The Word 'Hobbit'

[dreeness]

:?


In 1937, JRR Tolkien published a fantasy novel called "The Hobbit".


(however)


From Wikipedia:

The Denham Tracts constitute a publication of a series of pamphlets and jottings on folklore, fifty-four in all, collected between 1846 and 1859 by Michael Aislabie Denham, a Yorkshire tradesman. Most of the original tracts were published with fifty copies (although some of them with twenty-five or even thirteen copies). The tracts were later re-edited by James Hardy for the Folklore Society and imprinted in two volumes in 1892[1] and 1895. It is possible that J.R.R. Tolkien took the word hobbit from the list of fairies in the Denham Tracts.[2]

...

[edit] List of spirits and fairies

This is a long list of spirites and bogies, based on an older list, in the Discoverie of Witchcraft, dated 1584,[3] with many additions, a few repetitions and mention of many creatures that do not appear elsewhere. While the fact that the tracts contain creatures that are not referenced anywhere else could indicate that Denham had researched the subject more thoroughly than others of his time, a lack of other sources makes some think this unlikely despite Denham being regarded as a trustworthy source of information.

"What a happiness this must have been seventy or eighty years ago and upwards, to those chosen few who had the good luck to be born on the eve of this festival of all festivals; when the whole earth was so overrun with ghosts, boggles, Bloody Bones, spirits, demons, ignis fatui, brownies, bugbears, black dogs, spectres, shellycoats, scarecrows, witches, wizards, barguests, Robin-Goodfellows, hags, night-bats, scrags, breaknecks, fantasms, hobgoblins, hobhoulards, boggy-boes, dobbies, hob-thrusts, fetches, kelpies, warlocks, mock-beggars, mum-pokers, Jemmy-burties, urchins, satyrs, pans, fauns, sirens, tritons, centaurs, calcars, nymphs, imps, incubuses, spoorns, men-in-the-oak, hell-wains, fire-drakes, kit-a-can-sticks, Tom-tumblers, melch-dicks, larrs, kitty-witches, hobby-lanthorns, Dick-a-Tuesdays, Elf-fires, Gyl-burnt-tales, knockers, elves, rawheads, Meg-with-the-wads, old-shocks, ouphs, pad-foots, pixies, pictrees, giants, dwarfs, Tom-pokers, tutgots, snapdragons, sprets, spunks, conjurers, thurses, spurns, tantarrabobs, swaithes, tints, tod-lowries, Jack-in-the-Wads, mormos, changelings, redcaps, yeth-hounds, colt-pixies, Tom-thumbs, black-bugs, boggarts, scar-bugs, shag-foals, hodge-pochers, hob-thrushes, bugs, bull-beggars, bygorns, bolls, caddies, bomen, brags, wraiths, waffs, flay-boggarts, fiends, gallytrots, imps, gytrashes, patches, hob-and-lanthorns, gringes, boguests, bonelesses, Peg-powlers, pucks, fays, kidnappers, gallybeggars, hudskins, nickers, madcaps, trolls, robinets, friars' lanthorns, silkies, cauld-lads, death-hearses, goblins, hob-headlesses, bugaboos, kows, or cowes, nickies, nacks, waiths, miffies, buckies, ghouls, sylphs, guests, swarths, freiths, freits, gy-carlins[1], pigmies, chittifaces, nixies, Jinny-burnt-tails, dudmen, hell-hounds, dopple-gangers, boggleboes, bogies, redmen, portunes, grants, hobbits, hobgoblins, brown-men, cowies, dunnies, wirrikows, alholdes, mannikins, follets, korreds [2], lubberkins, cluricauns, kobolds, leprechauns, kors, mares, korreds, puckles, korigans, sylvans, succubuses, blackmen, shadows, banshees, lian-hanshees, clabbernappers, Gabriel-hounds, mawkins, doubles, corpse lights or candles, scrats, mahounds, trows, gnomes, sprites, fates, fiends, sibyls, nicknevins, whitewomen, fairies, thrummy-caps[3], cutties, and nisses, and apparitions of every shape, make, form, fashion, kind and description, that there was not a village in England that had not its own peculiar ghost. Nay, every lone tenement, castle, or mansion-house, which could boast of any antiquity had its bogle, its spectre, or its knocker. The churches, churchyards, and crossroads were all haunted. Every green lane had its boulder-stone on which an apparition kept watch at night. Every common had its circle of fairies belonging to it. And there was scarcely a shepherd to be met with who had not seen a spirit!"[4]

