It began as you might expect

 

Ἐν ἄντρῳ ἐν τῇ γῇ ᾤκει ὅββιτος.

 

(En ántrō en tê gê ṓkei hóbbitos.)

 

In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.

 

—J. R. R. Tolkien, Περὶ τὸν Ὅββιτον (The Hobbit)