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Museum-Quality Matte Paper Print available in two sizes:
12" x 16" (30cm x 40cm): $35.00
24" x 32" (60cm x 80cm): $48.00
 
"It is plain indeed that in spite of later estrangement Hobbits are relatives of ours: far nearer to us than Elves, or even than Dwarves. Of old they spoke the languages of Men, after their own fashion, and liked and disliked much the same things as Men did. But what exactly our relationship is can no longer be discovered. The beginning of Hobbits lies far back in the Elder Days that are now lost and forgotten." - Prologue to The Lord of the Rings, "Concerning Hobbits"
 
Our picture of hobbits is so shaped by the Third Age that it can genuinely feel like an adventure to go back thousands of years before the War of the Ring in search of the Little Folk to find them hiding on the margins of some of the Great Tales.
 
Imagine yourself picking blackberries somewhere near the East Sea, where some say Men were awakened, and noticing a sandy path leading to a little hole in the ground, with a smooth stone perched outside it rather like the bench that would one day stand in the dooryard of a certain Mr. Baggins. The smial is surrounded by edible coastal plants, like wild radish and carrot, dune waxcap mushrooms, sea buckthorn, dock, beach strawberry, sea purslane and sea aster, sorrel and a few wild oats. You hear nothing but the distant sound of waves and gulls, but because you are are very still and observant, you suddenly realize that two pairs of shining eyes are peering out at you from amid the bracken.
 
Clad in moss and fern and wreathed in leaves and flowers, the hobbits you are quietly regarding are the progenitors whose descendants will go unnoticed in the written records of Men and even in the old lists of the Ents until the Third Age. Perhaps it was during these long-ago years that they developed their skills of walking almost noiselessly and hiding with such rapidity that it seems almost like magic. Surrounded by far larger folk of uncertain intent, it's easy to see why hobbits of the Elder Days might have needed to be shy and secretive. Yet, the sympathetic eye will readily detect the good-nature that is already plain in their little faces.
 
I hope, like me, that you immediately warm to this half-glimpsed couple and find yourself wondering what you might say or do to invite them to come out for a chat or a walking-party. If you love hobbit history, a print of this original, hand-done painting will be a welcome addition to a special place in your home.