Fallohide

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Fallohides are one of the three races of Hobbits.

The Fallohides were the least common of Hobbits, and in their earliest known history they lived in the forested region where later was the Eagles Eyrie near the High Pass to the north, in the Vale of Anduin. To their south lived the far more numerous Harfoots, and far south in the Gladden Fields lived the Stoors.

The Fallohides were fair of skin and hair, and none of them ever grew a beard. They were great lovers of the trees and forests, and skilled hunters. Many of them were friends with the Elves, and because of this they were more learned than the other Hobbits. They were the first to later learn Westron, and the only ones to preserve some of their old history.

After the Harfoots had migrated westward in the years following 1050 of the Third Age, the Fallohides followed them around 1150. Unlike the Harfoots they crossed far north of Rivendell, and from there later met up with the Harfoots.

The Fallohides were more bold and adventurous than the Harfoots, and many of them became leaders of the Harfoot villages. It was probably under Fallohide rule that the Harfoots migrated westward beyond Weathertop and reached Bree.

In 1601 two Fallohide brothers, Marcho and Mircho, by permission of the King in Fornost (Argeleb II) crossed the river Baranduin (Brandywine) and founded the Shire.

The Fallohides learned Westron from the Men of Arnor, and it was they who first learned writing.

After this the Fallohides mixed more and more with the Harfoots and later the Stoors, until the three Hobbit races became one.

The influential Took clan had distinct Fallohide traces both in appearance and character, as did the Oldbuck and later Brandybuck clan. Both Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins were part Fallohide, due to their respective Took and Brandybuck mothers.

Other famous Fallohides included Bandobras Bullroarer Took, who slew an Orc leader, Gerontius "The Old" Took, who was the second oldest Hobbit in history, and Peregrin Took as son of the Thain was a Fallohide.