by David Day
Bilbo Baggins is a comic antihero who goes off on a journey into a heroic world. It is a world where the commonplace knocks up against the heroic. One has to see that values are different in these worlds. In Bilbo Baggins we have a character with modern everyday sensibilities that the reader may identify with while having an adventure in an ancient heroic world.
However, there is something different and contrary about Bilbo Baggins’s nature: he is a typical Hobbit full of practical common sense, but but has a cutting edge. That is the reason he was chosen by Gandalf the Magician to be hired out as a freelance “hero-burglar” by the Dwarves on their Quest.
EPIC VERSUS EVERYDAY:
HERO Burglar
BURGLAR Criminal in everyday society
BURGLAR Hero in epic society
Why was it thought that Bilbo Baggins would make a good burglar to assist the Dwarves in the theft of the Dragon’s treasure?
Here we have Tolkien involved in word play again: Bilbo Baggins was a burgher who became a burglar. Burgher was a freeman of a burgh or borough (or in the case of Hobbits a burrow), which certainly applied to Bilbo Baggins. Even more, its derivative Bourgeois described a person with humdrum middle-class ideas.
The Germanic root word burg means “mound, fort, stockaded “house.”
BURGHER one who owns a house
BURGLAR one who plunders a house
So, we have the everyday humdrum middle-class burgher entering an epic world and being trans-formed into his opposite, a burglar.
Even so, we are not quite through. There are still other links in underworld jargon between Bagg and Baggins and the words bag and baggage as used by working criminals in Britain. Three are quite notable: to bag means to capture, to acquire or to steal; baggage man is the outlaw who carries off the loot or booty; and a bag man is the man who collects and distributes money on behalf of others by dishonest means, or for dishonest purposes.
It appears that Tolkien’s choice of names for his Hobbit hero not only helped to create the character of Bilbo Baggins, but also went a long way toward plotting the adventure his hero embarked on.
For in The Hobbit, we find Bilbo Baggins the burglar is hired by the Dwarves to bag the Dragon’s treasure. He then becomes the baggage man who carries off the loot. However, after the death of the Dragon and because of a dispute after the Battle of Five Armies, Bilbo Baggins becomes the bag man who collects the whole treasure together and distributes it among the victors.
(BILBO) BAGGINS THE BOURGEOIS Burgher Burglar Baggage Man Bag Man (BILBO) BAGGINS THE HERO
What is in a name? In the name Baggins we have a Baggins who was a borough-burrow-dwelling bourgeois burgher who, by hiring himself out as a professional burglar, baggage man, and bag man, became that most un-Hobbitish of creatures: a hero.
IV. GOLLUM & the GOBLINS
“Once there was a Goblin living in a hole.” So begins a little song in a story that J. R. R. Tolkien read as a child. It quite obviously resonated in his mind because several decades later Tolkien wrote about another diminutive hole-dwelling creature in the famous first line of his first novel: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”
The story is The Princess and the Goblin* by George MacDonald. It was published in 1872, and is largely concerned with conflicts between diminutive Miners and Goblins in underground tunnels, which strongly foreshadowed subterranean skirmishes between Tolkien’s Hobbits and Goblins.
HOBBITS and GOBLINS appear to have occupied the same hole.
HOBBITS and GOBLINS appear to have been preoccupied with feet.
In Tolkien’s story oversized Hobbit feet are important. In MacDonald’s story oversized Goblin feet are important~but for different reasons. Tolkien’s Hobbit feet are seen as a strong and positive characteristic. MacDonald’s Goblins’ feet are their only weakness, and the Miners defeat the Goblins by stamping on their feet and singing magic spells. In Tolkien’s story Goblins could be repelled by certain spells, but their feet were iron shod. It was the Hobbits who went barefoot. However, in MacDonald’s story, we have the rhyme: “Once there was a goblin living in a hole:/busy he was cobblin, a shoe without a sole.” This rhyme is a kind of riddle~and one worthy of a Hobbit, at that.
RIDDLE: Why does the Goblin make a shoe without a sole?
ANSWER: Because the Goblin is a creature without a soul!
