Cast of Characters: The Folk of the Westfarthing

The Westfarthing was the westernmost division of the Shire, and contained a number of its important settlements, including Michel Delving, Tuckborough, and Hobbiton. A number of important characters were residents of the Westfarthing, including the Took clan and the Cotton family.

Tolman Cotton, Sr

‘So it’s begun at last! I’ve been itching for trouble all this year, but folks wouldn’t help. And I’ve had the wife and Rosie to think of. These ruffians don’t stick at nothing. But come on now, lads! Bywater is up! We must be in it!’

~ Farmer Cotton, Book VI Chapter 8: The Scouring of the Shire

Tolman Cotton, or Tom, was a respected farmer living on the South Lane, near Bywater, in the late days of the Third Age. With his wife Lily, he had four sons, Tolman, Jr, Wilcome (“Jolly”), Bowman (“Nick”), and Carl (“Nibbs”), and one daughter, Rose. The Cotton children were friendly with the Gamgees of Hobbiton, and Farmer Cotton had always liked Samwise Gamgee, hoping that he and Rosie might one day wed.

Tolman looked after Sam’s father, the Gaffer Gamgee, when he was made homeless by Sharkey’s men after the War of the Ring. He had been anxious to stand against these foreigners but had refrained from taking action because he had his wife and daughter to look after. When Samwise Gamgee and his friends returned from abroad, however, he played a role in raising the local resistance that led to the scouring of the ruffians from the Shire. In fact, the Cotton residence was used as the base of operations for the resistance. Farmer Cotton himself fought in the Battle of Bywater, slaying a number of Sharkey’s men. The fame and fortune of the Cotton family saw a considerable rise in subsequent years.

After the Battle of Bywater and Scouring of the Shire, Farmer Cotton saw the wedding of his daughter to Sam Gamgee, and lived into the nineteenth year of the Fourth Age.

Rose Cotton

‘If you’ve been looking after Mr. Frodo all this while, what d’you want to leave him for, as soon as things look dangerous?’

~ Rosie Cotton to Sam, prior to the Battle of Bywater, Book VI Chapter 8: The Scouring of the Shire

Rose Cotton, known as Rosie, was the only daughter of Tolman Cotton, Sr and his wife Lily. As children, she and her four brothers often swam in the Bywater Pool with the children of the Gamgees of Hobbiton.

Rosie remained fond of Sam as the two grew to adulthood, and Rosie didn’t like it when Sam moved to Crickhollow in Buckland to mind for his master, Frodo Baggins. Rosie patiently awaited Sam’s return through his long absence as things took a turn for the worse in the Shire with the enforcement of Sharkey’s rule. Rosie was greatly relieved when Sam returned on 2 November, 3019. As Rosie and her mother tended Sam and Frodo that evening, Frodo told an account of Sam’s adventures and deeds during their absence, and Rosie listened with shining eyes, though it seemed she little understood the significance of Sam’s doings: ‘Well, you’ve wasted a year, so why wait longer?’ she asked him when the question of their marriage came up [1].

After the scouring of Sharkey’s ruffians from the Shire, Rosie and Sam were married. They went to live with Frodo, and their first daughter, Elanor, was born on the first day of the Fourth Age of the world. When Frodo sailed into the West early in the Fourth Age, Sam became the master of Bag End. Rosie and Sam had twelve more children, for a total of thirteen (beating the previous record, held by the wife of the Old Took, by one).

In the twenty-first year of the Fourth Age, after giving birth to her last child, Rosie traveled with her husband to Gondor, where she met King Elessar, and stayed in his household for more than a year. After their return to the Shire, Rosie and Sam lived happily for many years, until she died peacefully at the age of 98.

Ted Sandyman

‘Don’t ’ee like it, Sam?’ he sneered. ‘But you always was soft. I thought you’d gone off in one o’ them ships you used to prattle about, sailing, sailing. What d’you want to come back for? We’ve work to do in the Shire now.’

~ Ted Sandyman, Book VI Chapter 8: The Scouring of the Shire

The son of the old miller of Hobbiton, Ted Sandyman was a hobbit of somewhat surly and mistrustful disposition. His father was disliked by the Gaffer Gamgee (and probably, we can assume, Ted was as well).

The younger Sandyman operated the Old Mill, situated on the north bank of the Water near the Bywater Bridge, which he inherited from his father. When affairs in the Shire were taken over by agents of Sharkey, Sandyman supported the changes, and as it turned out had already sold the Old Mill to Lotho Sackville-Baggins. It was then torn down and replaced with the New Mill, “in all its frowning and dirty ugliness: a great brick building straddling the stream, which it fouled with a steaming and stinking overflow.” Sandyman was pleased with the New Mill, bigger as it was than the old one, and full of “wheels and outlandish contraptions.” Ted was set to work there cleaning wheels for Sharkey’s men, whereas his father had been the Miller and his own master.

During the Scouring of the Shire, Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, and their party encountered Sandyman as they passed the millyard en route to Bag End. Sandyman was “grimy-faced and black-handed”, and sneered and spat at Sam. When Merry revealed that their party was headed for Bag End to depose Sharkey, Sandyman attempted to raise the alarm by blowing a horn. The ultimate fate of Ted Sandyman is unknown.

Peregrin Took

‘We hobbits ought to stick together, and we will. I shall go, unless they chain me up. There must be someone with intelligence in the party.’

