Hobbits are an imaginary people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkiens writings, they live barefooted, and dwell in homely underground houses which have windows, as they are typically built into the sides of hills. Their feet have naturally tough leathery soles (so they dont need shoes) and are covered on top with curly hair.Hobbits first appeared in the 1937 childrens novel The Hobbit, whose titular hobbit is the protagonist Bilbo Baggins, who is thrown into an unexpected adventure involving a dragon. In its sequel, The Lord of the Rings, the hobbits Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Pippin Took, and Merry Brandybuck are primary characters who all play key roles in fighting to save their world (Middle-earth) from evil. In The Hobbit, hobbits live together in a small town called Hobbiton, which in The Lord of the Rings is identified as being part of a larger rural region called the Shire, the homeland of the hobbits in the northwest of Middle-earth. They also live in a village east of the Shire, called Bree, where they co-exist with regular humans. Tolkien hints that there may be other hobbit settlements thereabouts, but they are never visited in the story.The origins of the name and idea of hobbits have been debated; literary antecedents include Sinclair Lewiss 1922 novel Babbitt, and Edward Wyke Smiths 1927 The Marvellous Land of Snergs. There is a disputed connection with old names for ghostly creatures, which include boggles, hobbits, and hobgoblins. Some scholars have noted correspondences with rabbits, but Tolkien emphatically rejected a relationship with rabbits, and emphasized hobbits humanity.Halflings appear as a race in Dungeons Dragons, the original name hobbits being later avoided for legal reasons. The usage has been taken up by fantasy authors including Terry Brooks, Jack Vance, and Clifford D. Simak.