User blog comment:Jimeee/Dragonborn officially released on Xbox Live/@comment-68.171.231.85-20121205003239/@comment-5060344-20121205141022

The reason that they are used as arrows is because the rieklings use them as throwing spears and since a riekling makes a hobbit look like a giant, there is no way that a human could feasibly use them as a spear. So since the "spears" are so tiny you just use them as arrows.

My complaint about this is more that arrows are about as accurate as a blunderbuss without fletchings, which the spears don't have, and the spears can't properly nock onto the bowstring. However, I'm prepared to overlook this mainly because rieklings are far and away my favourite race in any TES game but also because it's a pretty pernickety complaint to begin with.