Harfoots

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Harfoots were one of the three breeds of hobbits in Middle-earth, along with Stoors and Fallohides.
== Description ==
They were shorter and smaller than other hobbits, while lacking beards and wearing no footwear. They also had neat hands, nimble feet and brown skin. They lived in highlands and hillsides, delving tunnels or holes they called smials, a habit they maintained for the entire Third Age and beyond., Prologue, I. "Concerning Hobbits" They were accustomed to inhabiting one location for a long time before moving. The race they had the most interactions with were the Dwarves, who they were very friendly with.
== History ==
Harfoots were the most common race of hobbit, and in their earliest known history they dwelt in the central Vales of Anduin, specifically the lower foothills of the Misty Mountains. The Gladden Fields approximated their southern boundary, and a woodland of the Great Shelf, near the High Pass, was their northern boundary. In unspecified ways, the Harfoots were frequently involved with Dwarves traveling through the High Pass in the early Third Age., Prologue, I. "Concerning Hobbits", pg. 3 (50th Anniversary One-volume Edition)
The Harfoots were the first to migrate westward into Arnor, and there the Dúnedain named them Periannath or halflings, as recorded in Arnorian records around TA 1050. They tended to settle down for extended periods, founding villages as far from the Vales of Anduin as the hills of the South Downs.
By the 1300s of the Third Age, they had merged with the Fallohides and reached Bree, which was the westernmost home of hobbits for a long while., Appendix B, The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), The Third Age Described as bolder than the Harfoots, the Fallohides presided over them.
When the Shire was settled and founded centuries later, in TA 1601, its population's majority were Harfoots.
== Etymology ==
As with most Hobbit terms, Harfoot derives from an archaic Hobbit-speech translation of an older Westron term. It means "one with hairy feet", referencing a universal trait of all Hobbits in the Third Age.
J.R.R. Tolkien drew the name from the Old English construction hǣr-fōt. It is disputed today whether the word hǣr translates simply to "hair" or not.
== In adaptations ==
In , set in the Second Age, a tribe of hobbits called Harfoots are featured as living somewhere east of the Misty Mountains. The cast & crew have described them as several different tribes who have come together for mutual defense (explaining why different families look like different human races).
The depiction of Harfoots drew criticism for depicting them with "stage Irish” accents, being accused of racism against Irish Travellers.
They are a semi-nomadic people, still in the migratory period known as the "Wandering Days". When the series begins they have not yet reached the Vales of Anduin, but are still much farther east - traveling around in Rhovanion, the lands south of the forestlands of Greenwood the Great (its name before it became Mirkwood). Due to their small size, they strictly avoid being seen by other races, having become very skilled at hiding with camouflage for themselves and their village. They do not yet live in excavated holes but live out of carts, draped in camouflage nets, and ready to pick up stakes and flee on short notice if any danger enters the region they are currently in. They still live close to the land with farms and livestock, but when their current region experiences a crop failure or bad weather they will pack up their wagon-train and search for better farmland elsewhere. 
When the series begins, the village of Nori Brandyfoot, Poppy Proudfellow, and Sadoc Burrows is surprised to spot human huntsmen coming close to their land out of season. This causes Nori to speculate that the "big folk" might have been driven north by some sort of troubles in the south - though she does not know it, it is indeed due to Sauron rallying the surviving Orcs father south in what will become Mordor.
Later on, the tribe of the Harfoots makes contact with The Stranger who came from the sky and landed in Rhovanion, where the Harfoot settlement was nearby at that moment. The Stranger later makes a strong bond of friendship with the curious Nori and protects the Harfoots more than once from the perils of the outside world.
== External links ==
*Concerning Harfoots on fellowshipoffans.com
== Translations ==
Foreign Language	Translated name
Dutch 	Bruivels
Finnish 	Karvajalat
French 	Piévelus
German 	Harfüße
Hebrew 	הארפוט
Italian 	Pelopiedi
Polish 	Harfootowie
Portuguese 	Pés-peludos (Brazilian Portuguese)
Russian 	Мохноноги
Spanish 	Pelosos
== References ==
Category:Hobbit breeds
Category:The Rings of Power creatures
es:Pelosos
fr:Piévelus
it:Pelopiedi
nl:Bruivels
pl:Harfootowie
pt-br:Pés-peludos
ru:Мохноноги