~ Pippin insists upon joining the company of the Ring, Book II Chapter 3: The Ring Goes South

Peregrin Took, known as Pippin, was the son of the Thain of the Shire, Paladin II, and the great-great grandson of the Old Took. Pippin’s father, despite holding the title of Thain, continued to farm the land of Whitwell, near Tuckborough in the Green Hills [2].

Pippin was one of the conspirators (along with Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Fredegar Bolger) who discovered that Frodo Baggins was making preparations to leave the Shire in order to avoid some danger associated with the magical ring in his possession. Pippin’s adventurous, Tookish nature, as well as his loyalty to Merry (his first cousin) led to his accompanying Frodo and the other conspirators (save Fatty Bolger) out of the Shire and to Rivendell. Nonetheless, Pippin was the first to regret leaving the Shire, and the first to long for the comforts of home: of the four hobbits he was the youngest, being only in his tweens.

In Rivendell, Pippin was chosen to fill the final place among the eight companions selected to accompany Frodo on his urgent mission, against the wishes of Elrond, who rather would have seen Pippin return to the Shire as a messenger. But Pippin insisted upon joining the company, saying that only his being chained up or sent home tied in a sack would prevent him from following them. It was Gandalf who spoke for Pippin, saying that it may be best to trust to friendship rather than to great wisdom. Elrond capitulated, and so Pippin joined the company as its youngest member.

During the journey of the fellowship, Pippin’s youthful exuberance and thoughtlessness got him into trouble with Gandalf on several occasions, once with asking foolish questions while Gandalf struggled to open the Doors of Durin, and later, within Moria, when Pippin’s curiosity caused him to impulsively drop a stone down the well in the chamber of the crossroads. For this offense, Gandalf admonished Pippin, saying “Fool of a Took! ...throw yourself in next time, and then you will be no further nuisance.” Unfortunately, Pippin’s rash action may have been what alerted the goblins of Moria to their presence, leading to the battle in the Chamber of Mazarbul, the company’s flight to the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, and Gandalf’s confrontation with the balrog known as Durin’s Bane.

Later, Pippin was present when Isengard was attacked and captured by the Ents; and when the palantír of Isengard came into the hands of Gandalf the White, Pippin was again overcome with curiosity, peering into its depths. Sauron’s gaze was drawn through the palantír to Pippin, and the Dark Lord assumed that Pippin therefore was the Ringbearer. To protect him, Gandalf took Pippin to Minas Tirith, where he would be safe should the agents of Mordor seek for him.

In Minas Tirith, Pippin recounted the tale of Boromir’s death to Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, and swore to serve the Steward as a Guard of the Citadel. During the siege of Minas Tirith, Pippin was able to alert Gandalf in time to save the life of Faramir when Denethor would have burned him alive. Then, after the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Pippin rescued a wounded Merry and brought him to the Houses of Healing. Pippin rode with the Captains of the West to the Black Gates and fought in the Battle of the Morannon, where he single-handedly slew a Mordor-troll.

Following the hobbits’ return home, Pippin raised the forces of Tookland in preparation for the Scouring of the Shire. Following the Battle of Bywater, Pippin was a hero, called “lordly” [3] by the Shirefolk, and lived for a time with Merry at Crickhollow. Pippin later married Diamond of Long Cleeve, and they had a son, Faramir. At the age of 44, Pippin succeeded his father as the Thain of the Shire, and was made a counsellor of the North Kingdom by King Elessar. Pippin compiled a great library at the Great Smials, filling it with information about the history of Númenor and the heirs of Elendil. With Merry’s help, Pippin compiled the information contained within the library into the volume known as The Tale of Years, or The Chronology of the Westlands [4].

After serving as Thain for fifty years, Pippin left his estate to his son and traveled with Merry to Gondor. Three years later, at the age of 94, Pippin died and was interred in Rath Dínen. Later, following the death of King Elessar, Pippin was laid in eternal repose alongside the king.

Notes

1. Far from exposing hobbit-ignorance, the true revelation of Rosie’s comment is to demonstrate the degree of success achieved by Sam and the other members of the fellowship in their quest: the Shire had remained more or less free of harm during the War of the Ring, so much so that the Shirefolk had no knowledge of the larger events happening elsewhere in Middle-earth. In spite of the ruin Sharkey and his men had brought to the hobbits of the Shire, their innocence had been preserved.
2. It is uncertain whether Pippin lived in Whitwell or at Great Smials during his youth.
3. Not only in demeanour and raiment, but in stature. Drinking the Ent-draught had caused Pippin and Merry to grow to be at least 4’5” tall—taller than the Bullroarer himself.
4. Published as Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings.

Interlude: The Journey

Hi everyone,

I'm sure you're all familiar with the most excellent LOTRO podcast, LOTROCast. I was recently invited by Moormur, the host of LOTROCast, to appear on the show.

If you head over to LOTROCast, you can hear my conversation with Moormur in Episode 012: The Journey, which was released today. We talk about TRGEO, the world of Middle-earth as represented in Lord of the Rings Online as opposed to the Middle-earth of the book, and the journeys of our characters to level 60 (and beyond!). I understand this is the longest episode of LOTROCast yet and there is a ton of other wonderful content as well, including conversations with co-host Alberos, guest Paperbard, and all their regular news and features. So head on over and check it out!

Many thanks to Moormur for having me on the show, and, as always, thanks to all of you for reading!