(and)


From Wiktionary:

The word hobbit has an unknown origin. However, as designating a diminutive legendary creature, it fits seamlessly into a category of English words in hob- for such beings. The Middle English word hobbe has manifested in many creatures of folklore as the prefix hob-. Related words are : hob, hobby, hobgoblin, Hobberdy Dick, Hobberdy, Hobbaty, hobbidy, Hobley, hobbledehoy, hobble, hobi, hobyn (small horse), hobby horse (perhaps from Hobin), Hobin (variant of the name Robin), Hobby (nickname for Robert), hobyah, Hob Lantern.

The only source known today that makes reference to hobbits in any sort of historical context is the Denham Tracts by Michael Aislabie Denham. More specifically, it appears in the Denham Tracts, edited by James Hardy, (London: Folklore Society, 1895), vol. 2, the second part of a two-volume set compiled from Denham's publications between 1846 and 1859.

(and)

From Wikipedia:

The hobbit (also hobbett, hobbet, or hobed, from Welsh: hobaid) is a unit of volume or weight formerly used in Wales for trade in grain and other staples. It was equal to four pecks or two and a half bushels, but was also often used as a unit of weight, which varied depending on the material being measured. The hobbit remained in customary use in markets in northern Wales after Parliament standardized the Winchester bushel as the unit of measure for grain, after which courts gave inconsistent rulings as to its legal status.
[edit] Usage

The hobbit was defined as a measure of volume, two and a half imperial bushels, but in practice it was often used as a unit of weight for specific goods.[1] According to George Richard Everitt, Inspector of Corn Returns for Denbigh in northern Wales, when examined by the House of Commons in 1888, grains were sold by the hobbit, measured by weight. A hobbit of oats weighed 105 pounds, a hobbit of barley 147 pounds, and a hobbit of wheat 168 pounds. The figures in hobbits were then converted to standard imperial bushels for official reporting.[2] In addition to grains, there was also a hobbit of beans at 180 pounds[1], and in Flintshire, a 200-pound hobbit of old potatoes, or 210 pounds of new potatoes.[3] Around 1600, Welsh farmland was sometimes denominated by its productive capacity or measure of seedness instead of its physical area, so that in at least one case a plot was registered as "a hobbett of land," that is, large enough to grow one hobbit of grain per year.[4]

Already in 1863, the hobbit was used as an example of the "customary confusion in our British weights and measures." An anonymous contributor to Charles Dickens's journal All the Year Round, arguing in favor of the decimal metric system, noted that[5]

If [I buy wheat] at Wrexham, [I must order] by the hobbet of one hundred and sixty eight [pounds]. But, even if I do happen to know what a hobbet of wheat means at Wrexham, that knowledge good for Flint is not good for Caernarvonshire. A hobbet of wheat at Pwlheli contains eighty-four pounds more than a hobbet at Wrexham; and a hobbet of oats is something altogether different; and a hobbet of barley is something altogether different again.

...and just for good measure, consider such surnames as

Hobet
Hobett
Hobbett
Hobbert
Habbit
etc


So...

Did JRR Tolkien originate the word "hobbit"? -- No.

Does the word "hobbit" appear in numerous published books and documents which long predate Tolkien's fantasy novel? -- Yes.

Is the word "hobbit" an archaic British word, describing variously a creature from folklore, a unit of measure, and a type of surname? -- Yes.

Are these earlier books and documents currently in "public domain"? -- Yes.

Is the word hobbit therefore in "public domain"? -- QED.


Well, then. Please explain this:


From ITProportal.com:

Hollywood legal teams threaten UK businesses over "Hobbit" usage
Written by
Jon Martindale
13 March, 2012
hollywood lawyers tolkien hobbit

Completely playing into their lack of logic and care stereotype, lawyers for the company that owns the movie adaption copyright of JRR Tolkien's catalogue of novels have threatened several UK businesses with legal action if they don't stop using the word "hobbit."

