age 1601 most of its people were Harfoots.

Etymology

The name means "one with hairy feet" is a translation of an archaic Hobbitish form of an old Westron name.

It is supposed to represent archaic English hǣr-fōt > herfoot > harfoot.

Tolkien noted that Modern English hair, though related, is not a direct descendant of Old English hǣr, hēr and therefore *"hairfoot" would not be a faithful translation.