Ivy

Book I Chapter 12: Flight to the Ford

No one lives in this land. Men once dwelt here, ages ago; but none remain now. They became an evil people, as legends tell, for they fell under the shadow of Angmar. But all were destroyed in the war that brought the North Kingdom to its end. But that is now so long ago that the hills have forgotten them, though a shadow still lies on the land.

~ Aragorn, Book I Chapter 12: Flight to the Ford

After fleeing Weathertop, Aragorn led the hobbits south across the Great East-West Road and into the Lone-lands. They traveled east, towards the distant Misty Mountains, for five days. The pain of Frodo's wound increased, but they did not sense the presence of the Black Riders. At the end of the fifth day, the ground began to rise as they turned to the north-east, and on the sixth day, they reached the top of the rise. They could see the Road sweeping around the feet of the hills, and to their right, "another river in a stony valley half-veiled in mist". [1]

Early in the morning of the seventh day after their flight from Weathertop, that of October 12th, Aragorn and Sam descended to the Road and cautiously followed it eastward. After a mile or two, they saw ahead of them, at the bottom of a short, steep slope, the Last Bridge. [2]

To their relief, the bridge was not held against them, but Aragorn found in the mud of the bridge a beryl -- an elf-stone. [3] Taking the beryl as a sign of hope, they crossed the Last Bridge and passed into the Trollshaws. A mile or so beyond the bridge, they left the Road and entered a narrow ravine "that led away northwards into the steep lands on the left of the Road". The land here was a "sombre country of dark trees winding among the feet of sullen hills".

This new country seemed threatening and unfriendly to the hobbits. As they journeyed north, the terrain steadily rose into a jumble of ridges and valleys. On the heights, they could see "ancient walls of stone, and the ruins of towers: they had an ominous look". [4] Two days into the Trollshaws, the weather turned wet; their journey was cold and cheerless. On the night of October 16th, they camped on a "stony shelf with a rock-wall behind them, in which there was a shallow cave", and Frodo dreamed uneasily of a fading Shire.

The following morning the rain stopped. Aragorn scaled the cliff behind the stone shelf to get a view of their surroundings. He determined they had come too far north, and would need to find some way to turn southwards again. [5] After spending the day scrambling over rocky ground, they found a valley running southeast, the direction in which they wished to travel, only to find it blocked at the end by a high ridge. It was the end of the day, and, faced with choice of turning back or scaling the ridge, they chose to make the difficult climb. [6] At the top, they found themselves on a saddle between two high points. The land fell away steeply to the southwest. Upon this saddle they made their camp.

The morning dawned bright and fair. Aragorn and Merry surveyed the land from the height to the east of the pass. They discerned that they were now headed in the correct path, and determined that they must again make for the Road. After eating, they climbed down the southern side of the ridge; this was easier than climbing the opposite side had been. At the bottom, Pippin spotted a faint, overgrown path, seemingly made by strong arms and heavy feet. They followed it down a slope and left around the shoulder of a hill. Here the path ran under a cliff face overhung with trees. The cliff-face was set with "a door hanging crookedly ajar on one great hinge". Aragorn, Sam, and Merry managed to push open the door, revealing a shallow cave littered with old bones, empty jars, and broken pots: a troll-hole. [7]

Continuing on the path past the troll-hole, they plunged down a thickly wooded slope. Merry and Pippin, traveling ahead of the others, were terrified when they saw through the trees ahead a clearing, seemingly inhabited by trolls! Aragorn, however, was unconcerned, and indeed the inhabitants of the glade turned out to be the petrified remains of three trolls who had been exposed to the rays of the sun long ago. [8]

They continued to follow the path, and finally came out onto a high bank overlooking the Road. It was early evening, and the Road was quiet. They climbed down to the Road and followed it eastward as quickly as they could, but it was not long before they heard the sound of hoofs behind them. They scrambled up off the road into a patch of thick-growing hazels from which they could observe the road to see who approached.

At last the rider came into view and they saw that they needn't have been worried: the rider was the elf Glorfindel, of the house of Elrond, who had been sent to seek for Frodo. Glorfindel led them on into the night, and at dawn, they halted to rest.They slept until mid-morning, when Glorfindel awakened them and they again took to the Road. They moved with great haste, covering nearly twenty miles before nightfall, and finally camping where the Road turned right and, running downhill, made straight for the Ford of the Bruinen. The hobbits could perceive no sign of pursuit, but Glorfindel was anxious.

When they awoke, Glorfindel urged them on, for pursuit was swift behind them. That afternoon, they plunged into a "deep cutting with steep moist walls of red stone". The Road ran out from this natural tunnel into the open; beyond that was a long flat mile leading to the shores of the Bruinen. [9] Across the Bruinen lay the safety of Rivendell.

As the company surveyed the land leading to the river, five Black Riders emerged from the deep cutting they had just left. Frodo, mounted on Glorfindel's white steed, Asfaloth, sped forward toward the Ford. The five Black Riders leaped down the hills in pursuit. As the Riders passed, the rest of the company, instructed by Glorfindel, hastily kindled a fire in a small hollow beside the Road.

The four other Riders emerged from the trees north of the Road; two rode toward Frodo, and the other two to the Ford to cut off his escape, but Asfaloth proved swifter and Frodo reached the Ford, crossing to the eastern shore of the Bruinen, where the bank rose steeply toward the mountains. Weary and afraid, Frodo turned to look west, back across the river.

