Don't own The Hobbit.

Power in Words

In the beginning of the world, when the rivers were new and the mountains had not yet been touched by the rains that would slowly wear away at them, there were only animals that roamed the land. The Eagles and Ents existed, but Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves and Men did not yet take their first breaths into the world.

There also existed, unknown to all of the beings that made their lives on Middle Earth, Words. Words had no physical bodies, but their powers were great and, when they worked with at least one other, the stronger of the Words could create new lives with little difficulty.

But they had never done so, and they grew lonely with only one another's company, though their numbers were great. Thus it was no surprise when, one day, eight of the Big Words decided to make their own beings.

There were fifteen Big Words overall, and they rarely interacted with one another outside of their own preferences. The first three – Pride, Ambition, and Valor – came together and, in their meetings, created Man.

The second three – Loyalty, Honor, and Strength – met next and formed the Dwarves.

The last two – Knowledge and Wisdom – were unaware of the other groups who were meeting and made the Elves from their own imaginings.

All eight went before another Big Word, Life, in the hopes that he would bless them into the world. Life was pleased to do so and brought Men into being first. However, because it was the first time he had put life into a being made by other Words, he put in too little of his power, and Man was cursed with the shortest lifespan.

He then put life into the Dwarves, but he put more than he had wanted, making it so that they lived the longest of the mortals.

He moved to put life into the Elves, when he paused. The Elves only had two Words as their Makers, where the other two had three. Out of pity and fondness for Knowledge and Wisdom (for they never truly succumbed to his brother, Death) Life blessed the Elves as well. They grew more beautiful, as Life was considered the most beautiful of the Words, and they were blessed to never be touched by Death from old age. He then gave them life, creating the first immortal beings.

The three beings were left to do as they pleased, and all nine of the Words were pleased with their creations, but there were three Big Words that grew jealous of their happiness and sought to make a Child of their own.

The three – Cunning, Power, and Passion – thought and plotted and schemed, before they finally created the Dragons. However, before the three took the Dragons before Life for their creation, Cunning told Passion to remain hidden from sight, so that it appeared that only two Words made the Dragons. Disgruntled but trusting that Cunning had a plot in mind, Passion remained hidden as Life appeared.

As he had with the Elves, Life took pity on the Dragons for only having two Creators and gave them immortality as well, but did nothing more. Just before he put life into the Dragons, however, Greed appeared and secretly poisoned the minds of all Dragons. Greed had done so out of petty vengeance, knowing that none of the other Words would ever want to make a Child with him and using this to justify his actions.

And so the Big Words lived, all unaware of Greed's actions and content to see their Children grow and change on the world. Those that didn't have Children – Death and Love – were unconcerned, as Death didn't feel the need to create life, and Love had always been beyond comprehension for the other Big Words. As they did this, they didn't know that the Small Words were all coming together for a project of their own.

Small Words were just as they sounded, Words with little influence or power, and, while there were many of them, none could match the power of a Big Word alone. Despite this, several wanted a Child of their own, longing to have that same connection to a creation of their making like what most of the Big Words had.

And so a number of them gathered – Dreams, Trust, Patience, and Forgiveness to name a few – and made a Child of their own. Like the Words that made it, the being was small, smaller than even the Dwarves, but all of the Small Words that created it loved it unconditionally.

Many of the Small Words came and admired what their fellows had created, some granting it additional blessings as well, but the main Creators grew sad. They had forgotten in their excitement that, since they were not Big Words, none of them had the authority to talk to Life and request their Child be given life.

Some grew morose, sad that their Child's eyes would never open and grow wide in Wonder as they viewed the world; that its leathery feet would never trek across the land and Dream of what laid beyond. Others grew angry, resenting the power and authority the Big Words had which stopped them from having their Child living the life its Creators wanted for it.

That's when Love appeared.

He had sensed the tumultuous emotions emanating from the Small Words; the anger, the sadness, but above all, he felt the uncontrollable love for their unborn Child which had called him to them. The Small Words saw his approach and worriedly blocked their Child from sight.

"I already know of your Child," said Love, "for I have felt your love for him, as well as your grief. What you feel for him goes far beyond anything the Big Words felt for their own Children, and so I shall help you. I will bless him to love all other Children and be loved in return, and will take him to Life so that he may live on Middle Earth. What have you named him?"

And so the Small Words named their Child and his children Hobbits, affectionately calling them Halflings when speaking to one another.

Love blessed the Hobbit and took him into his arms to reach Life. Along the trek to Life, Love grew to adore the Hobbit as the Small Words did, feeling his humility and gentleness – so unlike the Children of the Big Words.

Life was delighted to bring the Hobbit into being after the situation was explained to him. He gave the Hobbit the exact lifespan he intended, having less difficulty with Small Words' Child than he had with the Big Words'.

And thus the Hobbits came into being, though none of the Elves or Men or Dwarves or Dragons knew, for the Halflings were shy and took to hiding in a land that wasn't a valley nor was it a meadow. They called it a Shire.

Eventually, the Children of the Big Words began to feel the curse that came from being created in the image of such powerful beings.

Men, made from Pride, Ambition, and Valor, grew arrogant. Their shorter lifespan made them rash and impulsive, thirsting for blood in a way that frightened the other Children.

Dwarves, created by Honor, Loyalty, and Strength, valued these traits too highly. They scorned weakness and the weak, and never forgave those who dishonored them or proved disloyal.

Elves, birthed from Knowledge, Wisdom, and Life, became elusive and secretive. They disliked sharing the knowledge they had attained in their years, only to find that it had been lost or died with its recipient.

Dragons, born of Cunning, Power, and Passion, and already tainted by Greed, began lusting for gold and treasure. Its cunning made it easier to attain more of its vice; its power made few brave enough to try and stop its endless quest for more, and its passion drove it to relentlessly scour the land for more, to the point where it would kill its brothers for their gold.

The Hobbits watched as the other Children became both good and bad, their Creators' blessings a double-edged sword, and feared their own changing. But it never came to be, for the Hobbits' Creators were weaker than the other Children's, and their influence was not nearly as strong for there were too many blessings for one to be stronger than the other.

The only blessing stronger than the others was that of Love, and so the Hobbits lived on, loving all other Children without fear. For one could kill out of love, and the Hobbits, for all their caution, knew they may one day have to kill to protect the other Children.

And they would do so.

I've wanted to write this for a while now! Since I couldn't find anything on how the Hobbits believe the world and races were made, I made this.

If anyone was curious, the fifteen Big Words with the one being "evil" (Greed) was kind of a reference to the Ainur. If anyone was confused on how the Words "see" one another, they exist on another plane, so it's a mixture of seeing and sensing one another's presence.

On a side note, I may write fics that tie into this fic, so this is like a base for a 'verse if I write more here.

Please review.

Ja ne!