The Tolkien Road

What exactly are hobbits—and where did they come from?
In this episode of Do Not Be Hasty, we begin our journey through the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings with “Concerning Hobbits,” exploring Tolkien’s surprisingly detailed history of hobbit origins, migrations, culture, and the eventual founding of the Shire.00:00 — Introduction: Concerning Hobbits
01:25 — Tolkien, the Red Book of Westmarch, and Hobbit History
03:12 — Hobbit Culture: Peace, Quiet, Magic, and Machinery
05:05 — What Do Hobbits Actually Look Like?
06:30 — The Merry Folk of the Shire
08:35 — Where Did Hobbits Come From?
10:06 — Did Hobbits Exist in the Second Age?
11:30 — The Earliest Hobbit Homelands
14:35 — Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides
18:05 — Hobbit Leadership and the Common Good
20:09 — The Hobbits Move West into Eriador
21:59 — The Founding of the Shire
26:05 — How Big Is the Shire?
29:10 — Hobbit Holes, Houses, and Architecture
30:44 — Hobbit Families and Genealogies
33:14 — Why Hobbits Matter to Tolkien
Tolkien’s “History” of the HobbitsTolkien continues to present himself almost as a compiler or translator of an ancient history
The Hobbit is presented as material derived from Bilbo’s portion of the Red Book of Westmarch
The Prologue expands that fictional history with a broader account of the hobbits as a people
What Are Hobbits Like?Hobbits love peace, quiet, good food, cultivated land, hospitality, and parties
They distrust complicated machinery
They may appear almost magical to outsiders, but they do not consider themselves magical
Tolkien’s contrast between simple hobbit life and the desire to dominate through “magic” and machinery reflects one of the larger themes of his legendarium
Hobbits generally stand between two and four feet tall, with three feet being fairly typical
Shire hobbits favor bright colors and usually go barefoot
The Ancient Origins of HobbitsHobbits are relatives of Men, though their exact relationship has been forgotten
Their origins reach back into the Elder Days
For much of history they were virtually unknown to the Wise and Great
This suggests that hobbit-like peoples could have existed long before the events of The Lord of the Rings
Their earliest remembered homeland was in the upper vales of the Anduin
They eventually migrated westward as Men multiplied and the shadow over Greenwood grew
Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides
Tolkien identifies three major groups of early hobbits:Harfoots — smaller, more numerous, associated with hills and highlands, and particularly connected with the traditional hobbit practice of living underground
Stoors — broader and heavier, more comfortable around rivers and Men; Sméagol and Déagol came from this branch
Fallohides — taller and fairer, fond of forests, more friendly with Elves, and often found among the leaders of hobbit communities
As the three groups migrated westward and eventually blended together, their different qualities helped shape the hobbits we encounter in the Shire.
Hobbit Society and the Common GoodLeadership among hobbits does not seem primarily based on domination
Different families and groups contribute their particular strengths to the community
Their culture tends toward cooperation and mutual support
Tolkien repeatedly emphasizes the contrast between these overlooked “little people” and the powerful figures who dominate the great events of history
The Road to the ShireThe hobbits gradually migrated into Eriador as the northern kingdom of Arnor declined
They interacted with the remnants of the Dúnedain and eventually adopted the Common Speech
In Third Age 1601, Marcho and Blanco crossed the Brandywine with permission from the king at Fornost
That settlement marks the beginning of the Shire and Year 1 of the Shire Reckoning
The hobbits remained nominal subjects of the northern kings but largely governed themselves
How Big Is the Shire?
The Shire is much larger than it can sometimes feel in the story—roughly 140 miles east to west and 175 miles north to south. That puts it on the general scale of a smaller European country rather than a tiny village-sized region.
Hobbit Homes and FamiliesNot every hobbit lived in a hole
By Bilbo’s time, elaborate holes such as Bag End tended to belong to wealthy hobbits, while many middle-class hobbits lived in above-ground houses
Hobbits favored long, low buildings rather than towers
Round doors and windows became a distinctive feature of hobbit architecture
Hobbits were intensely family-oriented and loved elaborate genealogies and family trees
The Big Takeaway
Hobbits may seem insignificant to the powerful people of Middle-earth, but that is precisely the point. Tolkien builds an entire history and culture around these humble, easily overlooked people—and then makes them central to the fate of the world.
The Prologue helps us see that Frodo, Sam, Bilbo, Merry, and Pippin do not come out of nowhere. They emerge from a long tradition of ordinary people who value home, family, community, and simple things—yet are capable of extraordinary courage when history calls upon them.