Tolkien’s Goblins are protected by iron-shod shoes, but they share MacDonald’s Goblins’ soulless condition; while Tolkien’s barefoot Hobbits share MacDonald’s Goblins’ soleless condition.**
HOBBIT + GOBLIN HOBGOBLIN
Hobgoblin~one of the thirteen magic words from our Hocus-Pocus Dictionary~was critical to the evolution of the Hobbit as a species, and to the development of The Hobbit as a novel. Hobbit is a diminutive form of the root word Hob. Hobgoblin is a composite word:
HOB~a benevolent spirit
GOBLIN~an evil spirit
The resulting Hobgoblin is usually a mischievous creature: either a rather warped good spirit, or a somewhat redeemed evil spirit. Either way, a Hobgoblin is an ambivalent creature, frequently at odds with human justice.
More importantly, Hobgoblin is a statement of opposites, and this was the spark that ignited the dramatic tension in Professor Tolkien’s novels.
In Hobgoblin, we have a word that embodies the struggle between the forces of good and evil. In Tolkien’s novels, with Hobbit and Goblin we have two diminutive, hole-dwelling races that embody the struggle between the forces of good and evil. Hobgoblin is the magic word that imaginatively links Hobbit (a diminutive of Hob) with Goblin, but there was at least one other link that makes one realize that~creatively~Hobbit and Goblin emerged from the same hole.
GOLLUM AS A HOBGOBLIN
Smeagol Gollum was a Hobgoblin, wherein Goblin overwhelmed the Hobbit.
IF BILBO BAGGINS IS THE ORIGINAL HOBBIT, THEN SMEAGOL GOLLUM IS THE ANTI-HOBBIT.
In the beginning, Gollum was given the name Smeagol. He was a Hobbit and his name largely defined his nature, as it meant “burrowing, worming in.” He was possessed by a restless, inquiring nature. He was always searching, and digging among the roots of things; burrowing, but also twisting and turning, this way and that.
ENGLISH~Smial*** burrow.
OLD ENGLISH~Smygel Smeagol burrowing, worming in
HOBBITISH burrow Rhovenian trahan Trahald burrowing, worming in
Smeagol lived east of the Misty Mountains in the ancient ancestral river valley homeland of the Stoorish Hobbits. There Smeagol often fished and explored with his cousin Deagol. It was this cousin, Deagol, who first discovered the Dark Lord’s Ring on the river bottom. Immediately Smeagol was seized by avarice. He murdered Deagol and stole the One Ring.
ENGLISH~Dial**** secret
OLD ENGLISH~dygel Deagol secret, hiding away
HOBBITISH~Nah secret Rhovenian nahan Nahald secret, hiding away
GOLLUM’S SECRET
Deagol’s name literally meant “secret.” This was doubly appropriate as the cursed Smeagol always insisted on his ownership of the Ring. His darkest secret was that he had acquired the Ring only through murder and theft. Guilt and fear that someone might discover his secret and take the Ring from him so terrified Smeagol that he hid himself away, “burrowing and worming in” beneath the roots of the Misty Mountains.
SMEAGOL AS GOLLUM
The evil power of the Ring lengthened Smeagol’s miserable life for centuries, yet it warped him beyond recognition. Thereafter he was called Gollum because of the nasty guttural sounds he made when he spoke. Gollum became a murderous ghoul and cannibal who shunned light and found grim solace in dark caverns and dank pools.
GOLLUM AS HOBGOBLIN
Smeagol Gollum was a Hobgoblin that became almost purely a Goblin or, to use Tolkien’s term, Orc. Indeed, Tolkien’s drafts tell us that for some time after writing The Hobbit the author was not sure whether Gollum was some form of Orc or some form of Hobbit.
GOLLUM AS ORNACEA
Tolkin decided on Hobbit, but in many ways Gollum was Orkish, with specific reference to the evil demons known in Anglo-Saxon texts (especially Beowulf), as the Ornacea, meaning “walking corpse.” Truly Gollum was one of the living dead or a “walking corpse” animated by a sorcerous power of the Ring.
GOLLUM THE GOLEM
In this undead state Gollum also resembled the Gollum, according to legend a massive and vengeful “Frankenstein monster,” who was made of clay and animated by a Jewish sorcerer’s spell to destroy the enemies of the Jews of Prague, but who eventually turned into a hateful destroyer of all life.
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* Curiously, MacDonald uses the terms Goblin, Hob, and even Cob interchangeably. (Cob from the German kobold, Goblin from the Latin gobelinus~the source of the English goblin~and Hob from the English hobgoblin.)
