Post by Shelby on Nov 29, 2023 20:40:49 GMT -8
Apparently there was a series of pamphlets published in very small quantities in England during the 1850s, later collected as The Denham Tracts. Included in a list of creatures supposedly taken from actual folklore is the term "hobbit," with no description given. Whether this was an invention of the author or in fact had its origin in folklore, JRRT could still have made the word up independently. Perhaps we'll never know.