That company is known as Tolkien Enterprises - I wonder if the Tolkien family consider that a breach of copyright? - and it's owned by 91 year old millionaire Saul Zaentz. He's the man behind such movies as The English Patient and Amadeus and it's his studio - Saul Zaentz Company - that was behind the Lord of the Rings Trilogy - though the currently in-development Hobbit has been licensed.

Most recently Mr Zaentz and his legal team have threatened a pub calling itself "The Hobbit", though in the past they also targeted a sandwhich bar named "Hungry Hobbit" and a wooden lodge maker because it named one of its creations "hobbit houses." Perhaps he believes that these small British businesses will somehow damage his brand or affect his own vast revenue stream?

Understandably none of these businesses are able to legally compete with a company that has the kind of money to splash out on frivolous lawsuits, but complying with the wishes damages their own brands - the former two busineses having operated for several years under their names.

It's not like Tolkien even invented the word Hobbit. While he at times claimed he had, it seems most likely he drew inspiration from its earlier usage in the Denham Tracts, published in 1892.

If you'd like to help the Hobbit pub, there's a growing campaign on Facebook that should give you a few ideas.

Source: Daily Echo

 

[Mythopoeika]

If I recall correctly, the publicity forced Tolkien Enterprises to back off from prosecuting the pub.
As far as I see it, Tolkien Enterprises don't actually own 'The Hobbit' name or the word 'Hobbit'. They're just another huge corporation acting like a bully boy.

 

[amyasleigh]

It's not like Tolkien even invented the word Hobbit. While he at times claimed he had, it seems most likely he drew inspiration from its earlier usage in the Denham Tracts, published in 1892.

I totally agree about the nastiness of the behaviour of Tolkien Enterprises. However -- being rather fond of old JRRT -- I'm perhaps biased toward defending him re any implied charges of his "cribbing" the h-word from elsewhere, and falsely claiming to have invented it.

By Tolkien's account, if I have things rightly; one day early in the 1930s, as he was marking exam papers, there popped into his head from nowhere, the sentence "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." When this happened, he had no idea what a hobbit might be. In time, though, there grew from this small beginning, the book "The Hobbit", with the above-quoted as its first sentence.

I would be fully prepared to accept that Tolkien genuinely thought that he had (involuntarily) invented the word. I'd think it could well be that he had, in the past, come across it in the Denham Tracts; but forgotten that he had done so, till the word suddenly emerged, a propos of nothing and as though new-minted, from his subconscious mind.

 

[titch]

A member of my lotro kin is a regular at a pub called the hobbit (probably the one mentioned) and was furious about the legal action, and when you think that one of the main themes of Tolkiens works was the small and weak fighting back against the strong, cruel and merciless it makes me weep to see big companies bullying smaller ones, and they probably make more money out of Tolkiens work then he ever done.

Morgoth won the war for this world long ago I fear.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Morgoth won the war for this world long ago I fear.

Welcome to Mordor!

 

[Jerry_B]

IIRC, the Hobbit pub sign actually had images of the actors (as their characters) from the LOTR films, so that may have had something to do with the legal action.

But yes, the word 'hobbit' isn't something Tolkein made up. Neither is 'orc', as far as I know.

 

[amyasleigh]

Yes -- if I have things rightly, "orc" is an Old English word for "demon". Maybe Ents are truly a Tolkien imaginative-creation... not that it really matters. It's not whether things were "his own invention", it's what he did with the material he had !

 

[JamesWhitehead]

I came across the Denham Tracts when I was researching the Edenhall material and nearly posted the catalogue of supernatural beings on here at the time. I think it remains true that many of the names are unrecorded outside of Denham's list.

Denham was not an academic researcher, though he is regarded as a pioneer in the collection of sayings, weather-lore and "slug-horns" - I love that early form of the modern word "slogan!"

His works were initially produced in tiny editions. It is clear that some of them were intended as chap-books for entertainment. He undoubtedly had his ear to the ground for the collection of folk-wisdom but - frustratingly - he does not usually say exactly where and when the words or phrases were used in his hearing. I am inclined to think the list of beings comes into the category of things he embroidered for effect.