SPECIAL THANKSJohn R
Kaitlyn of Tea with Tolkien
Melkor27
KG
SaberSystems
Jeremy D
Emilio P
Jonathan D
Richard K
Paul D
Julia
Werty
Chris B
Tuor91
Carolyn S
Emiel K
Brian O the 2nd
Jonathan R
Matthew W
Daniel D
Harrison C
Seb M
Willbo Baggins
Ms. Anonymous
Andrew T
Redhawk
Shannon S
Brian O (the 1st)
Zeke F
James L
Chris L
Asya V
Ish of the Hammer
Teresa C
David of Pints with Jack
Eric B

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What exactly is Unfinished Tales—and why did Christopher Tolkien choose to publish his father’s unfinished writings at all?
In this episode of The Tolkien Road, we begin a new journey into Tolkien’s posthumously published legendarium by exploring the history, purpose, and editorial philosophy behind Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth.00:00 — Introduction: Beginning Unfinished Tales
06:36 — Tolkien Quote of the Week: Why Fantasy Matters
08:52 — What Is Unfinished Tales?
10:14 — Why This Book Was So Important
11:38 — Christopher Tolkien Takes Up His Father’s Work
12:56 — Why Unfinished Tales Is Harder Than The Silmarillion
14:31 — Unfinished Tales as a Bridge to The History of Middle-earth
16:54 — Christopher Tolkien’s Experience with The Silmarillion
20:28 — The Three Choices Christopher Tolkien Faced
21:33 — Choosing Textual History Instead of New Stories
24:14 — Why Christopher Changed His Editorial Approach
27:36 — Why Publish Tolkien’s Unfinished Material?
28:23 — Do Tolkien Fans Really Want All the Details?
44:59 — Christopher Tolkien’s Lasting Editorial Legacy
45:42 — Listener Correspondence
What Is Unfinished Tales?Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth was published in 1980
It followed The Silmarillion, which Christopher Tolkien published in 1977
The book gathers incomplete narratives, drafts, notes, and alternate versions of stories from across the legendarium
Some stories are relatively complete, while others require extensive editorial explanation
Christopher frequently interrupts the narrative to explain manuscript differences, chronology, textual problems, and editorial choices
Why It Is Different from The SilmarillionThe Silmarillion was shaped into a relatively cohesive narrative
Christopher combined and edited multiple sources in an attempt to present something close to his father’s intended mythology
Unfinished Tales takes a very different approach
Rather than smoothing over inconsistencies, Christopher increasingly shows readers the manuscripts as Tolkien actually left them
The result is more scholarly, fragmented, and sometimes more difficult—but also much more transparent
Christopher Tolkien’s Three Choices
After publishing The Silmarillion, Christopher essentially faced three paths:Do nothing and leave his father’s unpublished material alone
Continue the legendarium, perhaps by completing stories or bringing in other writers
Present the textual history, allowing readers to see Tolkien’s drafts, revisions, contradictions, and unfinished writings
Christopher ultimately chose the third path.
Why That Decision MatteredUnfinished Tales became a prototype for the later twelve-volume History of Middle-earth
Instead of continuing Middle-earth himself, Christopher became the curator and interpreter of Tolkien’s manuscripts
He increasingly preferred to show readers what his father actually wrote rather than construct polished versions of unfinished stories
Stories already familiar from The Silmarillion, such as Tuor’s journey to Gondolin and the tale of the Children of Húrin, could now appear in fuller or less heavily edited forms
Readers gained access not only to Tolkien’s stories but also to the process by which those stories developed
Christopher Tolkien as “Tour Guide”
A useful way to understand Unfinished Tales is as a museum of Tolkien’s unfinished writings, with Christopher serving as the tour guide.He explains:Which manuscripts survive
How different versions relate to one another
Where Tolkien changed his ideas
Which texts are incomplete
Why contradictions exist
What editorial decisions were made
That makes the book more demanding, but also extraordinarily valuable for readers who want to understand how Tolkien’s legendarium evolved.
Why Tolkien Fans Want This Material
Christopher sometimes seems uncertain whether readers really want such detailed material.
But for serious Tolkien readers, those details are part of the appeal. Geography, timelines, alternate drafts, abandoned ideas, and seemingly tiny differences can all provide insight into Tolkien’s creative process.
By publishing the textual history, Christopher also gave future readers and adapters a much clearer picture of Tolkien’s actual vision.
The Big Takeaway
Unfinished Tales represents a turning point in the history of Tolkien publishing.
After the more interventionist editorial approach required to create The Silmarillion, Christopher Tolkien chose a different path: preserve the manuscripts, expose their complexity, and let readers see the legendarium developing in Tolkien’s own words.
That decision gave us not only Unfinished Tales, but eventually The History of Middle-earth—and an unprecedented window into the creation of Middle-earth.
SPECIAL THANKSKaitlyn of Tea with Tolkien
Liis U
Andrew T
John R
Shannon S
Brian O
Emilio P
Zeke F
James A
James L
Chris L
Chuck F
Asya V
Ish of the Hammer
Teresa C
David of Pints with Jack
Jonathan D
Eric S
Joey S
Eric B
Matt L
Johanna T
Ms. Anonymous
Sam N
Mike M

