The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
The Shire was founded in III 1601, and expanded to include the Westmarch in IV 31 (1452 by the Shire-reckoning)
Location
The Shire, the lands westward of the Brandywine in the middle regions of Eriador
Origins
The first Hobbits settled the Shire having travelled westward from Bree
Race
Settlements
Meaning
Shire derives from Old English scír, meaning a land granted as a fiefdom; Hobbits comes from holbytlan, meaning 'hole-builders'
Other names

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 3 January 2009
  • Updates planned: 1

The Hobbits of the Shire; the descendants and followers of Marcho and Blanco, the two Bree-hobbits who founded the Shire. Among the Shire-hobbits were representatives of each of the three main types of Hobbit, the Stoors, Harfoots and Fallohides.

Shire-hobbits were considered the most rustic and pastoral of their kind, even by other Hobbits (such as those of Bree or Buckland). The most important family among the Shire-hobbits were the Tooks of the Westfarthing, who had held the hereditary, and largely honorary, title of Thain from III 2340.


See also...

Aduial, Afteryule, Alfrida of the Yale, Baggins Family, Banks Family, Battle of Bywater, Berylla Boffin, Big People, Blodmath, Blommath, Bounders, Bracegirdle Family, Bree-landers, Briar, Bridge of Stonebows, [See the full list...]

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 3 January 2009
  • Updates planned: 1

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