The Lord of the Rings invented Hobbits and Orc. Before these

One thing Ive always wondered, why are there haldlings AND dwarves? I get thst they are culturally distinct but how did it come to be that we have two races defined visually as being shorter than normal people in the fiest place?

>>54593229
Orc is an old Anglo-Saxon name essentialy meaning 'those people over there'.

>>54593229
You're wrong on both counts. Orc is derived from the latin Orcus and is present in many romance languages as a sort of demon. "Hobbit" can be found in the Denham Tracts, Volume 2, (1895), as the 154th entry in a list of supernatural creatures.

>>54593261
There are lots of midgets in folklore. Pre-Tolkien elves were typically smaller than humans, for instance.

What if the hobbits ride the orcs over the river and leave the boat?

>>54593229
Two orcs cross, one orc brings the boat back, two orcs cross again. Fuck you hobbits.

Let the Orcs eat all the hobbits, then use the boat to cross the river. Both problems solved.

Depends on if orcs get violent during passenger changes.

>>54593229
Maybe if everyone starved for a while they could fit more than 2 at a time.

Those orcs look pretty buoyant.

>>54593357
>>54593365
>>54593395
>>54593417
>Implying anyone hasn't seen the solution before

Two orcs cross, one orc brings the boat back.
Two orcs cross again, one orc brings the boat back.
Two hobbits cross, one orc and one hobbit bring the boat back.
Two hobbits cross, the orc brings the boat back.
Two orcs cross, one brings the boat back.
Two orcs cross, everyone is on the other side of the river.

It's literally the three missionaries and cannibals one reskinned.

>>54593303
Where in the books does it explicitly say elves were as tall as humans even? I don't remember gettig that sense when reading the books.

>>54593229
1. Hobbit and Orc Cross, Orc Stays, and Hobbit Returns.
2. Two Orcs Cross, One stays, and the other returns.
3. Two Hobbits Cross, One Orc and One Hobbit Return.
4. Two Hobbits Cross, both stay, Orc Returns. All the Hobbits are now on the far side and cheese it out of there.
5 and 6. Orc ferries his buddies across and then they chase the hobbits down.

>>54593229
Orc + Orc (HHHO - OO)
Orc returns boat (HHHOO - O)
Orc + Orc (HHH - OOO)
Orc returns boat (HHHO - OO)
Hobbit + Hobbit (HO - HHOO)
Hobbit and Orc return boat (HHOO - HO)
Hobbit + Hobbit (OO - HHHO)
Orc returns boat (OOO - HHH)
Orc + Orc (O - HHHOO)
Orc returns boat (OO - HHHO)
Orc + Orc ( - HHHOOO)

>>54593487
I've seen the farmer, grain, sheep, wolf one, I haven't actually seen the orcs and hobbits one.

File: tmp_9684-1497057217410-2060684510.gif (7MB, 600x600px) Image search: [Google]

7MB, 600x600px

>>54593229
>The boat is in the middle of the river floating away

I suddenly don't need to solve this problem.