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What did Tolkien himself say The Lord of the Rings was about?In this episode of Do Not Be Hasty, we explore Tolkien’s forewords to The Lord of the Rings — because there are actually two very different versions.
00:00 — What Did Tolkien Say The Lord of the Rings Was About?
02:15 — The Original 1954 Foreword
03:43 — The Red Book of Westmarch
09:45 — Tolkien as “Translator” and Middle-earth as History
13:20 — Why Tolkien Replaced the First Foreword
15:24 — The Second-Edition Foreword
20:17 — Why Tolkien Wrote The Lord of the Rings
21:21 — No Hidden Message or World War II Allegory
22:12 — What the Story Would Look Like If It WERE About WWII
26:09 — Allegory vs. Applicability
30:11 — So What Is The Lord of the Rings About?
The First-Edition Foreword
Published with The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954
Tolkien presents The Lord of the Rings almost as an authentic historical document
The story is supposedly drawn from the Red Book of Westmarch
Bilbo and Frodo appear as memoirists whose accounts were preserved by Sam’s descendants
Tolkien plays with the idea that he is discovering or translating Middle-earth rather than simply inventing it
Why Tolkien later rejected this foreword
The role of the unauthorized Ace Books edition and the U.S. copyright situation
The first foreword’s possible spoiler concerning Frodo and Sam
The Second-Edition Foreword
How The Lord of the Rings grew out of The Hobbit
Why the story was drawn toward the older world of The Silmarillion
Tolkien’s long process of composition through the late 1930s and 1940s
The extraordinary amount of work involved in completing and revising the book
Tolkien’s stated purpose: to tell a long story that could hold readers’ attention, delight them, excite them, and move them
Was The Lord of the Rings an Allegory?
Tolkien rejects the idea that the book has a simple hidden message
Why the War of the Ring should not be read as an allegory of World War II
Tolkien imagines what the story might have looked like if WWII really had dictated the plot
His skepticism toward political power and his concern for ordinary people
Why the Scouring of the Shire is not simply commentary on contemporary England
Allegory vs. Applicability
Tolkien’s famous declaration that he “cordially” disliked allegory
Allegory depends upon the author imposing a particular meaning
Applicability depends upon the freedom of the reader
Real history and personal experience can influence storytelling without turning a story into allegory
The importance of remaining faithful to the artistic vision rather than writing merely to make a topical point
The Big TakeawayTolkien’s own explanation is surprisingly simple: he was primarily trying to tell a great story. The deeper truths of The Lord of the Rings arise organically from the story rather than from a coded attempt to comment upon specific historical events.SPECIAL THANKS
John R
Kaitlyn of Tea with Tolkien
Melkor27
KG
SaberSystems
Jeremy D
Emilio P
Jonathan D
Richard K
Paul D
Julia
Werty
Chris B
Tuor91
Carolyn S
Emiel K
Brian O the 2nd
Jonathan R
Matthew W
Daniel D
Harrison C
Seb M
Willbo Baggins
Ms. Anonymous
Andrew T
Redhawk
Shannon S
Brian O (the 1st)
Zeke F
James L
Chris L
Asya V
Ish of the Hammer
Teresa C
David of Pints with Jack
Eric B

