@Lemernis I have a poor memory for the books. It's certainly in the radio dramatisation, Boromir also exclaims "The Halfling!" at the council of Elrond, when Frodo steps forward as foretold in his dream.
From memory I think it was part of Tolkien's showing regional and cultural variation/evolution. The hobbits called themselves hobbits, men tended to call them halflings and I think in "the old tales" they were known as the periannath
I wonder if Tolkien's estate couldn't lay claim to that term (halfling), as perhaps it was slang for the actual "little people" at some point long ago in England? But in any event, the original D&D used hobbits, ents, and balrogs which had to be be replaced by other names (halflings, treants, balor-demons).
I wonder if Tolkien's estate couldn't lay claim to that term (halfling)
No, they can't, as it's an old Scots word (from "hauflin"), nor can they lay claim to "orc" which occurs in Old English (two or three times in Beowulf) nor of course "goblin" which was the original term for the race used in The Hobbit.
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From memory I think it was part of Tolkien's showing regional and cultural variation/evolution. The hobbits called themselves hobbits, men tended to call them halflings and I think in "the old tales" they were known as the periannath