Shire (Middle-earth)
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The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of the realm. It is located in the northwest of the continent Middle-earth, in the large region of Eriador and the Kingdom of Arnor. Its name in Westron was Sûza "Shire" or Sûzat "The Shire". It's name in Sindarin was i Drann.
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[edit] Geography
- Further information: Regions of the Shire
According to Tolkien, the Shire measured 40 leagues (222 km, 120 Númenórean miles) from the Far Downs in the west to the Brandywine Bridge in the east, and 50 leagues (278 km, 150 miles) from the northern moors to the marshes in the south. This is confirmed in an essay by Tolkien (on the Languages of Middle-earth) wherein he describes The Shire as having an area of 18,000 square miles (47,000 km²). In order for this figure to be accurate it must be assumed that the Shire was roughly rectangular in shape.
The Brandywine (Baranduin) river bounds the Shire from the east. (Hobbits also live in Buckland, which lies east of the river and west of the Hedge protecting the Shire from invasion from the Old Forest; however, Buckland was not formally recognised as part of The Shire until after the War of the Ring, when it was granted officially to The Shire by King Elessar.) From the north and the west, the Shire has no topographical borders but rather is bounded by the ancient south and east roads and by vague geographical features such as the Tower Hills.
The Shire was originally divided in four Farthings (Northfarthing, Southfarthing, Eastfarthing, and Westfarthing), but Buckland and later the Westmarch were added to it. Within the Farthings there are some smaller, unofficial divisions such as family lands: the Tooks nearly all live in or near Tuckborough in Tookland, for instance. In many cases a Hobbit's last name indicates where their family came from: Samwise Gamgee's last name derives from Gamwich, where the family originated. Buckland was named for the Oldbucks (later Brandybucks).
The Shire was quite densely populated in parts with many villages and a few towns, but it still was open enough to allow for wide forested areas and marshes.
The Shire is described as a small but beautiful and fruitful land, beloved by its inhabitants. The Hobbits had an extensive agricultural system in the Shire but did not proceed with industrialization. Various supplies could be found in the Shire, including cereals, fruit, wood and pipe-weed (a favourite treat of Hobbits).
The principal towns of the Shire are as follows:
- While Bucklebury was technically not part of The Shire and rather in Buckland, it was later added as the Eastmarch of The Shire under the authority of King Elessar.
[edit] History
The Shire was settled by Hobbits in the year 1601 of the Third Age (Year 1 in Shire Reckoning). The Hobbits (who originally lived in the vale of Anduin) had migrated west over the perilous Misty Mountains in the decades before that, and before entering The Shire they had lived in Dunland and parts of the depopulated Arnorian splinter-realms Cardolan and Rhudaur. It has been speculated that the Hobbits had originally moved west to escape the troubles of Mirkwood, and the evil caused by the Easterlings.
The Shire was a part of Arthedain, and as such a part of Arnor. The Hobbits obtained official permission from King Argeleb II at Norbury (Fornost) to settle the lands, which were not populated and seen as the king's hunting grounds. The Hobbits considered themselves as subjects of the king and sent some support troops to the great battles Arnor fought against Angmar. After the fall of Arnor, the Shire remained a minor but independent, self-governing realm. The chiefs of the Clans elected an official named the Thain to hold the king's powers after the North-Kingdom fell. The first Thains were the heads of the Oldbuck clan. It later came to be held by the Tooks.
Its small size, relative lack of importance, and brave and resilient Hobbit population made it too modest an objective for conquest. More importantly, the Shire was guarded and protected by the Dúnedain Rangers, who watched the borders and kept out intruders. The only strangers to enter the Shire were the Dwarves traveling on the Great Road that ran through the Shire to and from their mines in the Blue Mountains, and the occasional Elves on their way to the Grey Havens.