I'd guess that Hobbits may well have been Denham's own invention, though Hob was common enough. Of course, he did not have a modern corporation to look out for his intellectual property and it was not until after his death that the Folklore Society published his works in the form that ensured their survival. A writer well worth exploring!

 

[dreeness]

:shock:


This is just too wacky!

Hobbit Family History
Hobbit Name Meaning

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
190 Historical Documents & Family Trees with Hobbit

* 94 Census and Voter Lists
* 3 Immigration Records
* 46 Birth, Marriage, and Deaths
* 39 Member Family Trees
* 8 Military Records
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*

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Name Distribution of Hobbit Families
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Scotland
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from the 1891 England and Wales Census Data
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from the 1891 Scotland Census Data
Hobbit census records
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Hobbit Family Origin
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More?!

link

 

[amyasleigh]

I came across the Denham Tracts when I was researching the Edenhall material and nearly posted the catalogue of supernatural beings on here at the time. I think it remains true that many of the names are unrecorded outside of Denham's list.

Denham was not an academic researcher, though he is regarded as a pioneer in the collection of sayings, weather-lore and "slug-horns" - I love that early form of the modern word "slogan!"

His works were initially produced in tiny editions. It is clear that some of them were intended as chap-books for entertainment. He undoubtedly had his ear to the ground for the collection of folk-wisdom but - frustratingly - he does not usually say exactly where and when the words or phrases were used in his hearing. I am inclined to think the list of beings comes into the category of things he embroidered for effect.

I'd guess that Hobbits may well have been Denham's own invention, though Hob was common enough. Of course, he did not have a modern corporation to look out for his intellectual property and it was not until after his death that the Folklore Society published his works in the form that ensured their survival. A writer well worth exploring!

Straying a bit (at a Sunday-evening loose end !) into the territory of a different fantasy scene and author; though as regards Harry Potter, I’m basically a “like it” bod, as distinct from a mega-fan.

I agree, “slug-horn” (now morphed into “slogan”) is a marvellous word. “HP” has of course a character, Professor Slughorn – one of the not-totally-vile Slytherin members who, in the final battle, at least do not come out directly in support of the evil side.

I do feel that J.K. Rowling has a very good ear for sonorous names, and / or would seem diligent in research, in respect of those which she does not make up. Her assortment of non-human magical creatures – both in the novels, and extra ones in the supplementary slim volume “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” – include a number with British traditional / dialect names for various “ghoulies and ghosties and weirdy beasties”, a few of which occur in Denham’s lengthy list which dreeness cites. The picture comes to mind, of JKR conning the Denham Tracts...

 

[stu neville]

Alternatively, the OED says that "slogan" is actually derived from the Scots Gaelic "slogorne", meaning battle cry. Years ago, doing English Linguistic history stuff (and I'm more than willing to have this disproved ) it was pointed out that only three words of Gaelic have made it into mainstream English, two of which appear in one film title. The three words? Slogan, whisky and galore.

Anyway, back on topic, IIRC Tolkein deliberately used existent English terms for the races: Hobbit and Orc were relatively obscure, whereas Elf, Dwarf, Wizard, erm Man etc were in currency. JRR wanted to use images and terminology already familiar as he was trying to create a credible, detailed English mythology in effect.

 

[dreeness]

After a quick look around various geneological websites, here is a revised list of just a few of the many surnames similar to the surname "Hobbit".


"Hobbit" and related surnames:

Hobbit
Hobbitun
Hobbitzell
Hobblet
Hobblit
Hobbot
Hobet
Hobett
Hobbett
Hobbert
Habbit
etc


And yet, with all this abundant, undeniable evidence that the word "hobbit" is an archaic British word, many British people received harrassing legal threats because of an alleged "Unauthorized Use of Hobbit".

link

"Unauthorized Use" of a centuries-old British word?

The word "hobbit" is as much in the public domain as "dragon" or "sword" or "elf".

What is Saul Zaentz playing at?


Oh, and have a look at this:

link

There are plenty of businesses that use the word "hobbit", in the United States.

But apparently, only British businesses were singled out for legal threats and harrassment.

Why is that?

Why should British people need permission from an abusive foreign entity, to use an ancient British word?

