Origin of Halflings

[Roman]

What is the origin of:

1) The word 'halfling'?
2) The concept of Halflings in D&D?

I presume the answer to question 2 is that it was done to avoid IP infringement of the word 'Hobbit' from the Lord of the Rings, but I don't know for sure that is the answer.

 

[LoneWolf23]

The word halfling actually comes from Tolkien, where it was the human word for the Hobbits (as they saw them as "half-sized" humans).

Early D&D Halflings pretty much were Hobbit knock-offs. It's only since 3rd edition that they've become generally more Kender-like.

 

[JohnSnow]

In the original Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game (1974), there were four races - Human, Elf, Dwarf, and Hobbit. There were also Ents in the monster listing.

When the Tolkien estate sued for copyright infringement, the game's publisher changed the names from "Hobbits" and "Ents" to "Halflings" and "Treants" respectively. Since your question was about halflings, I'll stick to those. I would imagine the thought process went something like this.

1. We want a race like Hobbits in D&D.
2. We can't use the name "Hobbit" because the Tolkien estate won't let us.
3. Hobbits are referred to as "halflings" in "The Lord of the Rings."
4. Halfling isn't copyrighted.
5. Ergo, we'll change the name of our hobbit race to "halfling."

As originally conceived, D&D halflings resembled their LotR forebears totally, down to the hairy bare feet. As the years went by, variant halflings kept cropping up in various settings, and come 3e, D&D went from more hobbit-like halflings to the sort of nomadic kender/warrow mix we have now. Probably it was done in part to further differentiate them from gnomes.

Hope that helps.

 

[XO]

Halfling Origins

"The wizard Aunquenoleconozcas worked tirelessly in the fumerole pits of his demesne.... The vengeance he was preparing would be horrible: slow, painful, delightfully devious, and patently simple... Drive them all insane...

Halflings were created. And they were provided with little rabbit holes from which they quickly propagated, ruining by their very presence the sense of drama in most human or elvish endeavors until finally, the Lords of Equanimity were disturbed: how had these creatures somehow managed to leave the world where they made sense for all ring cycle matters to start polluting other worlds?

That is when they made their decree....

Henceforth, ALL halflings would... spontaneously.... combust... upon arrival in any non-Tolkienite geometry world. An exception was made for R'lyeh since even cthuloid creatures need snacks.

 

[Mean Eyed Cat]

From dictionary.com:

"Originally, 'Halflin' was the Scots word hauflin, pre-dating The Hobbit and Dungeons & Dragons. It meant an awkward rustic teenager, who is neither man nor boy, and so half of both. Another word for halflin is hobbledehoy."

 

[ephemeron]

From dictionary.com:

"Originally, 'Halflin' was the Scots word hauflin, pre-dating The Hobbit and Dungeons & Dragons. It meant an awkward rustic teenager, who is neither man nor boy, and so half of both. Another word for halflin is hobbledehoy."

...but nobody was willing to let a hobbledehoy into their adventuring party, so "halfling" it is.

 

[TarionzCousin]

...but nobody was willing to let a hobbledehoy into their adventuring party, so "halfling" it is.

"Hobbledehoy" would be a great name for the torch-bearer lackey.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

They're called "halflings" because "Nodwicks" is copyrighted.

 

[diaglo]

In the original Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game (1974), there were four races - Human, Elf, Dwarf, and Hobbit. There were also Ents in the monster listing.

When the Tolkien estate sued for copyright infringement, the game's publisher changed the names from "Hobbits" and "Ents" to "Halflings" and "Treants" respectively. Since your question was about halflings, I'll stick to those. I would imagine the thought process went something like this.

1. We want a race like Hobbits in D&D.
2. We can't use the name "Hobbit" because the Tolkien estate won't let us.
3. Hobbits are referred to as "halflings" in "The Lord of the Rings."
4. Halfling isn't copyrighted.
5. Ergo, we'll change the name of our hobbit race to "halfling."

As originally conceived, D&D halflings resembled their LotR forebears totally, down to the hairy bare feet. As the years went by, variant halflings kept cropping up in various settings, and come 3e, D&D went from more hobbit-like halflings to the sort of nomadic kender/warrow mix we have now. Probably it was done in part to further differentiate them from gnomes.

Hope that helps.

don't forget Balrog.

diaglo "my books still have them" Ooi

 

[RFisher]

I had a friend who called half-elves halflings. He claimed this was the original usage of the term, meaning half-breed. (Technically it could apply to half-orcs as well, but he preferred to call them abominations.)

I don't have an OED to check, but I suspect he was making it up. I still like the idea, though.