Board Thread:General Mod Discussion/@comment-98.184.77.53-20150314150739/@comment-27723099-20150321134102

Thorin Stonehelm wrote: well considering that the ents were an entirely new race created in the first age that manwe did not even know agout until one of the other valar told him it is highly feasable that the hobbits could be another race like the ents that few even among the valar know of The ents and the giant eagles were created before the elves awoke, and in consens with Eru. I can't imagine that Eru would show the same mercy again so much later.

Nothing that is created without Eru's consens can have a free will. It was just his mercy that let the dwarves (and ents and giant eagles) get free will after he found out about them.