The Shire

The Shire was a country in northwestern Middle-earth, inhabited by the hobbits. It was located in the region of Eriador.
By the late Third Age it was one of the few heavily-populated areas left in Eriador. Its name in Westron was Sûza, "Shire," or Sûzat, "The Shire." Contrary to popular misconception, the Shire was not the birthplace of Frodo Baggins, as he was born in Buckland, which at the time was not formally part of the Shire despite being colonized by Shire hobbits.
At the end of the Third Age, Saruman (known then as Sharkey) tried to take control of it for a very short period, but was killed in the Battle of Bywater, which ended the War of the Ring.
== History ==
=== Settlement ===
The Shire was settled by hobbits in the year TA 1601 (Year 1 in Shire-reckoning). The hobbits (who originally lived in the Vales of Anduin) had migrated west over the Misty Mountains in the centuries before, and lived in Dunland and parts of the depopulated Arnor splinter-realms Cardolan and Rhudaur before coming to the Shire. It has been speculated that the hobbits had originally moved west to escape the evils of Mirkwood, and the shadow of Dol Guldur.
The Shire was a part of Arthedain and as such a part of Arnor. The hobbits were granted official permission from King Argeleb II at Norbury to settle in the Shire, which had become depopulated in the Great Plague, and was seen as the King's hunting grounds. The hobbits considered themselves to be subjects of the King, and sent contingents of archers to the great battles Arthedain fought against the Witch-king of Angmar. For reasons unknown, Angmar did not attack the Shire after it conquered Arthedain. Tales claim that some hobbit bowmen were involved at the Battle of Fornost, though no tales of it exist in the records of Men. After the fall of Arthedain in TA 1974, the Shire became in effect a free land, with the Thain's office replacing royal authority.
=== Third Age and beyond ===
The Shire's history was mostly peaceful, but as Sauron's return neared evil began to return to Eriador. In TA 2747 a band of Orcs led by Golfimbul invaded the Shire and were met and defeated by Bandobras Took at the Battle of Greenfields. In TA 2912 White Wolves attacked Eriador during a terrible winter, leading to famine and the death of many Hobbits.
The Shire's peace was next disturbed by events stemming from Bilbo Baggins' acquisition of the One Ring. In SR 1418 the Shire was first visited by the nine Ringwraiths who went as far as Hobbiton, after which the Shire was enslaved by Saruman via his puppet Lotho Sackville-Baggins. It was liberated with the help of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin after the end of the Quest of the Ring. After Aragorn's return as the King of Arnor and Gondor, the Shire became a protected enclave inside the Reunited Kingdom. Aragorn soon thereafter issued an edict that forbade the entrance of Men into the Shire without the hobbits permission and confirmed the settlement of Buckland.
In FO 31 Aragorn granted the Westmarch to the Hobbits for joint settlement .
== Geography ==
The Brandywine River bounded the Shire from the east (Shire hobbits also lived in Buckland, which lay east of the river and west of the Hedge protecting Buckland from an invasion from the Old Forest; however, Buckland was not formally recognized as part of the Shire until after the War of the Ring, when it was given officially to the Shire as the Eastmarch by Aragorn II Elessar. From the north and the west, the Shire had no topographical borders, rather it was bounded by vague geographical features such as the Tower Hills.
The Shire was quite densely populated in certain areas, with many villages and a few towns, but it still was open enough to allow for wide forested areas and marshes. The total amount of land calculated in square miles was 21,400, which likely excluded the Westmarch., Regional Maps, "The Shire"
=== Climate ===
As stated by J.R.R. Tolkien, the climate of the Shire was very similar to that of England; cool, but with not overly cold winters, and with fairly warm summers. Rainfall was fairly frequent, with snow being much more rare. Usually, the Shire was warm enough that the rivers did not freeze over, except during the Fell Winter.
According to computer models by the University of Bristol, the average temperature of Hobbiton was about 7.0 degrees Celsius, which confirms Tolkien's writings of the Shire having a climate rather like England.http://www.bristol.ac.uk/university/media/press/10013-english.pdf
== Government & defense ==
The Shire was originally divided in four Farthings (Northfarthing, Southfarthing, Eastfarthing, and Westfarthing), but later Buckland (as the Eastmarch) and the Westmarch were added to it in the Fourth Age. Within the Farthings there were some smaller, unofficial divisions such as family lands; nearly all the Tooks lived in the Tookland around Tuckborough, for instance. In many cases a hobbit's last name indicates where their family came from: Samwise Gamgee's last name derived from Gamwich, where the family originated. Outside the Farthings, Buckland itself was named for the Oldbucks (later Brandybucks). See further Regions of the Shire.
The Shire's smaller size, relative lack of importance in terms of geographical position, natural resources, or even concerning hobbits themselves made it too modest an objective for conquest from the more dominant races of the East and South. More importantly, the Shire was guarded and protected by the Dúnedain Rangers, who patrolled the borders and kept out intruders, although Tolkien notes that many of the current hobbits of the Shire had grown so accustomed to this that they had forgotten their protectors altogether.However the limited government of the Shire did hold its own voluntary police force known as Shirriffs that helped to keep the Shire safe, usually from trespassing beasts and collecting lost farm animals, rather than from enemy forces. The only foreigners to enter the Shire before Saruman invaded were the Dwarves travelling on the Great East Road that ran through the Shire to and from their mines in the Blue Mountains, and the occasional Elves in wandering companies on their way to the Grey Havens. Despite this, two battles were fought in the Shire, the Battle of Greenfields, and the Battle of Bywater. The Shire was also attacked by White Wolves in TA 2911 during the Fell Winter, prompting the use of the Horn-call of Buckland.
