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The term the [[Hobbits]] themselves used for their excavated dwellings, more usually called simply '[[hobbit-holes]]'.
{{quote|In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole and that means comfort.|[[The Hobbit]], "[[An Unexpected Party]]"}}


[[Category:Shire]]
'''Smials''' were the [[hobbit-holes]] tunneled into earth mounds and hills.
 
==List of Smials associated with the [[Tolkien Society]]==
For generations the [[Hobbits]] dug into the earth to live. By the later [[Third Age]] the poorest Hobbits still went on living in burrows of the most primitive kind with only one window or none.
* '''1420''' - A postal group for those interested in the drinks of Middle-earth. Publishes The Morning After (about 3-4 times a year).
 
* '''Amon Hen''' - San Jose del Cabo, B.C.S. Mexico
For the most well-to-do hobbits, smials were luxurious versions of those primitive diggings of old. Their tunnels had rounded walls and branched to other rooms.<ref name=conc>{{FR|Hobbits}}</ref> Smials included [[Bag End]] and the smials along [[Bagshot Row]] of [[Hobbiton]], the [[Great Smials]] of [[Tuckborough]]<ref>{{TT|III4}}</ref> and [[Brandy Hall]].<ref>{{FR|I5}}</ref> The latter two were large enough to have ample room for a hundred Hobbits.
* '''Amon Sûl''' - Halifax and area.
 
* '''Andúnië''' - Atlanta, Georgia USA based group.
When suitable sites for these large and ramifying tunnels were not everywhere to be found, many Hobbits lived in wood, brick or stone houses.<ref name=conc/> This was the case with some muddy regions of the [[Eastfarthing]], such as the [[Marish]].<ref>{{FR|I4}}</ref>
* '''Armari''' - A postal group with no defined focus; which can be very tongue in cheek, good sense of humour required! Publishes Gondtengwen (about once a year at present).
 
* '''Brandy Hall''' - Cologne (Köln) and Hessen, Germany - also a smial of Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft.
==Etymology==
* '''The Burrahobbits''' - Local group in Wisconsin, USA.
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").<ref>{{App|Translation}}</ref>
* '''Cerin Amroth''' - Local group in Indiana, USA.
 
* '''Far Westfarthing''' - Local group in Illinois, USA.
[[J.R.R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] explained in his [[Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings]] the origin of the name ''Sméagol'' in the lemma on [[smials]]:
* '''The Golden Perch''' - Telford based, with some postal members.
 
* '''The Grey Company''' - Newport, Pontypool and valleys of South Wales.
{{quote|'''Smials'''. A word peculiar to hobbits (not Common Speech), meaning 'burrow'; leave unchanged. It is a form that the Old English word '''smygel''' 'burrow' might have had, if it had survived. The same element appears in Gollum's real name, '''Sméagol'''.|Tolkien <ref name="ATC">[[J.R.R. Tolkien]], [[Christopher Tolkien]] (ed.), "Guide to the Names in ''The Lord of the Rings''", published in ''[[A Tolkien Compass]]'' (edited by [[Jared Lobdell]])</ref>}}
* '''HEREN HYARMENO''' (The Order of the South) - This is the oldest existing smial in the Southern Hemisphere, founded on 19 March 1989. It is based in São Paulo, Brasil.
 
* '''Heren Istarion'' - Local group in New York City, USA.
The names [[Smaug]] and [[Gollum|Sméagol]] are etymologically related.
* '''Isengard''' - Birmingham area.
 
* '''Khand''' - Postal; once based in Saudi Arabia, now in Shropshire.
==In real world==
* '''Lays of Leithian''' - A smial of Unquendor, the Dutch Tolkien Society. Local and postal.
"Smial" is a term used by [[Tolkien fan]]s to refer to divisions of Tolkien Societies.
* '''Lómelindi''' - Local group in Tennessee, USA.
 
* '''Minas Tirith''' (The Cambridge Tolkien Society) - Cambridge and surrounding area. Publishes Anor (3 editions a year).
==See also==
* '''Mundeli Sernieva'' - Central England. Publishes Mundo (about 4 a year).
* [[The Tolkien Society#Smials|Smials associated with The Tolkien Society]]
* '''Nigglings''' - A postal smial focusing on Middle-earth based fiction and sub-creation.
{{References}}
* '''Northfarthing''' - London and home counties - the oldest in the Society and essentially the founding smial.
{{tolkiensociety}}
* '''Rivendell''' - Grimsby, Louth and Lincoln area.
[[Category:Buildings]]
* '''The Shire''' - Coventry area.
[[Category:The Shire]]
* '''Southfarthing''' - Southampton area.
* '''Taruithorn''' (The Oxford Tolkien Society) - Oxford & Aylesbury. Publishes Miruvor (3 editions a year).
* '''Taruithorn International''' - The postal smial for those no longer in Oxford.
* '''Tol Andúnë''' - Oahu, Hawaii.
* '''Tol Harndor''' - Australasia & South Pacific postal.
* '''Turin''' - Northern Italy, with an interest in Tolkien inspired art.
* '''Vinyamar''' - Local group in British Columbia, Canada.
* '''Westemnet''' - A cyberspace smial for the West Country.
* '''Misty Mountains''' - Denver, Colorado.