** This foot obsession was a long-standing one. Curiously enough, the first poem known to have been published by Tolkien as a teenage student in 1915 at Oxford was entitled “Goblin Feet.” Furthermore, it would be difficult to reject MacDonald’s influence, for late in life Tolkien wrote (in a letter) that his Goblins were in the MacDonald tradition: “except for the soft feet, which I never did believe in.”
*** Smial is pronounced Smile;
**** Dial also rhymes with Smile.
V. HOBBIT Heritage & History
If we look at the evolution and history of the Hobbit races and the Anglo-Saxon tribes, we see an obvious pattern. The origins of both are lost in the mists of time somewhere beyond a distant and massive eastern range of mountains. The ancestors of both the Hobbits and the Anglo-Saxons migrated across these mountains and eventually settled in a homeland in a fertile river-delta region.
Eventually war and invaders forced the Hobbits to leave their homeland known as the Angle~a wedge of land between the Loudwater and Hoarwell Rivers~and migrate across the Brandywine River into what eventually became known as the Shire of Middle-earth.
Similarly, war and invaders forced the Anglo-Saxons to leave their homeland known as the Angle~a wedge of land between the Schlei River and Flensburg Fjord~and migrate across the English Channel into what eventually became known as the Shires of England. Furthermore, there were three breeds or tribes of Hobbits: Fallohides, Stoors, and Harfoots; which are directly comparable to the three races or tribes of English: Saxons, Angles, and Jutes.
Finally, we find the Hobbit founders of the Shire were the brothers Marcho and Blanco; while the Anglo-Saxon founders of England were the brothers Hengist and Horsa.
ANGLO-SAXONS
MIGRATION from original homeland EAST OF THE ALPINE MOUNTAINS. WEST to a wedge of river-delta land called the ANGLE. Then WEST again to a new homeland called the SHIRES. Founders of the Shires known as HENGIST and HORSA. Original three tribes of Anglo-Saxons: ANGLES, SAXONS, and JUTES.
HOBBITS
MIGRATION from original homeland EAST OF THE MISTY MOUNTAINS. WEST to a wedge of river-delta land called the ANGLE. Then WEST again to a new homeland called the SHIRE. Founders of the Shire known as: MARCHO and BLANCO. Original three tribes of Hobbits: FALLOHIDES, STOORS, and HARFOOTS.
Hengist in Old English HORSE (Stallion)
Horsa in Old English HORSE
MARCHO HORSE
March in Welsh
Marc in Gaelic
Mearh in Old English *
BLANCO HORSE (White)
Blanca in Old English
Blakkr in Old Norse
BREEDS OR STRAINS OF HOBBITS
Like the Anglo-Saxon tribes, all Hobbits shared certain characteristics. Just as we have seen how the elements and associations with the word Hobbit went into the shaping of the racial and individual characteristics of Hobbits, so the names Harfoot, Fallohide, and Stoor contributed to the development of Hobbits and their world.
HARFOOTS
The Harfoot are the smallest and most typical Hobbits: the standard-issue diminutive, brown-skinned, curly-headed, hairy-footed, hole-dwelling Hobbit. Harfoots have always made up the majority of the total Hobbit population. They are extremely conservative in their habits and are the least adventurous of Hobbits, although they are known to have had some commerce with itinerant bands of Dwarves. They delight in the peace and quiet of country life, especially hillsides, farmlands, and pastures. Harfoots are naturally gifted farmers and gardeners.
Harfoot is an excellent and highly descriptive name for this most typical of Hobbits, and originally was applied to all Hobbits. Harfoot is an English surname, derived from an Old English epithet or nickname meaning Hare-foot. This was not an uncommon nickname among Anglo-Saxons and usually meant “fast runner” or “as nimble as a hare.”
This is an accurate enough description of Hobbit behaviour, but it is also meant as an obvious joke: a pun, or play on the words hare and hair.
For, besides being naturally fast and nimble on their feet, Hobbits are also both hare-footed and hair-footed. That is, like the hare, the Hobbit has feet that are both large and hairy.
HARFOOT BREED OF HOBBIT
Harfoot~English surname
Hare-foot–Anglo-Saxon epithet or nickname
Usually means fast runner or nimble as a hare
HOBBITISH PUNNING JOKE
Harfoot Hare-foot Hair-foot
HARFOOT/HAREFOOT/HAIRFOOT
Succinct description of Hobbits. (That is, small and nimble creatures with large, hairy feet.)
