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It's not a silly question. IP law is complicated. I don't know for sure that hobbits are a Tolkien invention (as opposed to taken from some obscure bit of mythology), but assuming it is, it's probably because Saul Zaentz's company (which owns the rights to all things Tolkien) doesn't really see the point in hassling small non-commercial games that violate their intellectual property rights. The Tolkien stuff is so big and so loved that they can afford to ignore a few hobbyists messing around with their IP.
On the other hand, they can be extremely litigious. There was a famous case a few years ago where they sued a guy from Long Island(?) who did children's parties as "Gandalf the Clown" in order to force him to stop calling himself Gandalf. It seemed a little ludicrous, given the incredibly small scope of this guy's children's birthday party business, but in order to maintain the value of the license, they need to, at minimum, ensure they're the only ones making money off it.
--matt
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