Revision as of 03:52, 10 April 2020

"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole and that means comfort."
The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party"

Smials were the hobbit-holes tunneled into earth mounds and hills.

For generations the Hobbits dug into the earth to live. By the later Third Age the poorest Hobbits still went on living in burrows of the most primitive kind with only one window or none.

For the most well-to-do hobbits, smials were luxurious versions of those primitive diggings of old. Their tunnels had rounded walls and branched to other rooms.[1] Smials included Bag End and the smials along Bagshot Row of Hobbiton, the Great Smials of Tuckborough[2] and Brandy Hall.[3] The latter two were large enough to have ample room for a hundred Hobbits.

When suitable sites for these large and ramifying tunnels were not everywhere to be found, many Hobbits lived in wood, brick or stone houses.[1] This was the case with some muddy regions of the Eastfarthing, such as the Marish.[4]

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").[5]

Tolkien explained in his Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings the origin of the name Sméagol in the lemma on smials:

"Smials. A word peculiar to hobbits (not Common Speech), meaning 'burrow'; leave unchanged. It is a form that the Old English word smygel 'burrow' might have had, if it had survived. The same element appears in Gollum's real name, Sméagol."
― Tolkien [6]

The names Smaug and Sméagol are etymologically related.

In real world

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

See also

References

The Tolkien Society
President: J.R.R. Tolkien · Vice-president: Priscilla Tolkien · Chair: Shaun Gunner
Topics History (Letter to Vera Chapman and the Tolkien Society) · Archives · Awards · Enyalië · Smials · Tolkien to the World · Tolkien fandom
Chairs Vera Chapman (1970) · Keith Bridges (1970-1973) · Hartley Patterson (1973-1974) · Jonathan Simons (1974-1984) · Brin Dunsire (1984-1988) · Alex Lewis (1988-1992) · Amanda Fingleson (1992-1996) · Chris Crawshaw (1996-2008) · Matthew Vernon (2008-2009) · Sally Kennett (2009-2013) · Shaun Gunner (2013-present)
Annual Events Birthday Toast (3 January) · Tolkien Reading Day (25 March) · AGM and Springmoot (April) · Seminar (July) · Oxonmoot (September)
Conferences Oxonmoot (annual, 1974-present) · J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference (1992) · Tolkien 2005: The Ring Goes Ever On (2005) · The Return of the Ring (2012) · Tolkien 2019 (2019)
Publications Journals Belladonna's Broadsheet (1969-1970) · Mallorn (1970-present) · The Tolkien Society Bulletin (1970-1971) · Andúril (1972) · Amon Hen (1972-present) · Quettar (1980-1995)
Books An Extrapolation on The Silmarillion (1975) · The Trees, the Jewels and the Rings (1977) · Tolkien in Oxford: The Tolkien Society Guide (1978) · The Tolkien Society Songbook (1985) · Tolkien and Romanticism (1988) · Proceedings of the J.R.R. Tolkien Centenary Conference (1995) · The Oxonmoot Songbook (1997) · The Filking Songbook (2001) · The Tolkien Society Guide to Oxford (2005) · Proceedings of the Tolkien 2005 Conference (2008) · Tolkien 2005 Souvenir Book (2009) · Proceedings of the Tolkien Society Conference 2012 (2016)
Peter Roe Books 1. Some Light on Middle-earth (1985) · 2. Leaves from the Tree (1991) · 3. The First and Second Ages (1992) · 4. Travel and Communication in Tolkien's Worlds (1996) · 5. Digging Potatoes, Growing Trees, vol. 1 (1997) · 6. Digging Potatoes, Growing Trees, vol. 2 (1998) · 7. Tolkien, the Sea and Scandinavia (1999) · 8. The Ways of Creative Mythologies (2000) · 9. Tolkien: A Mythology for England? (2000) · 10. The Best of Amon Hen, vol. 1 (2000) · 11. Digging Potatoes, Growing Trees, vol. 3 (2001) · 12. Sindarin Lexicon (2001) · 13. The Best of Amon Hen, vol. 2 (2002) · 14. Tolkien: Influenced and Influencing (2005)· 15. Freedom, Fate and Choice in Middle-earth (2012) · 16. Journeys & Destinations (2015) · 17. Death and Immortality in Middle-earth (2017) · 18. Poetry and Song in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien (2018) · 19. Tolkien the Pagan? (2019) · 20. Adapting Tolkien (2021) · 21. Twenty-first Century Receptions of Tolkien (2022) · 22. Tolkien and Diversity (2023)