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Is The Silmarillion harder to read than it needs to be?In this episode of The Tolkien Road, we take a loving but critical look at three major problems with the published Silmarillion — and how a future edition might make Tolkien’s mythology far more accessible to first-time readers.
00:00 — Introduction
04:45 — The Silmarillion: Three Big Problems and How to Fix Them
06:40 — Why the Published Silmarillion Is Open to Criticism
10:47 — The Three Big Problems
11:10 — Problem #1: The Maps
23:21 — Problem #2: The Lack of a Frame Narrative
28:57 — Problem #3: No Timetable
31:30 — What a Better Edition of The Silmarillion Could Look Like
33:11 — Is There a Fourth Problem?
33:35 — Listener Correspondence
Why The Silmarillion Is So Difficult
Tolkien himself never completed the book
Christopher Tolkien faced the enormous task of organizing decades of unfinished material
Even highly motivated Tolkien readers often struggle to finish The Silmarillion
The problems discussed here are less about Tolkien’s stories themselves than about how the material is presented
Better reference material and narrative structure could help more readers enter Tolkien’s First Age
Problem #1: The Maps
The maps in The Lord of the Rings give readers an immediate geographical frame of reference
The Silmarillion primarily gives us a map of Beleriand
That map does not become especially useful until well into the book
Early locations such as Valinor are not represented on it
Important locations such as Angband are also missing
Without understanding Beleriand’s relationship to the later Middle-earth map, first-time readers can easily become confused
A future edition could include multiple maps corresponding to different eras and sections of the story
Additional reader aids such as character lists, footnotes, and more accessible appendices could also help
Problem #2: The Lack of a Frame Narrative
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings give readers a much more immediate narrative point of view
The Silmarillion can feel detached or chronicle-like by comparison
Tolkien’s earliest versions of these stories actually did include a frame narrative
The various tales of The Silmarillion are interconnected, but they are not one continuous story in the way The Lord of the Rings is
Stories such as Beren and Lúthien and the Fall of Gondolin can feel almost like separate works within a larger mythology
A frame involving Bilbo, Frodo, Aragorn, Rivendell, or the Red Book of Westmarch could potentially provide greater continuity
Such a structure would also connect The Silmarillion more directly with the familiar world of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
Problem #3: No Timetable
The Lord of the Rings gives readers useful chronological information in Appendix B
The Silmarillion covers immense spans of time without providing a similarly accessible timeline
A concise chronology could help readers understand when major events occur and how much time separates them
Events such as Melkor’s alliance with Ungoliant, the destruction of the Two Trees, and the major wars of the First Age could be placed within a simple chronological framework
The detailed chronological material elsewhere in Tolkien’s writings could potentially be distilled into a more reader-friendly reference
What a Better Silmarillion Could Accomplish
More maps
Better character and reference guides
A stronger narrative frame
A concise timeline of major events
More help orienting first-time readers without changing Tolkien’s actual stories
Greater accessibility could introduce many more Tolkien fans to the stories that were closest to Tolkien’s heart
Understanding The Silmarillion also greatly enriches the experience of reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
A Possible Fourth Problem
Listener and Tolkien scholar Keith Mathison suggests that the ending of The Silmarillion may present another problem worth exploring — a subject for a future discussion.Listener Correspondence
The episode closes with listener comments and questions touching on Tolkien and paganism, the Valar as angelic beings, the purposes of Tolkien’s mythology beyond entertainment, the meaning of “Flame of Udûn,” adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien’s Catholic faith, and Galadriel’s ancestry.The Big TakeawayThe point isn’t that The Silmarillion needs different stories. It’s that those extraordinary stories might reach far more readers if the book gave newcomers a little more help finding their way through Tolkien’s vast mythology.EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:
- Andrew T
- John R
- Ms. Anonymous

SPECIAL THANKS:
- Andrew T
- John R
- Ms. Anonymous
- Kaitlyn of Tea with Tolkien
- Shannon S
- Brian O
- Emilio P
- Zeke F
- James A
- James L
- Chris L
- Chuck F
- Asya V
- Ish of the Hammer
- Teresa C
- David of Pints with Jack
- Jonathan D
- Eric S
- Joey S
- Eric B
- Johanna T
- Mike M
- Robert H
- Paul D
- Julia
- Werty

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My new book, Tolkien's Tragedy, is now available! Visit TolkiensTragedy.com to learn more!
Hey there, Fellowship! Welcome to The Tolkien Road.
Over the next four episodes, we’re returning to one of Tolkien’s most compelling—and heartbreaking—tales: “Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner’s Wife.”
Originally published in Unfinished Tales, this story takes us deep into the history of Númenor, exploring the troubled marriage of the royal couple Aldarion and Erendis—and the painful conflict between ambition, duty, love, and family.
Today, we’re revisiting Part Five of our discussion.
And for those of you waiting for fresh journeys down the Tolkien Road, don’t worry—we’ll be back soon with brand-new episodes.
For now, let’s return to Númenor and the story of Aldarion and Erendis.
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