[Morwen]

Originally Posted by Feanorsdoom

If one were to trace a 'true' mythological history of the Hobbits, I think it would be more true to the flavor of the Legendarium to place them apart from Men, Elves, Dwarves, and all others in origin, because of their eventual role in the ending of the Third Age. .....Surely, the prominent position of the Halflings among them deserves a more dignified origin than 'short humans'. JRRT didn't write of their origins explicitly, but then he didn't write explicitly of Man's emergence, either.

Tolkien himself makes the link between Men and Hobbits and the idea of hobbits being a type of Man seems similar to the idea that there can be dwarves and petty dwarves, i.e., main race and a subset/offshoot of that main race.

Originally posted by Feanorsdoom

If I were asked what the origin of the Hobbits should be, I would put it something like this: After the downfall of Numenor, one amongst the Valar, presumably Yavanna (or perhaps Vana, the "queen of flowers"), is so distraught at the destruction of Middle-earth by Men and Elves that she asks Manwe permission to create a race whose sole purpose would be to care for the living things of their world. Manwe, knowing the consequences of the misjudgement of Aule in creating the Dwarves, councils against it, but Eru changes his heart. She is allowed to bring them to life, but with the understanding that they would be the weakest race, afraid of interactions with others and utterly helpless in the face of battle, yet that this would be coupled with an inner strength against corruption of evil. Possibly, she might be given the cryptic promise that their fate would be to stand alone against that evil when all others prove unable to resist it.

Neither Yavanna nor any other Valar can bring a race to life. When Aule takes it upon himself to create the Dwarves, Eru is very clear it isn't just that Aule lacks authorisation but that he, Aule, lacks the ability to create a race that is independent of his will.

"Why hast thou done this? Why dost thou attempt a thing which thou knowest is beyond thy power and thy authority? For thou hast from me as a gift thy own being only, and no more; and therefore the creatures of thy hand and mind can live only by that being, moving when thou thinkest to move them, and if thy thought be elsewhere, standing idle." Silmarillion, Of Aule and Yavanna

Also,apart from Aule and excluding Melkor, do any of the Valar possess the capacity to physically construct new beings? All the Valar may have desired to see the Children but I think that it is only Aule, coming from the part of Eru's mind concerned with the creating of things, who could attempt to create physical forms and even so his creation was imperfect.

Whatever the precise origins of hobbits I think that they would have to be Eru's creations.