The Gnollish (Tal. "Hillock-folk") were a mysterious people known to the Dírians of the northern forests.They were believed to be a diminuitive people of goat-herders and miners who,lived in the upper Alatuy hillcountry.Though they were known as miners or delvers they did not truly live beneath the earth or within the mountains like Dwarves, though some men believed them to be akin to those.Also they did not live within mines but in relatively flat, artificial caves on the hillsides.
They were a diminuitive, but stout and hardy race, those men who did not suspect them to be akin to Dwarves thought of them as smaller men, or even possibly Elves.The Gnollish themselves were quiet and reluctant towards strangers and did not talk much about their past or origin, and it might be they were themselves unsure of it.
When Beregond of Tuckborough heard Easterling tales of the Gnollish in the early fourth Age he suspected they might have been a lost race akin to the ancestors of the Hobbits, some kind of lost strain of Halfling-folk.
Appearance[]
Gnollish were about 3' tall, had sparse hair and light or ruddy skin and were quite brawny, also they appeared to grow no beards.Many men thought to notice their ears to be slightly pointed.They were mostly dark-haired and dark-eyed.
Language[]
The Gnollish spoke their own language, which was very melodic sounding and seemingly unrelated to known local mannish tongues.Many believed Gnollish to be distantly related to the far harsher sounding Dwarfish, but like the Gnollish-folk themselves it remained largely a mystery and wasn't spoken by many non-gnolls.
Notes[]
The Gnollish are based on the Gnoll-Race of Rolemaster, who are inhabitants of Quellbourn, close to,the Forest of Dír.
They might be the Rolemaster version of Hobbits, though they probably are closest to the Harfoots or Stoors.
Editorial Note: This entry contains speculative or fan-based material — such as fanon, fanfiction, or theory constructs — that may not be directly supported by canonical texts. Interpretations offered here are part of the NNCA’s speculative corpus and should not be mistaken for primary Tolkien sources.