If you've watched Peter Jackson's movies, you'll see some familiar things in The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. The Harfoots are a brand new addition to the on-screen world of Middle-earth. They come from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote about them in his books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Harfoots are one of the three kinds of hobbits. They are the ancestors of the hobbits in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. They are slightly smaller and have a darker skin tone. They were the first hobbits to move into Eriador, which includes Bree and the Shire, but they originally came from the foot of the Misty Mountains.
The Fallohides, another group of hobbits, were fewer in number, but when they got to Bree, they mixed with the Harfoots. So, the hobbits we see later on are descendants of both groups.
When compared to Hobbits, Harfoots look a bit like hobbits and are also cautious around humans. Though these two are very much alike, they're not the same thing.
The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power dives deeper into Harfoot
The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power explores the world of the Harfoots, a race closely tied to Hobbits in Middle-earth. The show features a diverse cast of humans, Elves, and Dwarves, as well as the Harfoots, a lesser-known species in Tolkien's books. Since they weren't part of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit trilogies, the Harfoots do not have as much attention as the other races.
The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power takes us to the Second Age of Middle-earth, a period we've never seen before. The Harfoots played a big part in shaping this era, according to Tolkien's stories. The Hobbits, on the other hand, didn't become important until the Third Age.
The Harfoots and the Fallohides and Stoors, as seen in The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Season 2, are early types of Hobbits. Each breed has unique features; the Harfoots have brown skin and like building homes in the foothills.
When they lived together, their bloodlines mixed, and eventually, no pure Fallohides, Stoors, or Harfoots remained. Instead, they formed a single race—the Hobbits.
The ancestors of the Hobbit were the Harfoots
The Amazon series, The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, explores the history of the Harfoots, a group of Hobbits who didn't live in the Shire. During the Second Age, they resided in Rhovanion, east of the Misty Mountains.
The Harfoots we see on the show, like Sadoc Burrows (Lenny Henry), haven't yet enjoyed the comforts and luxuries their descendants would later have in the Third Age. They dress simply and live in basic homes made from trees and plants. Since they're nomadic, their homes are built to be easy to move or hide when needed.
Unlike the laid-back Hobbits in Bilbo and Frodo's time, the Harfoots are more agile and quick to hide from men who enter their lands.
Patrick McKay, the showrunner, talked to Vanity Fair about the species in the show, saying:
"One of the very specific things the texts say is that Hobbits never did anything historic or noteworthy before the Third Age," he said. "But really, does it feel like Middle-earth if you don't have Hobbits or something like Hobbits in it?"
In The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, set a few thousand years before Bilbo and Frodo's adventures, you'll encounter the Harfoots - a group that includes Elanor 'Nori' Brandyfoot, her parents Marigold and Largo, and her best friend Poppy Proudfellow. You'll also meet Sadoc Burrows, a mysterious figure with a talent for prophecy.
The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power is now streaming on Prime Video.
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