What's the difference between Hobbits, Harfoots and Stoors in The Rings of Power?

In the latest episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, our Harfoot characters Nori and Poppy encounter a new group of harfoots living in the desert land of Rhûn. They call themselves Stoors. Who are these people?

In J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings mythology, Stoors and Harfoots are both different kinds of Hobbits, the diminutive people who live in the Shire. But The Rings of Power is set thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings story most of us know, when Hobbits, also known as halflings, are still wandering. They haven't settled in the Shire yet, although it sounds like the show is setting up its discovery.

There are actually three kinds of Hobbits in Tolkien's mythology. They are:

Harfoots

These are the ones we've come to know best on The Rings of Power. Harfoots are the smallest of the three breeds of Hobbits, and traditionally lived in the Vale of Anduin, east of the Misty Mountains and west of Mirkwood. At some point they started a period of wandering, which is where we find them in The Rings of Power.

Stoors

The broadest and stroutest of the three breeds of Hobbits, the Stoors traditionally settled around riverbanks. Sméagol, the man who would become Gollum, was originally a Stoor.

If The Rings of Power, Nori and Poppy find a community of Stoors living in the desert land of Rhûn. There's no mention of this in Tolkien's books. Like the Harfoots, they were said to originally reside in the Vale of Anduin before beginning their wanderings.

Fallohides

The Fallohides are the tallest of the three breeds of Hobbits, and the least numerous. They're the only kind we haven't yet seen in The Rings of Power. But they're also very important, because they're the ones who first settle in the land that would become the Shire.

Eventually, all three breeds of Hobbit migrate to the Shire and intermingle. If I had to guess, I'd say that's where Nori and Poppy's story is going on The Rings of Power in the long-term. For now, new episodes of The Rings of Power season 2 drop Thursdays on Prime Video.

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