TYPICAL HARFOOT NAMES: Brown and Brownlock are descriptive of the hair and skin colour of Harfoots. Other names such as Sandheaver, Tunnelly, and Burrows suggest the construction of hole-dwelling Harfoot Hobbit homes. Names such as Gardner, Hayward, and Roper tell us of typical Harfoot occupations.
FALLOHIDES
Fallohide is the name of the second strain, or breed, of Hobbits. They are woodland dwellers in origin and the least numerous of the breeds. The most unconventional and adventurous of Hobbits, they are the most likely to consort with Elves. They have the fairest skin and hair of the three, and are generally taller and thinner than their cousins. The name for the Fallohide breed of Hobbit can be seen in terms of Falo-Hide: Falo as in the Old High German for pale yellow or reddish yellow, that is the colour of a fallow deer; and Hide as in skin or pelt. This interpretation could reasonably be used to describe the fair-haired, pale-skinned Fallohide breed.
Another explanation of Fallohide is suggested from different root words. Fallow-Hide: Fallow as in Old English for “newly ploughed land;” and Hide as in keeping out of sight, hiding away in secret. Hide is also an ancient measurement of land sufficient for a household~about one hundred acres.
It is likely that both interpretations are meant to be applied simultaneously. The second suggests characteristics shared by all Hobbits: a love of newly-tilled land and an uncanny ability to hide away in the landscape, so as to appear almost invisible to Humans. The first gives us the physical clues that differentiate the Fallohides from other Hobbits. Furthermore, with the name Fallohide, one cannot help but think there is something of a playful nature going on with “Follow and Hide,” as in the game of “Hide and Seek.”
FALLOHIDE BREED OF HOBBIT FALO-HIDE
Falo~Old High German: pale yellow
Hide~English: skin or pelt
FALLOW HIDE
Fallow~Old English: ploughed land
Hide~Old English: measure of land
FOLLOW-HIDE
Hobbitish Joke~Game of Hide and Seek
TYPICAL FALLOHIDE NAMES: The fair-haired Fallohides are suggested by family names such as Fairbairn, Goold, and Goldworthy. Their unconventional and independent nature and their intelligence are suggested by names such as Headstrong and Boffin.
STOORS
Stoors are the largest and strongest of Hobbits and the most like Humans. They tend to live on river-bottom land and marshes. They are quite un-Hobbit-like in their occasional use of footwear which takes the form of Dwarf boots. Also, much to the amazement of the other Hobbits, some Stoors are actually capab
le of growing hair upon their faces, though nothing so luxuriant as the beards of Humans and Dwarves.
Stoor appears to be derived from the Middle English stur and the Old English stor meaning hard or strong. This is appropriate in differentiating the larger and stronger Stoor from the shorter Harfoots and the slighter Fallohides.
STOOR
Stur (Middle English)
Stor (Old English)
Strong (Modern English)
Stoors as a breed of Hobbits are distinctive in their appearance, their habitat, and their occupations. Stoors distinguish themselves among Hobbits by being fearless of water and by being the only breed that even considers the idea of swimming or boating. By being adapted to water and boats, they became wealthy in trading and shipping goods for other Hobbits, and trade with many nations of Men on Middle-earth.
Like all Hobbits, Stoors are hoarders, who never throw anything away. Consequently, the name Stoor is an intentional pun suggestive of this characteristic. These Hobbits “stoor” or “store” goods away. But, more specifically, they are Stoors or Stowers: those who stow or pack away goods, especially on boats. Many of the Stoors are Stowers on boats and warehouses in Bucklebury. Some are ship-chandlers and merchants who also run Stores.
STOOR Stower Store
As pointed out when discussing words associated with Hobbit, there are two types of Hobblers among Hobbits. The Harfoots and Fallohides were associated with the first type of feudal Hobblers or Hobilers~tenant farmers who serve in the voluntary militia in time of war; while the Stoors are associated with river or canal Hobblers~workers who often tow river barges with ropes by walking along the bank or from rowing boats.
TYPICAL STOOR NAMES: Puddifoot is an archetypical Stoorish name for it suggests “puddle-foot” or someone who enjoys splashing around in water. However, as an English surname, it was originally Puddephat (or Pudding Vat, otherwise known as Bulgy Barrel), meaning a man with a fat belly. So we get all the Stoorish images at once: large, fat, big-footed, and water-loving.