The Nine Riders gathered on the western bank, and prepared to ford the river, but Frodo stood in his saddle and defied them. Three of the Riders rode out into the Bruinen, but at that moment the river was raised into a "plumed cavalry of waves". The other six Riders, who had remained on the western shore, were now driven into the river by Glorfindel, Aragorn, and the other hobbits, each wielding a flaming brand taken from the fire they had kindled. The raging torrent of the river swept the Riders away, and their terrible cries were drowned. Safe at last, Frodo collapsed.

Notes

1. The River Hoarwell -- Mitheithel in the tongue of Elves -- draining from the Ettenmoors. In the distance, the Loudwater, or Bruinen, could also be seen. The two rivers converged to the south of the Trollshaws, becoming the Greyflood (Gwathló to the Elves).
   
2. A stone bridge of three arches over the River Hoarwell, probably constructed by the Men of Arnor or the Men of Rhudaur.
   
3. An emerald. The Last Bridge was not held against the Ring-bearer because of the heroism of Glorfindel, an elf of Rivendell, who had been dispatched to seek for Frodo. Glorfindel arrived at the Last Bridge to find three Nazgûl there, but was able to drive them off, leaving a beryl on the bridge as a sign to Aragorn.
   
4. The ruins of Rhudaur, one of the three successor kingdoms that rose from the breakup of Arnor.
   
5. Indeed, the Trollshaws are a confusing region to navigate. This explorer had a difficult time tracing the path that Aragorn led the hobbits upon; many of the locations mentioned in this installment are best guesses or deliberate approximations!
   
6. This saddle is difficult to identify and certainly impossible to reach. It should lay to the northwest of the narrow valley leading to the Glade of the Stone-trolls. There are undoubtedly some heights in the area that are suitable candidates, but this explorer is not skilled enough a climber to reach them! The hobbits were lucky indeed to have such a guide as Aragorn.
   
7. It was in this cave that the elf-blades Glamdring, Orcrist, and Sting were discovered and claimed by Gandalf, Thorin, and Bilbo, respectively.
   
8. The trolls Bert, Tom, and Bill: the very three villains that Bilbo and Thorin's company encountered on the Quest of Erebor. Bilbo's cunning and Gandalf's fortuitous arrival led to the trolls' current state. Aragorn knew the story well, of course, and pointed out a bird's nest behind the ear of one of the trolls to reassure the hobbits of their harmlessness.
9. The Bruinen, or the Loudwater, flowed from the Misty Mountains, through Rivendell, and eventually joined the Greyflood. The Bruinen was crossable only at its ford near Rivendell, and the Ford was known as the Edge of the Wild. Elrond of Rivendell had some control over the waters of the river, and it was his influence (with Gandalf's assistance) that caused the river to flood, washing away the Ringwraiths.

Cast of Characters: Folk of Bagshot Row

Bagshot Row was the lane on the Hill below Bag End. In contrast to that storied and wealthy cul-de-sac, Bagshot Row [1] was the residence of several families of working-class hobbits. There were three residences on Bagshot Row, one of which was the home of a certain Daddy Twofoot. Number 3 was the residence of the Gamgees, a family who had long been associated with their aristocratic neighbours, the Bagginses.

Daddy Twofoot

Daddy Twofoot was the Gamgees' neighbour [2]. He was present at the Ivy Bush [3] the week before Bilbo's special party and involved in the conversation about 'Mad Baggins' with the Gaffer Gamgee, Ted Sandyman, and Old Noakes of Bywater. It was obvious that Twofoot thought that Bucklanders (and by extension, Frodo) were particularly queer, living near the "dark bad" Old Forest as they did.

Beyond that, little is known of Daddy Twofoot. He was surely a solid, working-class hobbit, like his neighbours the Gamgees, and was likely comparable in age to the Gaffer.

Hamfast Gamgee

Elves and Dragons! I says to him. Cabbages and potatoes are better for me and you. Don't go getting mixed up in the business of your betters, or you'll land in trouble too big for you, I says to him. And I might say it to others...

~ Hamfast Gamgee, recounting his advice to Sam, Book I Chapter 1: A Long-expected Party

Hamfast Gamgee, commonly known as the Gaffer, resided at #3 Bagshot Row with his son Samwise. Aging, and somewhat hard of sight and hearing, the Gaffer was a respected gardener -- particularly in regard to his expertise in growing root vegetables, especially potatoes. As a lad, Hamfast had apprenticed to his uncle, the gardener Holman Greenhand, who gave him his first job tending the garden at Bag End during Bilbo Baggins's extended absence. When Bilbo returned from his adventures, Hamfast continued to serve him in that capacity. At the time of Bilbo's party, the Gaffer had retired and Sam took over gardening for Bilbo. Although many folk in Hobbiton though Bilbo quite mad, the Gaffer had a high opinion of him, considering him generous with money and a "very nice well-spoken gentlehobbit".

The Gaffer seemed to be, like many of the folk in Hobbiton, suspicious of Bucklanders. He was also very leery of boats, commenting that "fool[ing] about with [them] on that big river" wasn't natural.

On the night that his son Sam departed the Shire to mind for his master Frodo, the Gaffer was approached by a Black Rider inquiring after Frodo's whereabouts. The plucky gardener was put out by the stranger and answered him sharply, turning him away to Bucklebury.

