Where do Hobbits fit in Tolkien's mythology?

[agarwaen]

Okay.. we've got:

Elves & Men whose coming is told in Sil
Dwarves made by Aule (Sil)
Ents made by Yavanna (also in Sil)
Orcs = Morgoth's mockeries of the Elves (okay these are all from Sil)


Well, where the heck did Hobbits come from? It seems strange that such a influencial people would receive so little attention in the area of their origins... has Tolkien ever addressed this?

 

[Ithrynluin]

Hobbits are supposedly a "division" of the race of Men, not a wholly separate group of people. At a certain point, and under certain circumstances, they have formed a new branch of people with their own customs, characteristics and behaviour.

 

[Brent]

Don't they come from the back of an examination paper Tolkien was marking ?
The Sil. is supposed to be the "traditions" of the Elves recorded later (i.e. not a contemporary history nor a definitive history) so there are things in there that are not definitie facts i.e. what happens to Dwarves when they die. I thought the point of the hobbits was they had been left out of all that and nobody seemed to know where they came from.

 

[Gil-Galad]

Originally posted by ithrynluin
Hobbits are supposedly a "division" of the race of Men, not a wholly separate group of people. At a certain point, and under certain circumstances, they have formed a new branch of people with their own customs, characteristics and behaviour.

...and also we were talking about hobbits' origin with ithrynluin and he said that due to life in holes they had changed their appearance.