They weren't naturally occurring (yes they bred but they were made to be a breeding army for evil and I'm pretty sure Tolkien alluded them to dying out quickly after the ring was destroyed) in Tolkien's lore I'm pretty sure and were interchangable terms for the same species in his lore even though they're different in others.

[–] Artemis_Mystique@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

remembering his old friend Bilbo who died ~~some years earlier after an average hobbit lifespan~~ horribly after encountering giant spiders in mirkwood...

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 months ago

Would they have even gone on that quest without Gandalf pushing for it to happen? Wasn't Gandalf worried about Smaug helping out Sauron? Or is this the nasty Hobbitses films polluting my mind?