After the War of the Ring, the Gaffer's home at Bagshot Row was torn up by Sharkey's men, and the Gaffer was forced to move into a tarshack near Bywater. He was cared for and given food by the Cotton family. Upon Sam's return to the Shire, the Gaffer seemed to scarcely believe Frodo's news that his son was now one of the most famous people in all the lands. Furthermore, he disapproved of Sam's wearing of ironmongery, and wondered what had come of his waistcoat. The Gaffer was later restored to his home, renamed #3 New Row.

Samwise Gamgee

'Come, Mr. Frodo!' [Sam] cried. 'I can't carry [the Ring] for you, but I can carry you and it as well. So up you get! Come on, Mr. Frodo dear!'

~ Book VI Chapter 3: Mount Doom

Sam Gamgee lived at #3 Bagshot Row with his father the Gaffer, to whom he apprenticed as a gardener. Sam was a simple, plain-spoken, and rustic hobbit, but he had certain qualities that set him apart and above his friends and relatives. He held Elves in awe and wonder, had a gift for poetry, and longed to see the wonders of the wide world.

When the Gaffer retired, Sam took over gardening at Bag End and came into the service of Bilbo, who told him stories of the past ages of the world and even taught him his letters (much to the chagrin of the Gaffer). When Bilbo left the Shire, Sam continued serving Bilbo's heir, Frodo. As "punishment" for eavesdropping on his master and Gandalf, Sam was sent along to mind for Frodo when he fled the Shire, and thus became involved in the quest to destroy the Ring.

In Rivendell, Sam was the first named to join the fellowship of Frodo's companions [4]. He stayed with Frodo when the fellowship was broken, travelling with his master all the way to the very Crack of Doom. It was Sam who drove off the great spider, Shelob, and he himself even became a Ring-bearer when, for a short time, he held it while Frodo was imprisoned within the tower of Cirith Ungol. Sam was one of the few Ring-bearers to relinquish the Ring voluntarily, something that his master Frodo eventually proved unable to do. Ultimately, Sam physically carried his master (and the Ring) up the slopes of Mount Doom [5].

After the destruction of the Ring, the hobbits returned to the Shire, only to find that it had been ruined by ruffians under the command of Sharkey. Sam was instrumental in organising the resistance that ultimately led to the Scouring of the Shire.

With peace restored, Sam married Rosie Cotton, and he and his new wife lived for a time at Bag End with Frodo. When Frodo sailed into the West from the Grey Havens, Sam became the master of Bag End and continued to write the Red Book of Westmarch. He was elected the Mayor of Michel Delving for seven consecutive terms, and finally, a the age of 103, he entrusted the Red Book to his daughter Elanor (the eldest of his thirteen children) and sailed into the West to be reunited at last with Frodo.

Notes

1. Bagshot Row was so named because when Bag End was excavated, the detritus was thrown down the slope of the Hill, creating a zone of loose earth into which the residences of the row were dug.
2. In the context of LOTRO, #3 is the last residence on Bagshot Row; therefore Daddy Twofoot must have lived at #2.
3. A regular at the Ivy Bush, in LOTRO Daddy Twofoot can be found standing outside that proud establishment.
4. As Frodo's constant protector, Sam bestows quests of interest for wandering guardians.
5. Sam was cited by Tolkien as being the "chief hero" of The Lord of the Rings. The quest to destroy the Ring is only successful because of Sam, who rescues Frodo from countless disasters. The relationship of Sam and Frodo as portrayed in the book may seem archaic to some modern readers, emphasizing the class differences between the rustic, working-class Sam and the gentrified Frodo. Sam was, ultimately, Frodo's servant, but it the bond of love and true friendship that formed between them is shown time and time again in the text. In The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author states "My Sam Gamgee is indeed a reflexion of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen I knew in the 1914 war, and recognized as so far superior to myself".

Book I Chapter 11: A Knife in the Dark (Part 2)

They stood for a while silent on the hilltop, near its southward edge. In that lonely place Frodo for the first time fully realized his homelessness and danger. He wished bitterly that his fortune had left him in the quiet and beloved Shire.

~ Book I Chapter 11: A Knife in the Dark

After leaving behind the difficult terrain and hateful insects of the Midgewater Marshes, Strider and the hobbits headed eastward toward the line of the Weather Hills [1]; Strider knew of a path that ran south along the hills and would lead them to Weathertop from the north. There, they hoped to rendezvous with Gandalf. As they travelled, "the land became drier and more barren; but mists and vapours lay behind them on the marshes".

At the end of their day's march, they came upon an alder-lined stream which flowed down from the Weather Hills and into the Midgewater Marshes; here they made camp.

The following morning, that of October 5th, Stider led the hobbits on soon after sunrise, again heading for the hills. By nightfall, they had reached the feet of the westward slopes and camped. In the morning, they found a path running along the line of the hills; this was the first clear path they had seen since their journey through the Chetwood. Following the path south, they found that it "ran cunningly, taking a line that seemed chosen so as to keep as much hidden as possible from the view, both of the hilltops above and the flats to the west." The path was "hugged by steep banks" and was lined with large boulders and hewn stones.

The south-marching ridge of the Weather Hills was undulating, and some of the peaks rose to a height of a thousand feet. Along the crest of the ridge were the ruins of walls and dikes, and in the clefts stood ruins of old works of stone. [2]

At mid-day, the travellers drew near the southern end of the path and saw before them "a grey-green bank, leading up like a bridge onto the northward slope of [Weathertop]".

