Hobbits are a human species. And Tolkien isn't DnD or whatever. Just kinda having random things around Cuz It's Fantasy is an excuse to be lazy and will come off that way when adapting his work. He already put in the effort, all you have to do is read the books.
The events of Lord of the Rings actually took place far in the past of our own world. As stupid as that sounds, it was the author's intent I guess. It doesn't really make archaeological sense but :shrug-outta-hecks:
Eh, if you take it at face value there wouldn't be an archeological record. The original "framing tale" (I guess) of all of the Tolkien Legendarium was that some Anglo-Saxon sailor washed up on Tol Eressea, learned Elvish from the locals, and translated the books he found there, and then Tolkien got hold of those and translated them into Modern English. "Lost Lands" were fertile ground for fantasy works at a time when plate tectonics weren't really understood. The idea is that the part of Middle Earth that the Noldor live in in the Second and Third Ages is gone or destroyed for this or that reason, like Beleriand before it. Lovecraft, Howard, and Smith did this kind of thing too with their constant references to each other, though Lovecraft was at least aware of the concept of continental drift.
OR, the hobbits could just be dark because that's just their color morph
genetics don't have to work realistically in a fantasy world, especially for a non-human species that doesn't actually exist
Hobbits are a human species. And Tolkien isn't DnD or whatever. Just kinda having random things around Cuz It's Fantasy is an excuse to be lazy and will come off that way when adapting his work. He already put in the effort, all you have to do is read the books.
The events of Lord of the Rings actually took place far in the past of our own world. As stupid as that sounds, it was the author's intent I guess. It doesn't really make archaeological sense but :shrug-outta-hecks:
Eh, if you take it at face value there wouldn't be an archeological record. The original "framing tale" (I guess) of all of the Tolkien Legendarium was that some Anglo-Saxon sailor washed up on Tol Eressea, learned Elvish from the locals, and translated the books he found there, and then Tolkien got hold of those and translated them into Modern English. "Lost Lands" were fertile ground for fantasy works at a time when plate tectonics weren't really understood. The idea is that the part of Middle Earth that the Noldor live in in the Second and Third Ages is gone or destroyed for this or that reason, like Beleriand before it. Lovecraft, Howard, and Smith did this kind of thing too with their constant references to each other, though Lovecraft was at least aware of the concept of continental drift.