Common hairy ancestors?
For that matter, where did the hairs on hobbits' feet came from, and how did they shrink? No mention of hobbits at all in Arda 1st or 2nd age either. I believed that there had been some pun drawn at the hobbit feet: something about letting the grass (hairs) grow on feet; i.e. to idle around. But other than literary significance, I've written off the hairs as just another magical element of Middle Earth.
In fact, Beorn's shape shifting ability was very much up there in the Tookish Book of Untouchable Wonders, sitting comfortably with wandering wizards and mad baggins.
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'He wouldn't make above a mouthful,' said William, who had already had a fine supper, 'not when he was skinned and boned.'
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