The Shire derived its laws from the authority of the King at Fornost. Five years after Fornost fell, the Hobbits appointed a Shire-thain to continue the authority of the missing king. The title of Shire-thain was hereditary, and passed through the Oldbuck family and then switched to the head of the Took-clan in Tuckborough. The Shire-thain commanded the Shire muster during emergencies and was also Master of the Shire-moot but otherwise had only a symbolic role.
The Mayor of Michel Delving (also called the Mayor of the Shire) elected once every 7 years, became the most important official in the Shire. Most hobbits regarded Michel Delving as the principal town of the Shire, particularly with regard to its government. The Mayor was also the Postmaster and the First Shirriff for the whole Shire.
The Master of Buckland at Brandy Hall ruled over Buckland, though still subject to the Shire-thain. His authority was also recognised by many in the Marish. Later in the Fourth Age, the Warden of Westmarch was responsible for the administration of the newly granted land west of the Shire.
== Economy ==
The Shire was a small but beautiful and fertile land, beloved by its inhabitants. The Hobbits had an extensive agricultural system in the Shire, but only a little light industry such as milling. Various supplies could be found in the Shire, including cereals, fruit, wood and pipe-weed (a favourite treat of Hobbits). Its relatively peaceful existence during the perilous period preceding the defeat of Sauron can be attributed to the vigilance of Gandalf and Rangers of the North led by Aragorn who used daring tactics to keep evil at bay. However when these set out to a distant war, the Shire became essentially defenseless, which led to its capture. But the damage which Saruman caused by forced industrialization was undone by the Hobbits' efforts. The Shire was restored with soil from Lothlórien, given to Sam by Galadriel. The year SR 1420 was called The Great Year of PlentyThe Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), "The Third Age" and was considered by the inhabitants of the Shire to be the most productive and prosperous year in their history.
The industrialization of the Shire may have been 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.
== Maps ==
On J.R.R. Tolkien's maps, the Shire is located at about the same position as England was on modern European maps and has been cited as an example of Deep England ideology (of course, England being on an island while Shire is inside the continent). Throughout the narrative, Tolkien also implies numerous points of similarity between the two, such as weather, agriculture and dialect. One can also see England as Tolkien's source of inspiration for the shire in its very name ("Shire" is a synonym of "county" see: English Shire).
== Nearby locations ==
*North: Hills of Evendim
*East: Bree
*South: Brandywine River
*West: White Downs, Grey Havens
== Gallery ==
File:wikimedia-org-Hobbit_holes_reflected_in_water.jpg|Part of The Shire recreated in New Zealand
File:Vlcsnap-2013-05-1919h56m17s59.jpg|Panoramic view of The Shire from 
File:nbcnews-com-bilbo_leaves_for_an_adventure-an_unexpected_journey.jpg|Bilbo leaves The Shire for an "adventure" in 
== In adaptations ==
=== In The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies ===
The Shire is featured extensively at the beginning of and at the end of after the One Ring is destroyed.
It us also featured extensively at the beginning of and at the end of after the quest to Erebor is complete.
=== In The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power ===
In the "" of , Gundabale Earthauler mentions The Shire by its Westron name of Sûzat as the place the Stoor Rorimas Burrows was seeking when he left the village in Rhûn.
=== In games ===
The Shire is depicted in the following video games:
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== See also ==
*Hobbiton
*Regions of the Shire
*Shire-thain 
== Translations ==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Amharic 	ሽሬ
Arabic 	شاير
Armenian 	Սհիրե
Azerbaijani 	Qraflıq
Belarusian Cyrillic 	графства
Bengali 	ষ্হিরে
Bosnian 	Okrug
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Шире
Catalan 	Comarca
Chinese (Hong Kong) 	夏爾
Chuvash 	Шире
Croatian 	Okrug
Czech 	Kraj
Danish 	Herredet
Dutch 	De Gouw
Esperanto 	Graflando
Estonian 	Maakond
Finnish 	Kontu
French 	La Comté
Georgian 	შირე
German 	Das Auenland
Greek 	Ο Σάιρ
Gujarati 	ષ્હિરે
Hebrew 	הפלך
Hindi 	शायर
Hungarian 	A Megye
Icelandic 	Skíri
Italian 	La Contea
Irish Gaelic 	Sír
Japanese 	シャイア
Kannada 	ಶೈರ್
Kazakh 	Сһіре (Cyrillic) Shire (Latin)
Korean 	샤이어
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Сhирэ
Latin 	Scira
Latvian 	Širė
Lithuanian 	Širės
Macedonian Cyrillic 	Шире
Manx 	Sheer
Marathi 	ष्हिरे
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Сhирэ
Nepalese 	सायर
Norwegian 	Hobsyssel
Old English 	Scīr
Pashto 	صهیرې
Persian 	شایر
Portuguese 	O Condado (Brazil) O Chire (Portugal)
Romanian 	Comitatul
Russian 	Шир
Sanskrit 	ष्हिरे
Scottish Gaelic 	Siorrachd
Serbian 	Округ (Cyrillic) Okrug (Latin)
Sinhalese 	ෂ්හිරෙ
Slovak 	Grófstvo
Slovenian 	Šajerska
Spanish (Spain and Latin America)	La Comarca
Swedish 	Fylke
Tajik Cyrillic 	Сҳире
Tamil 	ஷ்ஹிரெ
Telugu 	షైర్
Thai 	ไชร์
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Шайр
Urdu 	شائر
Vietnamese 	Quận
Welsh 	Sir
Yiddish 	תהירע
== References ==
Category:Realms
 
Category:Eriador
Category:Arnor
ca:La Comarca
de:Auenland
es:Comarca
fr:Comté
it:Contea
nl:Gouw
pl:Shire
ru:Шир
tr:Shire
uk:Шир