Editing Hobbits (section)

==Races==
It might surprise you to learn that there were distinct racial phenotypes amongst the Hobbits of Middle-Earth, just as there were with the humans there and in real life. The prologue to The Lord of the Rings explains that they had already divided into three distinct ethnic groups before they crossed over the Misty Mountains from the east, mirroring the three tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes the real-world English are descended from: the Harfoots, Stoors, and Fallohides.
* The Harfoots preferred to live in highlands and hillsides, were smaller, shorter, and had a darker skin tone than other Hobbit types (though by the War of the Ring most of them appear fairly light-skinned, likely a result of intermingling with members of the other Hobbit types). They also didn't grow facial hair and preferred to go barefoot. They were the most common variety of Hobbits, the most likely to settle down in one place, and were heavily involved with the Dwarves in Middle-Earth's elder days. These are the ones who populate the Shire.
* The Stoors were broader, heavier in build, and possessed larger hands and feet than other Hobbits. They preferred to live in flatlands and on riversides, and were more likely to interact with Men than the Harfoots. Out of all Hobbits, they were the least afraid of water, and many of them fished and even crewed boats.
* The Fallohides lived in the northern areas of Middle-Earth, and were the least numerous. They were taller and slimmer than other Hobbits and possessed fairer skin and hair than the Stoors and Harfoots. They loved trees and woodlands, preferred hunting to farming, had more skill with language and song than they did handicraft, and were more friendly with Elves than other Hobbits. Being a bold and adventurous bunch, they could often be found in the role of clan leaders and chieftains among groups of Harfoots and Stoors, and the greater families of the Shire such as the Tooks and Masters of Buckland had Fallohide blood.

===The Gollum===
The closest thing that Middle-Earth has ever seen to an evil hobbit (well, give or take the Sackville-Bagginses), is a twisted little wretch called "Gollum", after the gagging, choking noise he developed a habit of making for no discernable reason. Originally, the Gollum was a Stoor hobbit by the name of Smeagol, until the day he and his cousin Deagol were out fishing in the Gladden Fields north of their mountainous home. There, Deagol fished up Sauron's One Ring, and upon seeing it, Smeagol was instantly smitten with it. He demanded that Deagol give it to him as a birthday present, and when Deagol refused, Smeagol choked the life from his cousin and took it. Almost at once, he became a slinking little thief, and whilst he claimed that Deagol had fallen into the river and drowned, Smeagol's family suspicions combined with his antics soon saw them drive him out of their home.

Fleeing into the [[goblin]]-infested caves of the Misty Mountains, Smeagol quickly went mad and degenerated into a wiry little [[troglodyte]], shunning the light and feasting cannibalistically on anything he could catch, be it raw cave fish or unwitting goblins. Whilst he made heavy use of the One Ring's power of invisibility at first, over the centuries he became incredibly stealthy in his own right, and took to hunting without it. His gurgling cough became the only warning sign of his presence, and the surviving goblins took to calling him "Gollum" after it.

After almost 500 years, Gollum met the hobbit Bilbo Baggins as he was fleeing from Goblins and got lost in the cave. Gollum initially sought to eat Bilbo for some variety in his diet, but Bilbo managed to get him talking by holding him at bay with Sting; due to his long centuries of exposure to the One Ring's corruptive energy, Gollum had become physically repelled by anything of [[elf]] make. Gollum offered Bilbo a false promise to lead him to the exit if Bilbo could defeating him in a game of riddles, an old hobbit entertainment that Gollum had long been unable to indulge in. Through sheer luck, Bilbo managed to claim the victory, but Gollum tried to renege on his promise by retrieving the One Ring and using its power of invisibility to murder Bilbo- which was when he found that he had lost his "birthday present", as he thought of it, and that Bilbo had found it. [[rage|Furious]], he attempted to chase Bilbo and kill him, but Bilbo used the ring to outmaneuver Gollum and escape him, having felt too much pity for the mad wretch to kill him.

Years later, Gollum finally mustered the courage to leave his caves and go searching for his "Precious", as he called the One Ring. Gollum himself achieved little other than, it's implied, to murder and devour assorted farm animals and small children as he searched endlessly to find the Shire, until he literally wandered right up to the borderlands of Mordor, where he found himself captured by the [[orc]]s and tortured for information. This led to Sauron becoming aware of the existence of the Shire and its resident hobbits, but Gollum managed to escape and flee back into the hinterlands, hiding in the dark places and living much as he had done in the Misty Mountains.

It was only when the Fellowship of the Ring began heading to Mordor that Gollum finally caught up with the One Ring's new bearer; Frodo Baggins. Frodo and his companion Samwise Gamgee captured Gollum instead and forced him to swear on "the Precious" to become their guide into Mordor. As they traveled together, Frodo became increasingly pitying towards Gollum, trying to coax his long-buried Smeagol persona to the surface in hopes of redeeming him, whilst Samwise remained hostile and suspicious. Ironically, Gollum would prove integral at the very climax of the quest; when Frodo's will faltered when it came time to throw the One Ring into Mount Doom, Gollum finally snapped and attacked Frodo in an attempt to reclaim the Ring for himself. But in his mad capering upon biting off Frodo's finger and claiming the One Ring as his own, Gollum slipped and fell into the lava, causing the Ring to be destroyed at long last.