How best to describe a Halfling? Gandalf had once said you can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you.

"Incredible," he says, smiling fondly. "They're also known as Hobbits to some, but in my part of the world they're known as Halflings. I travelled with four of them, and two of them had not yet come of age. They look very much like Men, but range between two and four feet in height. Although they have slightly pointed ears and, of course, there's their feet -covered in hair, so they don't don't wear shoes. They let their soles become thick and leather like."

"As for their nature... Friendly. Very friendly. And funny, too. They describe themselves as peaceful, not much concerned with the goings on outside their own borders. They prefer a simple life." By this point he's much more relaxed again. The conversation is distant enough from his worries to let him reminisce about more pleasant memories. "They're hardy as well, and not to be underestimated. There's something inherently good about them. If you think I'm virtuous, then hobbits are ten times over. But it is not a weakness."

Last but not least, "And if you'd let them, they'd eat eleven meals a day. It reminds me of the two youngest; their names were Merry and Pippin. They ate two lembas each, a type of elven waybread, when one bite was enough to fill a grown man's stomach."