Nearby, on the western side of the hill, they discovered a bowl-shaped dell with grassy sides. Here there was a spring of clear water flowing from the hillside, and Sam and Pippin (who had been left here while the others ascended Weathertop) found traces of a recent camp as well as footprints. Behind some fallen rocks near the hill, Sam came upon a cache of stacked firewood. [3]

Meanwhile, Strider, Frodo, and Merry had climbed to the summit of the hill. It was a difficult climb, taking half an hour, and the last stretch was steep and rocky. On the top was "a wide ring of ancient stonework, now crumbling or covered with age-long grass".

In the center a cairn of fire-blackened stones had been piled upon the scorched turf. A white stone among the fire-blackened ones caught Strider's eye; he found it marked on its underside with runes standing for G3. [4]

They took this as a sign of Gandalf's passage, and stood taking in the view of the surrounding lands for some time.

It was then that Frodo saw movement on the Road far beneath the southward slope of the hill: Black Riders. They hastened down the hill to the sheltered dell and rejoined Sam and Pippin. As there was nowhere else offering better protection they could reach before nightfall, Strider determined that they must make camp. They lit their fire in the lowest corner of the dell so that the light would be shielded from the Road.

Some time after moonrise, the Black Riders struck. Five of them attacked the campsite in the dell, and such was the terror they inspired that Frodo was compelled to put on the Ring -- but he found it offered no protection from the Ringwraiths. Frodo was wounded by the knife of one of the wraiths [5] but at length Strider, wielding two flaming brands, was able to drive the creatures off.

Though Frodo's wound was grievous, they had no choice but to flee Weathertop. They headed south, crossed the Road cautiously, and plunged into the thicketed land on the far side, which

sloped southwards, but it was wild and pathless: bushes and stunted trees grew in dense patches with wide barren spaces in between. The grass was scanty, coarse, and grey; and the leaves in the thickets were faded and falling. It was a cheerless land...

They had entered the Lonelands, and now they raced against the Black Riders to reach the safety of Rivendell. The flight to the Ford of Bruinen had begun.

Notes

1. Via the Midgewater Pass.
2. The fortifications had been built in the early days of Arnor, the north kingdom of the Númenoreans. Atop Weathertop had been built a great watchtower called Amon Sûl, and one of the seven Palantíri had been kept there of old. The defenses and path along the Weather Hills had been built to support Amon Sûl, but they were all destroyed in 1409 TA when the Witch-king invaded Arnor.
3. Left there by Rangers.
4. The runes were the certh "G" and three parallel vertical lines indicating "3". For some reason, in LOTRO a tengwa is shown on the rock: the character ungwë (denoting "GW") is used, rather than than the certh. Why ungwë was used rather than anga ("G"), this explorer is uncertain -- never mind why a tengwa was used rather than the stated certh. Presumably, Gandalf would have used the certh because of its angular shape: easier to scratch into the rock. In any event, Strider correctly interpreted this graven message to indicate that the wizard had been there on October 3rd, three days prior. Indeed, Gandalf had been awaiting Strider and the hobbits at Weathertop, but was attacked by several Black Riders. The ensuing battle resulted in the scorch-marks at the summit of the hill (and the light of which the hobbits had seen from afar while in the Midgewater Marshes), but Gandalf was forced to flee.
5. None other than the Witch-king of Angmar himself.

Book I Chapter 11: A Knife in the Dark (Part 1)

'How far is Rivendell?' asked Merry...

'I don't know if the Road has ever been measured in miles beyond the Forsaken Inn, a day's journey east of Bree,' answered Strider. 'Some say it is so far, and some say otherwise. It is a strange road, and folk are glad to reach their journey's end, whether the time is long or short.'

~ Book I Chapter 11: A Knife in the Dark

The morning after the Black Riders' simultaneous attack on the house at Crickhollow and The Prancing Pony, Strider awoke the hobbits and showed them the destruction the Riders had wreaked on the hobbits' rooms. Unfortunately, the Riders had also opened the inn's stable-doors, releasing all the beasts in it, including Merry's ponies, ruining all chances of an early departure. In the end, the hobbits were able to purchase a "bony, underfed, and dispirited" pony from Bill Ferny.

By ten o'clock, the hobbits and Strider were ready to depart. Bree was buzzing with excitement: "Frodo's vanishing trick; the appearance of the black horsemen; the robbing of the stables; and not least the news that Strider the Ranger had joined the mysterious hobbits, made such a tale as would last for many uneventful years." A large crowd had gathered in the Road by The Prancing Pony to see the travellers off, and therefore Strider decided to leave Bree by the main road.

As they neared the South-gate, they had words with Bill Ferny, who was standing in the yard of his "dark ill-kept house behind a thick hedge: the last house in the village."


The crowd following the travellers finally dispersed when the reached the South-gate. Strider led the hobbits through. Stretching ahead was the long Road to Rivendell.


They followed the Road for some distance, until Strider announced that they had reached the place where they would "leave the open and take to cover". A narrow track ran north from the Road, into a wooded valley, and it was down this track that Strider confidently led the hobbits. They had entered the Chetwood, and the hobbits found the journey quite enjoyable, for "the woods and the valley were still leafy and full of colour, and seemed peaceful and wholesome". There were many crossing paths, and Strider took a winding course to confuse any pursuers.

On the third day out from Bree, October 2nd, the travellers came out of the Chetwood. Before them stretched the Midgewater Marshes. Strider's description of them had not been encouraging, and indeed "[t]he ground now became damp, and in places boggy and here and there they came upon pools, and wide stretches of reeds and rushes".

