Hi Gary - sorry to be sceptical, but are you sure you didn't read The Hobbit and just don't remember? AIR hobgoblins are only mentioned in the Battle of Five Armies section, as forming the Goblin King's bodyguard.
As a matter of fact I don't recall reading nything about hobgoblins in The Hobbit, or I'd have said so. As i have mentioned twice not, "hob" is a prefix indicating small or little, and disliked using it for the fourth in the humanoid races I was ranking--kobolds, goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, gnolls, bugbears, ogres, trolls, giants--but goblin state had been established before I set about that hierarchy.
It might have been an unconscious thing, but I do very much get the impression that D&D's goblins & hobgoblins are based off the ones in The Hobbit, and D&D's orcs are based off orcs in Lord of the Rings (rather than Celtic mythology, say), so in essence all 3 are the same monster. Likewise D&D's dwarves' attributes seem more directly akin to Tolkien's dwarves than most mythological representations, and D&D elves likewise. And halflings, of course (although Tolkien didn't invent 'hobbit', despite what his estate claims).
Of course I included names of humanoids that had been used in Tolkien's works. That was something done purpusefully in order to appeal to the JRRT fan base. however, goblin armies are hardly unique to his work. Those critters are written about a good deal in folklore and fairy tales. I believe that is why the Good Professor switched from goblin to "orc" so as to be more unique.
I'll wager you are sad about being able to find any mention of gnoll or bugbear in his writings, so you can point to them too, eh? Heh-heh-heh. This reminds me of the novice editor for a large NYC publisher who when appearing on a SF panel with me asked why I had "stolen dwarves from Tolkien." I set her straight by informing the not-well-read young lady that I had done my research and stolen them from Norse myth, the same source JRRT used
Anyway, it doesn't matter what goblin, hobgoblin, and orc are in JRRT'swriting, because they are different and not the same in D&D, are they not?
As for hobbit, I found a single reference to that name, sans any discriptive material. The hobbits of Tolkien's writing are indeed unique to his authorship. The D&D halflings are not nearly as unique, as they are meant to fill in for those gamers who admire hobbits.
Of the D&D Player-Character races, half-orcs are perhaps the least Tolkienesque in that the ones hinted at in LOTR seem to be sly, sneaky infiltrators rather than big dumb lunks, although I think he does have it that the big Uruk Hai/hobgoblins are the result of orc-human crossbreeding.
That being the case, the proper term for such hybrids is half-hobgoblins, I suppose...
What about elves? The D&D elf has little of JRRT's elf in it. they are shorter and not at all special as he had therace.
Anyway, I have cleared up all such confusion in the LA RPG. Kobolds are tough and smart and good-looking in a devilish way. Hobgoblins are small and dangerous, goblins are bigger and more dangerous. Trolls are more like medieval trolls, turn to stone daylight. There are allsorts of elf-like races--alfs, lyfs, elfs, ilfs, and wylfs. Orgre are the baddest of regular giants--those of deital sorts not included, of course.
Cheers,
Gary
