Stoor

The Stoors were one of the three breeds of Hobbits.

In their earliest recorded history the Stoors, like the other Hobbits, lived in the Vales of Anduin. They were a riverside people that dwelt in the Gladden Fields, and were fishermen.

Characteristics

They were heavier and broader in build than the other Hobbits, and had large hands and feet. Among the Hobbits, the Stoors most resembled Men and were most friendly to them. Stoors were the only Hobbits who normally grew facial hair.

While few Hobbits could swim and they were known to be afraid of rivers and boats (let alone of the Sea, a token of fear and death for them which few had ever seen), the Stoors preferred flat lands and riversides.

Stoorish characteristics and appearance (large build, heavy feet and a down on the chin), could still be seen among the Hobbits of the Eastfarthing, Buckland (such as the Brandybucks) and the Bree-hobbits. The Hobbits of the Eastfarthing wore dwarf-boots in muddy weather.

The Stoors also had their own dialect of Hobbit-speech, owing to the fact that they spent some time in Dunland and adopted many strange words and names which they took to the Shire, and retained even until the late Third Age.