at least in lord of the rings and the hobbit

On the other hand Tolkien was quite clear on that the story was told from the perspective of the protagonists. Not least through the strong insinuation that the in-universe book that Bilbo started, Frodo continued, and Sam finished, is if not the book we are reading, at least an important source for it.

Lord of the rings telling them as evil mostly shows that's how the fellowship saw them.