Battle of the Green Fields

The Battle of the Green Fields, or Battle of Greenfields, was a battle that took place at the Green Fields district in the Northfarthing of the Shire during the latter half of the Third Age. It was the only time that the Shire was ever attacked by the Orcs of Mount Gram.The Hobbit, Chapter I: "An Unexpected Party"
==History==
In TA 2740, multiple bands of Orcs from the Misty Mountains invaded various parts of Eriador.The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), "The Chief Days from the Fall of Barad-dûr to the End of the Third Age", "The Third Age"
By TA 2747, many of the Orc-bands were pushed back by the Rangers of the North, but the very lastThe Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, "Unfinished index for The Lord of the Rings", pg. 24 band of Orcs, one from Mount Gram which was led by Golfimbul, managed to avoid the Rangers and invade the Northfarthing of the Shire. The hobbits were prepared and crossed the Norbourn with a force to meet them in the Green Fields district. Bandobras Took, known as the Bullroarer, ledThe Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Prologue", pg. 14 the charge on horseback and armed with a wooden club. He knocked Golfimbul's head clean off at the helm of the Orc-band, sending it sailing a hundred yards through the air and down a rabbit-hole, thus winning the battle and simultaneously inventing the game of Golf. The other Orcs fled after Golfimbul's death, causing a decline in their attacks in Eriador until they stopped completely.
No other battle occurred within the borders of the Shire until the Battle of BywaterThe Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter VIII: "The Scouring of the Shire", pg. 1329The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings, "The Battle of Bywater" at the end of the Great War of the Ring on November 1, 3019, over two-hundred years later.
==Development==
In the very first draft of The Hobbit, Tolkien called this event "’the Battle of the’ followed by a cancelled, illegible word of four or five letters that ended in -ll (possibly ‘Bull-’?)".The History of The Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End, "The First Phase", I(a). "The Pryftan Fragment", pg. 12 (note 7) This was immediately changed to the battle of the Green Fields of Fellin,The History of The Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End, "The First Phase", I(a). "The Pryftan Fragment", pgs. 8-9 before swiftly changing Fellin to Fao which in turn was changed, likely at once, to Merria before the word was fully written. John D. Rateliff notes that while these names never appear again, Merria bears a resemblance to the Merrill, a stream in RivendellThe History of Middle-earth, The Return of the Shadow, "The First Phase", XI. "From Weathertop to the Ford", pg. 205. While Rateliff stated that he could not decipher the meanings of the names nor figure out what languages they are from, he noted that his friend, Taum Santoski, had suggested in a linguistic note that Fellin may be connected with the Ñoldorin word fela ("cave") and that Merria may be connected with the Quenya word merka ("wild"). Rateliff concluded that regardless of the names had actually meant, he is certain that they were not direct translations of "Green Field". Tolkien also wrote that chess, in addition to golf, was invented because the battle was won due to a "checkmate", though it is possible that the chess reference was removed due to an obscure philologist's joke on how the word "checkmate" comes from Persian shah mat, "the King is Dead"."Checkmate" at the Online Etymology Dictionary
The name was then soon changed to the published form as well as the reference to chess.The History of The Hobbit: Mr Baggins and Return to Bag-End, "The Second Phase", "The Bladorthin Typescript"
In early versions of the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien gave the date of the battle as 1137,The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 12: The Peoples of Middle-earth, Part One: "The Prologue and Appendices to The Lord of the Rings", I. "The Prologue", pgs. 8-11, 15 before changing it to SR 1347 and then SR 1147. It was changed to the published form in an early version of the Appendices.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. 12: The Peoples of Middle-earth, Part One: "The Prologue and Appendices to The Lord of the Rings", VII: "The Heirs of Elendil", pgs. 211, 236
==In adaptations==
===The Hobbit video game===
In the 2003 video game, A hobbit outside Bag-End makes accusations that young hobbits know nothing about the Battle of the Green Fields and history in general.The Hobbit (2003 video game), "Hobbiton"