This peaceful situation changed after Bilbo Baggins' acquisition of the One Ring in the year 1341 of the Shire Reckoning. Shortly after the beginning of the events described in The Lord of the Rings (autumn of the year 1418 in Shire Reckoning), the Shire was first visited by the Nine Ringwraiths and then captured by Saruman through his underling Lotho Sackville-Baggins, who turned the Shire into a police state and began a massive campaign to industrialize the Shire which brought widespread misery and severely damaged its ecology. It was liberated with the help of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin after the end of the Quest of the Ring through their victory at the Battle of Bywater. After Aragorn's return as the King of Arnor and Gondor, the Shire became a protected enclave inside the Reunited Kingdom. He is known to have issued an edict that forbade the entrance of full-sized Men into the Shire. The Shire was restored with soil from Lórien, given to Sam by Galadriel. The year 1420 (SR) was considered by the inhabitants of the Shire to be the most productive and prosperous year in their history.
[edit] Government
The Shire was a voluntarily orderly society. The only government offices were a postal service and a police force, the Shiriffs, whose chief duties involved rounding up stray livestock. Nominal officials of the Shire were the Mayor of Michel Delving in the White Downs (by extension seen as the Mayor of the Shire); the Thain from Tuckborough, who was the head of the important Took clan; and the Master of Buckland at Bucklebury. The Thain's powers can be compared to those of the Ruling Stewards of Gondor, albeit over a smaller area, in that he governed in place of the King. The Thain also served as head of the Shire-moot, and as captain of the Shire-muster and of the Hobbitry-at-arms; as these positions were only necessary in emergencies (which rarely if ever happened), the role of Thain became a purely ceremonial position. While nominally the Thain ruled over the four Farthings, in practice authority was so decentralized that the title was seen as more of a formality. The Mayor's chief duties were serving as postmaster of the Shire's mail service, presiding over the Shiriff force and presiding at fairs. The mayor was elected for a seven-year term, while the Master controlled Buckland. The Hobbits of the Shire did obey the Rules, but there was no real need to enforce them; all of the Hobbits voluntarily obeyed them as they were both ancient and just. There were lawyers in Hobbit society, but they mostly delt with wills and such matters. Frodo stated that no Hobbit was ever known to have intentionally killed another Hobbit (even the Elves could not make such a claim of their own race).
At the resumption of the throne by King Elessar, the Shire became subject to the law of the king enthroned in Gondor, but the law of this king forbade the king himself from entering the Shire because he was an adult Man.
[edit] Tolkien's influences
The industrialization of the Shire was based on Tolkien's witnessing of the extension of the Industrial Revolution to rural Warwickshire during his youth, and especially the deleterious consequences thereof. The rebellion of the Hobbits and the restoration of the pre-industrial Shire may be interpreted as a prescription of voluntary simplicity as a remedy to the problems of modern society.
On Tolkien's maps, the Shire is located at about the same position as England is on modern European maps and has been cited as an example of Merry England ideology (although England is part of an island while The Shire is inside a continent). The Shire is considered by some to be an island since it is unaffected by the surrounding areas and their issues. Throughout the narrative, Tolkien also implies numerous points of similarity between the two, such as weather, agriculture and dialect.
England seems to be Tolkien's source of inspiration for the Shire in its very name. "Shire" is a synonym of "county", and he may also have been inspired by T.H. White's book England Have My Bones, where White says that he lives in "the Shire" (with a capital "s"). However, many names of Hobbit locale can be reminiscent of Wales or Cornwall rather than Old English names proper.
[edit] See also
| Realms from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium during the Third Age | |
|---|---|
| Realms of Men: | Arnor • Arthedain • Breeland • Cardolan • Corsairs of Umbar • Dale • Dol Amroth • Dunland • Éothéod • Esgaroth • Gondor • Harad • Khand • Rhovanion • Rhudaur • Rhûn • Rohan • Umbar |
| Realms of the Elves: | Lindon • Lothlórien • Northern Mirkwood • Rivendell |
| Realms of the Dwarves: | Belegost • Erebor • Grey Mountains • Iron Hills • Khazad-dûm |
| Realms of the Hobbits: | Breeland • Gladden Fields • The Shire |
| Realms of the Ents: | Fangorn forest |
| Uncertain population: | Dorwinion |
| Realms of the enemy: | Angmar • Barad-dûr • Dol Guldur • Isengard • Mordor |
