{{Short description|Fictional race appearing in many fantasy works}} {{Infobox fictional race | name = Halfling | image = Halfling Thief.png | caption = An illustration of a halfling. | genre = Fantasy | other_names = Hobbit }} '''Halflings''', sometimes called hobbits, are a fictional race found in some fantasy novels and games.
== Description == Halflings are often depicted as similar to humans except about half as tall, and are not quite as stocky as the similarly sized dwarves. They have slightly pointed ears along with leathery-soled feet which are covered with curly hair. They tend to be portrayed as stealthy and lucky.
== Etymology ==
Author J. R. R. Tolkien originated the race of halflings in his Middle-earth works, usually calling them 'hobbits'.<ref>Tolkien, J. R. R. (1955) ''The Return of the King'', book 5, ch. 1 "Minas Tirith"</ref> The Oxford English Dictionary used to credit Tolkien with inventing the word hobbits,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oed.com/newsletters/2003-12/wordsofchoice.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517014254/http://oed.com/newsletters/2003-12/wordsofchoice.html |archive-date=17 May 2008 |access-date=21 June 2012 |title=Words of choice: a selection of words with unusual origins |work=Oxford English Dictionary December 2003 newsletter |first=John |last=Simpson |author-link=John Simpson (lexicographer) |date=December 2003}}</ref> and Middle-earth Enterprises trademarked the term hobbits, but evidence of earlier use was discovered.<ref>{{cite book |last=Denham |first=Michael |editor-last=Hardy |editor-first=James |year=1895 |url=https://archive.org/stream/denhamtractscoll02denhuoft#page/78/mode/2up/search/hobbits |title=Denham Tracts |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=David Nutt for The Folklore Society |page=79}}</ref>
The term ''Halfling'' had previously been used in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Northern England for a boy or girl who is not yet fully grown; a youth, an adolescent, and formerly sometimes a boy or young man employed in a junior role in domestic, agricultural, or industrial work.<ref>{{Cite dictionary |title=Oxford English Dictionary |date=July 2023 |at=halfling, n. & adj.}}</ref> ''Halflin'' derives from the Scot word ''hauflin'', which was used before both ''The Hobbit'' and ''Dungeons & Dragons''<ref name="tresca2010">{{citation |title=The Evolution of Fantasy Role-playing Games |first1=Michael J. |last1=Tresca |publisher=McFarland |year=2010 |isbn=978-0786460090 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8H8bzqj6S4sC&pg=PA36}}</ref> and has the synonyms ''hobbledehoy'' and ''hobby''.<ref name="tresca2010" />
==Usage in fantasy fiction==
Author J. R. R. Tolkien included halflings in his Middle-earth works like 1937's ''The Hobbit'' and 1954-1955's ''The Lord of the Rings''. The term has since been used in other fiction works as an alternate name for hobbit-like peoples inspired by Tolkien's legendarium.<ref name="tyler2014">{{cite book |last1=Tyler |first1=J. E. A. |author-link=Tony Tyler |title=The Complete Tolkien Companion |page=77 |edition=3rd |publisher=Macmillan |year=2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-DiuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT77 |isbn=978-1466866454}}</ref>
A prominent example is ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (D&D), where halflings have long been one of the playable humanoid races.<ref name="tresca2010"/> In the original 1974 Men & Magic,<ref>{{Cite book |last=by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson |title=Dungeons & dragons : fantasy role playing game : basic rules |date=1986 |publisher=TSR |isbn=0-9511444-0-5 |edition=3rd ed. / rev. by Frank Mentzer |location=Place of publication not identified |oclc=152411087}}</ref> they were called ''hobbits'',<ref name="tresca2010" /> but later editions of the original D&D box set changed the name to ''halfling''<ref name="weinstock2014">{{cite book |title=The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters |editor1-first=Jeffrey |editor1-last=Weinstock |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |year=2014 |isbn=978-1409425625 |page=193 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NI1zBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA193}}</ref> to avoid infringing on the trademark for the term hobbit.<ref name="langford2005">{{cite book |title=The Sex Column and Other Misprints |first=David |last=Langford |page=188 |publisher=Wildside Press |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n78kYbvUd_8C&pg=PA188 |isbn=1930997787}}</ref> Besides licensed D&D novels, halfling characters have appeared in various tabletop and video games.
==Other uses== Some fantasy stories use the term ''halfling'' to describe a person born of a human parent and a parent of another race, often a female human and a male elf.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Clute |first1=John |last2=Grant |first2=John |title=The Encyclopedia of Fantasy |date=1999 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=9780312198695 |page=447 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mfjAjibERF0C&q=halfling}}</ref> Terry Brooks describes characters such as Shea Ohmsford from his ''Shannara'' series as a halfling of elf–human parentage. In Jack Vance's ''Lyonesse'' series of novels, "halfling" is a generic term for beings such as fairies, trolls and ogres, who are composed of both magical and earthly substances.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vance |first=Jack |title=Lyonesse: Book I: Suldrun's Garden |year=1983 |publisher=Grafton Books |isbn=0-586-06027-8 |page=Glossary II: The Fairies}}</ref> In Clifford D. Simak's 1959 short story "No Life of Their Own", halflings are invisible beings in a parallel dimension who, like brownies or gremlins, bring good or bad luck to people.{{cn|date=November 2020}}
==References==
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{{D&D topics}} {{Fantasy fiction}} {{Fairies}}
Category:Fictional humanoids Category:Fictional human hybrids Category:Fictional species and races