===The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II===
It is revealed in the "Evil Campaign" of the game that the Goblins have not forgotten their defeat and thus they lay siege and conquer the Shire in revenge.The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, Evil Campaign Stage 3: "The Shire"
===The Lord of the Rings Online===
In the Hobbit prologue questsShire Epic Prologue Quests in The Lord of the Rings Online in The Lord of the Rings Online, a group of Goblins led by Lubach,Lubach in The Lord of the Rings Online were convinced by ÉoganÉogan in The Lord of the Rings Online to invade the Shire by claiming that Lubach was the heir of Golfimbul.Quest:Prologue: Beneath the Greenfields in The Lord of the Rings Online
===The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey===
In the first film of The Hobbit film trilogy, the Battle of the Green Fields is recounted by Gandalf during the Unexpected Party at Bag-End, though the tone implies that some embellishment is at work.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Slag van Groen velde
Albanian 	Beteja e Fushave të Gjelbërta
Amharic 	የግሪን ሜዳዎች ውጊያ
Arabic 	معركة الحقول الخضراء
Armenian 	Ճակատամարտը կանաչ դաշտերը
Assamese 	সেউজীয়া পথাৰবোৰৰ যুদ্ধ
Azerbaijani 	Yaşıl Sahələri döyüş
Basque 	Berde eremuakeko gudua
Belarusian Cyrillic	Бітва зялёных палёў
Bengali 	সবুজ ক্ষেত্র যুদ্ধ
Bosnian 	Bitka zelenih polja
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Битката на зелените поля
Burmese 	စိမ်းလန်းသောလယ်ကွင်းတိုက်ပွဲ
Cambodian 	សមរភូមិវាលស្មៅបៃតង
Catalan 	Batalla dels Camps Verds
Chinese (Hong Kong)	綠原之戰
Corsican 	Battagghia di Verde campi
Croatian 	Bitka Zelena polja
Czech 	Bitva na Zeleném poli
Danish 	Slaget ved Grønnemark
Dutch 	Slag van Groene velden
Esperanto 	Batalo de Verda kampoj
Estonian 	Lahing rohelised väljad
Faroese 	Kriggið um Grønu fløttar
Filipino 	Labanan ng berdeng mga patlang
Finnish 	Viherkenttien taistelu
French 	Bataille des Champs Verts
Frisian 	Slach oan de Griene Fjilden (Western)
Galician 	Batalla de Campos verdes
Georgian 	ბრძოლა მწვანე სფეროებში
German 	Schlacht von Grünfeld
Greek 	Μάχη της Πράσινης πεδία
Gujarati 	લીલા ખેતરોની લડાઈ
Haitian Creole 	Batay nan jaden yo vèt
Hebrew 	קרב השדות הירוקים
Hindi 	ग्रीन फील्ड की लड़ाई
Hungarian 	Csata zöld mezők
Icelandic 	Orrustan um Grænumakra
Indonesian 	Pertempuran ladang hijau
Irish Gaelic 	Cath de pháirceanna glasa
Italian 	Battaglia di Terreverdi
Japanese 	グリーン フィールズの戦い
Kannada 	ಗ್ರೀನ್ ಫೀಲ್ಡ್ಸ್ ಯುದ್ಧ
Kazakh 	Жасыл өрістер шайқас (Cyrillic) Jasıl örister şayqas (Latin)
Konkani 	पाचव्या शेतांचें झूज
Korean 	그린 필즈 전투
Kurdish 	Parastina Zeviyên Kesk (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Жашыл талаалар согуш
Laotian 	ຮົບຂອງທົ່ງນາສີຂຽວ
Latin 	Proelium virides agros
Latvian 	Kaujas zaļiem laukie
Lithuanian 	Mūšis žali laukai
Luxembourgish 	Schluecht vu Grénge felder
Macedonian Cyrillic	Битката за зелени полиња
Malagasy 	Ady amin'ny saha maitso
Malaysian 	Pertempuran padang hijau
Maltese 	Battalja ta Oqsma ħodor
Marathi 	हिरव्या शेतांची लढाई
Mongolian Cyrillic 	ногоон талбайд тулаан
Nepalese 	हरियो क्षेत्रहरू युद्ध
Norwegian 	Grønneng-slaget
Pashto 	د شنو برخو کې جګړه
Persian 	نبرد از گرین‌فیلدز
Portuguese 	Batalha de campos verdes
Punjabi 	ਹਰੇ ਖੇਤਾਂ ਦੀ ਲੜਾਈ
Romanian 	Luptă de câmpuri verzi
Russian 	Битва на Зелёных Полях
Sanskrit 	हरितक्षेत्राणां युद्धम्
Scottish Gaelic 	Blàr de achaidhean uaine
Sicilian 	Battaglia di li Campi Virdi
Sindhi 	سائي ميدان جي جنگ
Serbian 	Битка од Зеленим пољима (Cyrillic) Bitka od Zelenim poljima (Latin)
Sinhalese 	හරිත ක්ෂේත්රවල සටන
Slovak 	Bitka o Zelených polí
Slovenian 	Bitka za Zelene polja
Somali 	Dagaalka ee Beeraha cagaaran
Spanish 	Batalla de los Campos Verdes
Sundanese 	Perang tina widang Héjo
Swahili 	Vita ya mashamba ya Kijani
Swedish 	Slaget vid Gröna fält
Tajik Cyrillic 	Ҷанги майдонҳои сабз
Tamil 	பசுமை வயல்களின் போர்
Tatar 	Яшел кырлар сугышы
Telugu 	గ్రీన్ ఫీల్డ్స్ యుద్ధం
Thai 	การต่อสู้ของเขตสีเขียว
Turkish 	Yeşil Alanları savaşı
Turkmen 	Ýaşyl Meýdan söweşi
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Битва зелених філдс
Urdu 	گرین فیلڈز جنگ
Uzbek 	Яшил майдонларда жанг (Cyrillic) Yashil maydonlarda jang (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Trận Những cánh đồng xanh
Welsh 	Brwydr y Meysydd Gwyrdd
Xhosa 	Imfazwe yeendawo eziluhlaza
Yiddish 	שלאַכט פון גרינע פעלדער‎
Yoruba 	Ogun ti alawọ ewe aaye
==References==
de:Schlacht von Grünfeld
fr:Bataille des Champs Verts
es:Batalla de los Campos Verdes
it:Battaglia di Terreverdi
pl:Bitwa na Zielonych Polach
ru:Битва на Зелёных Полях
Category:Battles