The passage through the Marshes was slow and dangerous. There was no permanent trail, and Strider had to lead the hobbits with great care. The terrain of the Marshes was treacherous, but even worse was the animal life: the hobbits were tormented by flies and clouds of midges, and also "abominable creatures haunting the reeds and tussocks that from the sound of them were evil relatives of the cricket". Sam named them Neekerbreekers because of their distinctive and unceasing squeaking.

On the night of October 3rd, while camped in the Marshes, the travellers saw strange lights in the sky, but Strider could not fathom their portent [1]. On the morning of the following day, the ground began to rise and become drier, and they left the Midgewater Marshes behind them. Before them rose the Weather Hills. The highest of them was "at the right of the line [of hills] and a little separated from the others". Strider explained that this hill, with its "conical top, slightly flattened at the summit," was Weathertop, their destination [2]. It was there the travellers hoped to rendezvous with Gandalf.


Notes

1. The lights were caused in Gandalf's battle with the Black Riders at the summit of Weathertop.
2. Via the Midgewater Pass.

Cast of Characters: Masters of Bag End

Bag End was one of the premiere residences--if not the premiere residence--of Hobbiton. Therefore, the master of Bag End was undoubtedly a hobbit of great influence. Bag End changed ownership several times during the final years of the Third Age.

Bilbo Baggins

It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to.

~ Bilbo Baggins, as quoted by Frodo, Book I Chapter 3: Three is Company

Bilbo Baggins is introduced in Book I Chapter 1: A Long-expected Party as the master of Bag End. The bearer of the One Ring, he had remained nearly ageless since he acquired it, though he did not know its true identity as the Ruling Ring. The Ring had come into Bilbo's possession while he was participating in the Quest of Erebor in the position of the company's burglar. While lost in the caverns of Goblin-town, below the Misty Mountains, Bilbo had stumbled across the cavern of the creature Gollum, where he "won" the Ring in a contest of riddles (or so he contended [1]).

Some sixty years after the successful completion of the Quest of Erebor, Bilbo had returned to the Shire where he lived comfortably in Bag End, keeping the Ring a secret (or so he thought [2]), but his disappearance and return (bearing chests of gold and "jools", as local rumor had it) earned him a queer reputation in Hobbiton, and the nickname Mad Baggins. During these years he remained a bachelor, but adopted his cousin, Frodo, as his ward and heir.

Feeling the effects of possessing the Ring for an extended period, which he described as akin to being "stretched... like butter over too much bread", Bilbo decided to leave Bag End permanently and (reluctantly, at Gandalf's insistence) leave the Ring to Frodo. Bilbo planned his departure for the evening of September 22nd, T.A. 3001: his one hundred and eleventh birthday. The shocking manner of his disappearance and his disquieting words to Gandalf set in motion the events that would lead to Frodo's flight from the Shire seventeen years later, and rule the fate of all who dwelled in Middle-earth.

Bilbo was later found to have retired to Rivendell, where he lived as a guest in the Last Homely House, composing poetry and putting the final touches to an account of his adventures on the Quest of Erebor, entitled There and Back Again, a Hobbit’s Holiday [3]. He also began the process of setting down the exploits of Frodo during his quest to destroy the Ring, and translated The Silmarillion under the title Translations from the Elvish.

Bilbo was shown to possess a somewhat acerbic wit [4] and a covetous side that became more prominent as he fell under the power of the Ring. Nonetheless, he was the first of only several Ring-bearers to willingly give up the Ring. To his family and friends, Bilbo was kind-hearted and generous [5]; he had a passion for maps, riddles [6], Elvish lore, and poetry.

In Rivendell, freed of the influence of the Ring, Bilbo's age began to catch up with him. As Bilbo had written in the final line of his book, he “lived happily ever after until the end of his days.” At the age of 131, he was granted passage on a ship bound for Valinor, and sailed from the Grey Havens, leaving Middle-earth forever.

Frodo Baggins

I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so... when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.

~ Frodo Baggins, Book VI Chapter 9: The Grey Havens

Frodo Baggins is introduced in Book I Chapter 1: An Unexpected Party as the heir of Bilbo Baggins. As a child, Frodo’s parents were killed in a boating accident and he was raised by his mother’s relatives in Brandy Hall in Buckland. Frodo was Bilbo’s first and second cousin, once removed, and sometime after returning to the Shire after his mysterious disappearance, Bilbo adopted Frodo as his heir and brought him to live at Bag End.

Frodo and Bilbo shared the birth date of September 22nd, and when Bilbo turned 111, Frodo came of age at age 33. Bilbo had planned a party of “special magnificence” to honour the occasion, and after the scandalous events of that evening, Frodo learned that Bilbo had departed and bequeathed to him all his possessions, including the Ring. Frodo was now the master of Bag End.

Frodo lived in peace for seventeen years until the fateful day in the spring of T.A. 3018 when Gandalf returned to the Shire with news of the Ring’s true history. Realizing the threat the Ring’s presence posed to the Shire, Frodo resolved to set out for Rivendell [7], and from there his adventurers unfolded.

Frodo was described by Gandalf as "taller than some and fairer than most, [with] a cleft in his chin: perky chap with a bright eye." At the age 50, due to the influence of the Ring, Frodo still appeared to be a “robust and energetic hobbit just out of his tweens”. [8]

After the destruction of the Ring, Frodo returned to live in the Shire for a time, but could find no peace. He was haunted by the physical and psychological wounds he had sustained during the War of the Ring, wounds which would never heal. He briefly held office as the deputy mayor of the Shire, but mostly concentrated on editing and completing the account of the part he and his kinsmen played in the War of the Ring which Bilbo had begun and which Frodo entitled The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King.

