Tolkien does this throughout his novels, outlining the “racial” characteristics of men, of dwarves, of elves, of orcs, and those few of mixed ancestry (like Aragorn or the Uruk-Hai). Hobbits, he says, are a race, and based upon a combination their hereditary traits and cultural practices, are better at being stealthy than other races. The core of the problem is that Tolkien conflates race, culture, and ability. Contemporary authors have had to work hard to free the genre from this original sin. His ideas have been bred into the core of the fantasy genre-not just literature, but films and games too. Considering Tolkien’s place as the godfather of the fantasy genre, it’s unsurprising that his conception of the “races” of Middle Earth have become more-or-less standard across the fantasy genre.īut Tolkien’s conception of “race” is a huge problem. It is the first time he uses the word “race” in the book (though he did use it in The Hobbit as well). This is from the first page of Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.
Prologue, The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R.
SAGE ADVICE TINY PLAYER RACE PROFESSIONAL
Paul’s upcoming book, The Middle Ages in Popular Imagination: Memory, Film, and Medievalism , is available for preorder now.īut Hobbits have never, in fact, studied magic of any kind, and their elusiveness is due solely to a professional skill that heredity and practice, and a close friendship with the earth, have rendered inimitable by bigger and clumsier races. You can find the rest of the special series here. Part XXXVI in our ongoing series on Race, Racism and the Middle Ages, by Paul B.
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