Prince of the Halflings

A title given to the Hobbit Peregrin Took by the people of Minas Tirith. When Pippin first arrived in the City in the company of Gandalf (or Mithrandir as the Wizard was known there) he caused much discussion among the populace. The Gondorians had never seen a Halfling before, and rumours sprang up that he was not only a Prince of the Halflings, but that he had come from a far country with thousands of Hobbit warriors, who were riding with the Rohirrim to the aid of the City.

There was, of course, no army of Hobbitry riding to the defence of Minas Tirith, but even after Pippin had damped those rumours, his title of Prince of the Halflings (or Ernil i Pheriannath in the Sindarin tongue of Gondor) remained in common currency. Once he was arrayed in the armour and livery of the Guard of the Tower, he was said to have looked even more princely.

There was in fact no such title as 'Prince of the Halflings', that being an invention of the people of Minas Tirith. However, if such a title had existed, Peregrin Took would have had a realistic claim to it. He was the son and heir of Paladin II, Thain of the Shire, and so he held a rank as close to 'prince' as existed among the Shire-hobbits.