Grass on Sand Dunes?

[trolls' bane]

I don't quite understand what hobbits live in. I have always imagined that it was regular dirt, and as common sense dictates that that is the only possibility, drawing from the many other descriptions of the Shire, which is usually depicted as mostly grass, hills, trees and low houses. Why then do people in Gondor (and other men) say that "Halflings" live in sand dunes. Or more specifically, holes in sand dunes. I don't have all my books anymore, so I can't quote anyone, but I could swear I read like statements. Anyway, I know that many hobbits live in holes, others in small rounded houses, but where did the men of Gondor and Rohan get the crazy idea that the race they called "Halflings" lived in sand dunes?

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

old wives tales and the such like

[trolls' bane]

Probably true. The whole idea of hobbits seems to the Godorrohrim (spelled wrong ) to be old wive's tales. Still, what made the old wives' stories include sand dunes?

[Embladyne]

Maybe it's just the stigma of living in the ground (and that it implies a certain amount of "backwards-ness" as compared to people who live above ground in "real" houses) that causes the men of Gondor to furthur diminish the Hobbits by reffering to their dwellings as "sand dunes." Or, they perhaps consider it so absurd, that they've embellished the story to make it even more "unbelievable."
Just my thoughts.

[trolls' bane]

Originally Posted by Embladyne

Maybe it's just the stigma of living in the ground (and that it implies a certain amount of "backwards-ness" as compared to people who live above ground in "real" houses) that causes the men of Gondor to furthur diminish the Hobbits by reffering to their dwellings as "sand dunes." Or, they perhaps consider it so absurd, that they've embellished the story to make it even more "unbelievable."
Just my thoughts.

Missed your post.

That seems fit. I guess the only thing that keeps the men of gondor from doing the same to dwarves is that they don't seem to posess the magic to "disappear when some large stupid person like you or me come blundering along making a noise like elephants which can be heard from a mile off"

[Embladyne]

Originally Posted by trolls' bane

Missed your post.

That seems fit. I guess the only thing that keeps the men of gondor from doing the same to dwarves is that they don't seem to posess the magic to "disappear when some large stupid person like you or me come blundering along making a noise like elephants which can be heard from a mile off"

Yeah, dwarves were considerably louder than hobbits...and less sensitive to noise, they would have to be, though, to succeed in the fields of work that they liked....that makes me wonder why they were so good with music maybe the ones who worked in mining and smithying less were better at playing music...
Also, living in a mountain seems a little more plausible than living in a hill. Although, in the U.S, some settlers in the Midwest would make houses out of sod (umm...imagine peices of lawn cut into large bricks)

[trolls' bane]

The midwest! Does that include southern california? No, I doubt it. I only saw a sod house once.

[Valandil]

I think the sod houses were only on the great plains... some of the parts between the Mississippi and the Rockies - but probably not that entire expanse.

As for the Hobbit - holes:

1. I'm not sure what you mean about the Hobbits living in regular dirt. I don't think there was any dirt left exposed in the hole-homes the Hobbits used. I would think it was entirely covered with stone, brick, wood, plaster or some such.

2. If you just mean where the hole was placed, that was probably a matter of availability. If sand was all there was, a hobbit might well make his hole in the sand.

3. It's entirely possible that early, less advanced Hobbits DID live in plainer holes - just regular holes in the ground, maybe fixed up as much as they could. Doesn't Tolkien tell us that at the time of LOTR, the only Hobbits who still lived in holes were either the richer ones - who made the elaborate hole-homes, and the very poor ones - who lived in regular holes in the ground?

4. As Embladyne has suggested, like most good stories, there could be some misinformation here... some misunderstanding about Hobbits on the part of those who live in Gondor, where there had never been any direct experience with Hobbits - and all that they knew from them was very old information passed down through the years.