[Noxomanus]

Well,let's make the dutchmen-conversation a discussion of three. Tolkien allways wanted to have his mysteries in ME and the hobbits are one.Though they are among the key-players of the War of the Ring (together with Sauron,Aragorn,Gandalf & Saruman) they are unspoken of in the Silm and they are meant to be from as mysterious descend as they actually are.Tolkien did leave a clue in that he mentioned they are indeed a subgroup of Men.
And you shouldn't really believe everything PJ presents us with.I am under the impression he certainly isn't one of Tolkiens best attention-paying students...