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They have seldom even heard of the king round here
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I always assumed that they were referring to the wild, uncivilized nature of the land and it's inhabitants, in that these people had never heard of the Kings of Nśmenor. Even though the Kingdom of Arnor had died out long ago, the Hobbits' legends say that they had sent archers to the aid of the King at Fornost in the last battle with the Witch-King of Angmar, and respectable Dwarves such as Thorin & company were also familiar with the legends of the Kings. Since Hobbits & Dwarves consider themselves imminently respectable & civilized, perhaps they were considering the people of that region to be uncivilized & barbaric since they had never heard the tales of the Kings...