In T.A. 3021, Frodo was granted leave to take ship to Valinor in honour of his great service to the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. He left his estate to Samwise Gamgee, as well as the Red Book of Westmarch for completion, and then sailed from the Grey Havens.

…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

An unpopular and shrewish hobbit upon her introduction in Book I Chapter 1: A Long-expected Party, Lobelia was the wife of Bilbo and Frodo’s cousin Otho Sackville-Baggins. She was considered by both Bilbo and Frodo to be a nasty relation to be avoided at all costs, because of both her grasping and argumentative personality and her ambition to take ownership of Bag End.

When Bilbo disappeared from the Shire on the Quest of Erebor, he was widely believed to be dead, and the Sackville-Bagginses were granted the title to his luxurious smial. They organized an auction to liquidate the contents of their new home, but their satisfaction was short-lived: Bilbo returned from his queer adventure and ownership of Bag End was returned to him (he did have to repurchase most of his other things, however).

Lobelia coveted Bag End for seventy-seven more years, until the news came in T.A. 3018 that Frodo—who had inherited the smial after Bilbo’s departure—was planning to retire to Buckland. Otho had died several years before, and Frodo sold Bag End to Lobelia at a rate below fair market value, and she and her son Lotho moved in triumphantly [9].

In the final stages of the War of the Ring, the Shire fell under the control of the villainous Sharkey, and Lobelia was one of the hobbits who dared to oppose his ruffians: she physically attacked their leader with her umbrella. For the first time, she was seen in a sympathetic light by other hobbits. For her defiance, Lobelia was imprisoned within the Lockholes. After the removal of Sharkey’s regime, Lobelia was released, at which time she returned ownership of Bag End to Frodo. She was devastated by her son’s murder and, greatly weakened by her imprisonment, moved in with her relations in Hardbottle. She lived to be 102 years old, and upon her death dedicated her remaining estate to establish a fund to assist the hobbits left homeless by Sharkey’s regime. These final acts of kindness permanently ended the long feud between the Bagginses and the Sackville-Bagginses.

Lotho Sackville-Baggins

The son of Lobelia Sackville-Baggins and her husband Otho, Lotho was as unpopular as his mother [10], but unlike Lobelia did not achieve redemption during the Scouring of the Shire. He was a sandy-haired hobbit with a poor complexion, and for this reason was given the nickname Pimple.

Lotho had inherited a number of pipeweed farms upon his father’s death, and grew wealthy selling the tobacco they produced to men from the south. He used his increasing wealth to buy up property around the Shire. As Lotho’s influence over the Shire grew, ruffians dispatched by his southern client Sharkey arrived to help Lotho suppress the Shirefolk. Lotho had the mayor of Michel Delving deposed and imprisoned within the Lockholes, and proclaimed himself Chief Shirriff.

Lotho enacted a regime of industrialization, closed all the inns, and prohibited the smoking of leaf and the drinking of beer to all but his ruffians. He imposed an ever-lengthening list of Rules, and continued to control life in the Shire until Sharkey arrived and personally assumed power. For his efforts, Lotho was imprisoned within Bag End until he was finally murdered (and possibly eaten) by Sharkey’s lackey, a Man known simply as Worm.

Notes

1. The account of Bilbo’s acquisition of the Ring in his book There and Back Again, later compiled in the Red Book of Westmarch, had gone through several revisions. The older drafts contained Bilbo’s somewhat skewed explanation of the events of the riddle-contest, but later drafts (perhaps edited by Frodo) contain a more accurate account. See “On the Finding of the Ring” in the foreword to The Lord of the Rings.
2. The “conspirators” unmasked during Frodo’s later flight from the Shire had become aware of the Ring’s power of invisibility, and of Bilbo’s occasional use of that power.
3. Travellers to Rivendell undoubtedly will have encountered Bilbo within the Hall of Fire and had the opportunity to assist him in checking facts for certain passages in his book.
4. As illustrated by the notes Bilbo had written to accompany his parting “gifts” to his various relations upon his departure from the Shire.
5. In addition to Frodo’s inheritance, Bilbo also bequeathed to him before his departure from Rivendell the elf-dagger Sting and a shirt of mithril mail.
6. Indeed, in the context of LOTRO, Bilbo is depicted as being in the midst of a riddling contest with Lindir of Rivendell, leading to a series of quests that travellers may assist with. Travelling burglars will also have good cause to visit Bilbo and learn from his experience.
7. In LOTRO, Frodo is first encountered after recovering from his wounds in the house of Elrond. He bestows several quests, including one in the prologue to Volume II Book 1, and one that involves enlisting a traveller to bring a gift to his dear cousin Bilbo.
8. As in many other adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, the portrayal of Frodo in LOTRO is that of a somewhat cherubic youth—not necessarily a youthful-looking 50-year-old.
9. Travellers to Hobbiton will encounter Lobelia upon the porch of Bag End, surrounded by several crates of her possessions being moved into the smial. She is planning a birthday party for herself to rival Bilbo’s of seventeen years ago, and sends those willing to endure her sharp tongue on a quest to obtain fireworks.
10. In the context of LOTRO, Lotho can be found speaking with his mother upon the porch of Bag End.