In The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien, the Shire, the home of the Hobbits, is based on a rural English village of perhaps the late 19th century. Hobbits, like small men, but unlike them in having hairy feet, are pleasant folk: kindly but brave and enduring in adversity. It is pointed out near the end of the story that no hobbit has ever killed another in the Shire. The whole country has only 12 police, whose duties are largely concerned with rounding up strayed animals. The hobbit Bi…
