Smials

Smials are the hobbit-holes, inhabited by the well-to-do Hobbits, luxurious versions of the simple diggings of old. They had rounded walls and branched to other rooms.

However suitable sites for these large and ramifying tunnels were not everywhere to be found and many lived in wood, brick or stone houses. The poorest, however, went on living in burrows of the most primitive kind with only one window or none.

The Great Smials of Brandy Hall were large enough to have room for a hundred Hobbits.

Etymology

The word smial is an invention of Tolkien based on the Old English word smygel. Smial is a translation of the Hobbitish word trân (Rohirric trahan "burrow")

In real world

"Smial" is a term used by Tolkien fans to refer to divisions of Tolkien Societies.

References

• The Lord of the Rings, Prologue, 1. Concerning Hobbits.

See also

• Smials associated with The Tolkien Society