If the word "hobbit" isn't public domain, why isn't it?

These are questions you should ask your members of parliament, and your local newspapers, and the Fortean Times.





:smokin:

 

[Timble2]

A lot of common English words are owned by corporations, just try called you computer "Apple", your clothing shop "Next", or your your burger bar "MacDonalds".....

 

[Anome]

There are plenty of businesses that use the word "hobbit", in the United States.

But apparently, only British businesses were singled out for legal threats and harrassment.

You might want to ask TSR about that.

Gygax maintained that he was influenced very little by The Lord of the Rings, stating that he included these elements as a marketing move to draw on the popularity of the work. However, the owners of that work's copyright forced the name changes of hobbit to 'halfling', ent to 'treant', and balrog to 'Type VI demon [balor]'.

 

[dreeness]

Exxon Corporation v Exxon Insurance Consultants International Ltd (1982)

This case is authority for the fact that typically there is no copyright in a name - invented or otherwise - and that a trade mark can only be infringed when there the infringing party shares part of the market segment.

Exxon Corporation argued that there was a copyright over the word "Exxon" because they put considerable time and energy into the development of the name, and as there was a significant investment into creating the name it was an "original literary work". Furthermore they argued that the actual size of the literary work does not matter - so the fact that Exxon was only a mere name would not preclude it from being an "original literary work".

The Court found that the name Exxon, while a trade mark, is only a word and cannot be copyrighted. A word alone does not convey any information beyond its dictionary meaning and thus cannot be a literary work with regards to the trade mark, the Court found that the use of this word by the defendants who work in a field that in no way shares a market segment with the plaintiff in no way dilutes the plaintiff's brand name nor infringe on its trade mark.

Timble2 wrote:

A lot of common English words are owned by corporations, just try called you computer "Apple", your clothing shop "Next", or your your burger bar "MacDonalds".....

But that is the exact opposite to what happened here. SZC threatened to sue "The Hungry Hobbit Cafe". SZC makes movies, the cafe makes sandwiches. (Or at least it did, until it got "nuked from orbit" by legal threats from SZC.)

Apple Computers could sue another computer company that called itself "Apple".
But it would be frivolous (and patently perverse) for Apple Computers to sue The Apple Cafe Bakery.

http://applecafebakery.com/

It would be similarly deranged for McDonald's Corporation to sue McDonald Hardware.

http://www.mcdonaldhardware.com/

Gygax maintained that he was influenced very little by The Lord of the Rings, stating that he included these elements as a marketing move to draw on the popularity of the work. However, the owners of that work's copyright forced the name changes of hobbit to 'halfling', ent to 'treant', and balrog to 'Type VI demon [balor]'.

TSR was attempting to publish D&D books that incorporated the LOTR books into TSR's D&D books, essentially turning LOTR into an appendix of Dungeons and Dragons. Similar to if someone tried to publish a picture-book of Norse Mythology, but was going to use pictures of the Marvel Comics versions of Norse deities (Thor, Odin, Loki etc) to depict the Norse pantheon.


...How many different companies have trademarked such words as "Dragon" or "Elf" or "Excalibur" or "Leprechaun" or "Hercules" or "King Arthur" or "Robin Hood"? And why aren't these companies constantly suing each other to death?

(Google "Robin Hood Pub". There's more than one of them.)


...

And why is a place called "The Hobbit Pub" an intolerable wrong against SZC if it happens to be in the United Kingdom, but similar establishments with similar "Hobbit" names in the United States are apparently fine and dandy?

Google Search -- "Hobbit Restaurant"


And what about all the nineteenth-century gravestones brazenly bearing the surname "Hobbit" scattered about cemeteries in the English-speaking world, did any of these criminals bother to get Saul Zaentz's permission before they lived and died 150 years ago?



(edited to add)

Further reading --


The word "Hobbit" is a surname:

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/

and

http://www.ancestry.com/

see also

"surname hobbit" -- Google Search


Note: Hobbit is a surname, and it was a surname found in Yorkshire during the same time period when Denham was collecting folklore in Yorkshire, which may help to explain why "hobbit" became a regional variation of the hob-type names for creatures of Yorkshire folklore, influenced by the existence of a similar name in the area.