In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole and that meant comfort.Description of a Hobbit-hole[1]
Hobbit-holes, otherwise called Smials, were the preferred dwellings of Hobbits in the Shire.
History
They were holes dug into hillsides, banks, earth mounds or downs, and usually had a minimum of one round window, a front door, and sometimes a back door. It was primarily the wealthy Hobbit families that built spacious and luxurious versions of a Hobbit-hole. Brandy Hall was an example of a deeply delved Smial, having three front doors, many side-doors, and around one-hundred windows. Bag End, the home of Bilbo Baggins and later the Sackville-Bagginses, and then Sam Gamgee, can be considered a large and ramifying Smial. It was an expansive Hobbit-hole with many windows; a large circular green front and back door, and an ample number of rooms; as well as the famously renowned pantries which supplied food for many a party or celebration.
On the other hand, the poor lived in old burrows or primitive diggings, with perhaps only a single window. An example of this was Bagshot Row. The famous Took family lived in the Great Smials, their ancestral home, a many-tunneled mansion suitable for a hundred Hobbits.
During the Scouring of the Shire, many Hobbit-holes were destroyed and replaced with wooden shacks.[2]
Translations
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Hobbitgat |
| Albanian | Vrima Hobitit |
| Amharic | ሆቢት ጉድጓድ |
| Arabic | حفرة هوبيت |
| Armenian | Հոբիթներ անցք |
| Azerbaijani | Hobbit deşik |
| Basque | Hobbit zuloa |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Нара хобіта |
| Bengali | হবিট গর্ত |
| Bosnian | Hobitska rupa |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Дупка на Хобити |
| Catalan | Forat Hòbbit |
| Chinese | 哈比人洞穴 |
| Croatian | Hobit rupa |
| Czech | Hobití nora |
| Danish | Hobbithul |
| Dutch | Hobbithol |
| Esperanto | Hobito-truo |
| Finnish | Hobitti reikä |
| French | Trou de Hobbit |
| Frisian | Hobbitgat (Western) |
| Galician | Agujero Hobbit |
| Georgian | ჰობიტის ხვრელი |
| German | Hobbitlöch |
| Greek | Χόμπιτ τρύπα |
| Gujarati | હોબિટ ગુફા |
| Hebrew | הוביט מחפורת |
| Hindi | हॉबिट छेद |
| Hungarian | Hobbit-lyuk |
| Icelandic | Hobbitahola |
| Indonesian | Lubang Hobbit |
| Irish Gaelic | Hobbit-poll |
| Italian | Caverna Hobbit |
| Japanese | ホビットの穴 |
| Kannada | ಹೊಬ್ಬಿಟ್ ಹೋಲ್ |
| Kazakh | Хоббит тесік (Cyrillic) Xobbït tesik (Latin) |
| Konkani | हॉबिट बुराक |
| Korean | 호빗 구멍 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Хоббит тешиги |
| Latin | Hobbit foraminis |
| Latvian | Hobita bedre |
| Lithuanian | Hobito skylė |
| Luxembourgish | Hobbit Lach |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Хобитска дупка |
| Malayalam | ഹോബിറ്റ് ദ്വാരം |
| Malaysian | Lubang hobbit |
| Maltese | Toqba hobbit |
| Marathi | हॉबिट गुहा |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Хоббит нүх |
| Nepalese | होबिट प्वाल |
| Norwegian | Hobbithull |
| Persian | سوراخ هابیت |
| Polish | Dziura hobbita |
| Portuguese | Buraco Hobbit |
| Punjabi | ਹੌਬਿਟ ਮੋਰੀ |
| Romanian | Gaura Hobbit |
| Russian | Нора хоббита |
| Sanskrit | हॉबिट छिद्रम् |
| Scottish Gaelic | Hobbit-toll |
| Serbian | Хобитска рупа (Cyrillic) Hobitska rupa (Latin) |
| Sicilian | Funnu Hobbit |
| Sinhalese | හොබිට් කුහරය |
| Slovak | Hobitia diera |
| Slovenian | Hobitova luknja |
| Spanish | Agujero Hobbit |
| Swahili | Hobbit-shimo |
| Swedish | Hoberhål |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Сӯрохи Хоббит |
| Tamil | ஹொபிட் துளை |
| Tatar | Хоббит тишеге |
| Telugu | హాబిట్ రంధ్రం |
| Thai | ถ้ําฮ็อบบิต |
| Turkish | Hobbit delik |
| Turkmen | Hobbit deşigi |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Гобітова нора |
| Urdu | ہابٹ چھید |
| Uzbek | Ҳоббит-тешик (Cyrillic) Hobbit-teshik (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | lỗ Hobbit |
| Welsh | Hobbit Twll |
| Yiddish | האָבביט לאָך |
References
- ↑ The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Ch. VII: "The Scouring of the Shire"