Lord Of The Rings: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Hobbits

Tolkien took roughly twelve years to write the Lord of the Rings, and another five years to get it published. During that time he wrote several drafts, changed several key events and altered characters significantly. One of the biggest changes was the origin of Aragorn.

Tolkien conceived early on that Frodo would meet a mysterious wonderer during his time at Bree. The character's early story arc was much the same as the one Aragorn's follows. He would be revealed as a friend of Gandalf, who had knowledge of the Ring and would help Frodo escape to Rivendell. So far this doesn't deviate from the finished story.

But originally the wonderer was named Trotter not Strider, and he was a hobbit not a man. Tolkien toyed with several ideas about the character's identity, speculating he might be a long lost relative of Frodo.

In the books Bilbo disappears seventeen years before Frodo eventually leaves on his quest. During this time the 'Trotter' character helped Gandalf search for Gollum, but was captured by the Dark Lord and tortured. He was only saved when Gandalf rescued him, but not before he lost his feet. He was given wooden ones, causing him to clip-clop around, resulting in his nickname 'Trotter'. Considering Tolkien also toyed with making this character Bilbo in disguise, it would have been a pretty dark turn for the old hobbit.