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Region · The Shire

The Shire

The hobbit country in western Eriador, four farthings of farmland with no army and no king nearby

View on map The Shire
Appears in
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings
Region
The Shire
The Shire on the map of Middle-earth

The Shire occupies the sheltered middle of Eriador: the Brandywine and Buckland on its eastern side, the White Downs and Far Downs on its west, empty moorland to the north and the marshes above Sarn Ford to the south. The Great East Road runs straight through it, entering over the Brandywine Bridge and leaving past the Tower Hills toward the Grey Havens. From the Westmarch to the Brandywine Bridge is forty leagues, and fifty from the northern moors to the southern marshes.

It was founded in TA 1601, when Marcho and Blanco of the Fallohides led hobbits over the Brandywine under a grant from Argeleb II of Arthedain. The hobbits gave up little for it: they acknowledged the king, kept the bridges and roads in repair and sped his messengers. Shire-reckoning dates from that crossing. The land is split into the Eastfarthing, Westfarthing, Northfarthing and Southfarthing, with Buckland added later on the far bank of the river.

Government is thin. There is a Mayor elected at Michel Delving, a Thain, a Master of Buckland, twelve Shirriffs and a shifting number of Bounders who walk the borders. Arnor fell in TA 1975, so for a thousand years the Shire kept the forms of a kingdom that no longer existed, while the Rangers of the North quietly guarded its roads and fords.

Trouble reached it rarely, which is why each instance is remembered: the Great Plague of TA 1636, the Battle of Greenfields in TA 2747 where Bandobras Took killed the orc-chieftain Golfimbul, the Long Winter, and the Fell Winter of TA 2911 when white wolves crossed the frozen Brandywine. The last was the worst and the most recent. Saruman's men took over the Shire in TA 3019 and ran it with gangs and rules until the four returning hobbits raised the country and threw them out.

Events at this place

  1. TA 1601 · Appendices

    The Shire is founded

    Marcho and Blanco crossed the Brandywine with a following of hobbits under a grant from King Argeleb II. Shire-reckoning begins from this year.

  2. TA 2747 · Appendices

    The Battle of Greenfields

    Bandobras Took defeated an orc band in the Northfarthing and struck off the head of their leader Golfimbul.

  3. TA 2911 · Appendices

    The Fell Winter

    The Brandywine froze and white wolves came out of the north into the Shire. It was still the standard for hard weather in Bilbo's day.

  4. TA 3001 · The Lord of the Rings

    Bilbo's party and the passing of the Ring

    Bilbo left the Shire after his eleventy-first birthday, leaving the Ring to Frodo at Bag End.

  5. TA 3019, November 3 · The Lord of the Rings

    The Scouring of the Shire

    Returning in November, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin found the Shire under Saruman's ruffians, roused the hobbits and cleared them out.

  6. FoA 6 · Appendices

    The King's edict

    Elessar declared the Shire a free land under his protection and forbade Men to enter it.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the Shire on the Middle-earth map?

In western Eriador, north of the Great East Road's southern loop, between the Brandywine river in the east and the Far Downs in the west, east of the Tower Hills and the Grey Havens.

How big is the Shire?

Forty leagues from the Westmarch to the Brandywine Bridge and fifty from the northern moors to the marshes in the south, divided into four Farthings plus Buckland.

Who rules the Shire?

In practice, almost nobody. A Mayor at Michel Delving, a Thain and the Master of Buckland share the little authority there is, and the Rangers guarded the borders without being thanked.