Editing Hobbit (section)

=== Rabbit ===

An additional connection is with [[rabbit]], one that Tolkien "emphatically rejected",{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}} although the word appears in ''The Hobbit'' in connection with other characters' opinions of Bilbo in several places.<ref name="O'Brien 1989">{{cite journal |last=O'Brien |first=Donald |title=On the Origin of the Name "Hobbit" |journal=Mythlore |date=15 December 1989 |volume=16 |issue=2 |page=Article 19 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol16/iss2/19}}</ref> Bilbo compares himself to a rabbit when he is with the [[Eagle (Middle-earth)|eagle]] that carries him; the [[Eagle (Middle-earth)|eagle]], too, tells Bilbo not to be "frightened like a rabbit".{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}} The giant bear-man [[Beorn]] teases Bilbo and jokes that "little bunny is getting nice and fat again", while the dwarf [[Thorin Oakenshield|Thorin]] shakes Bilbo "like a rabbit".{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}}

Shippey writes that the rabbit is not a native English species, but was deliberately introduced in the 13th century, and has become accepted as a local wild animal. Shippey compares this "situation of [[anachronism]]-cum-familiarity" with the lifestyle of the Hobbit, giving the example of smoking "pipeweed". He argues that Tolkien did not want to write "[[tobacco]]", as it did not arrive until the 16th century, so Tolkien invented a [[calque]] made of English words.{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}} 
Donald O'Brien, writing in ''[[Mythlore]]'', notes, too, that [[Aragorn]]'s description of [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]]'s priceless ''[[mithril]]'' [[Chain mail|mail]]-shirt, "here's a pretty hobbit-skin to wrap an [[Elf (Middle-earth)|elven]]-princeling in", is a "curious echo"<ref name="O'Brien 1989"/> of the English [[nursery rhyme]] "[[Bye, baby Bunting|To find a pretty rabbit-skin to wrap the baby bunting in]]."<ref name="O'Brien 1989"/>

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|+ [[Tom Shippey]]'s analysis of the parallels between "Hobbit" and "Rabbit"{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=76-78}}
|-
! Feature !! "Hobbit" !! "[[Rabbit]]"
|-
| [[Neologism]] || Tolkien, 1937 || 1398 ([[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]])
|-
| [[Etymology]] || Doubtful, see text || Unknown before [[Middle English]]
|-
| Familiar<br/>[[Anachronism]] || Smokes "pipeweed", but <br/>[[tobacco]] did not arrive<br/> until 16th century || Introduced species<br/>but accepted as native
|-
| Appearance 
| colspan=2; style="text-align:center; | Small, plump (and also edible)
|-
| Name || Called "rabbit" by Bert the [[Troll (Middle-earth)|troll]], [[Eagle (Middle-earth)|eagle]];<br/>called "little bunny" by [[Beorn]] || (both are common names)
|}