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Glossing the Hobbit Heroes' Homecoming

© Douglas Charles Rapier

Last month, I spoke about my reaction to Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King'. In that appraisal of the last installment of the cinematic version of JRR Tolkien's masterwork, I presented a short litany of what I personally consider faults in Jackson's work. One fault which I mentioned but did not discuss, although I regard it as an immense error, was the omission of 'The Scouring of the Shire' from 'The Return of the King'.

It was a very well-known omission, one ruefully, resignedly accepted by all those who had been anticipating this monumental work. Jackson had stated repeatedly in interviews that 'The Scouring' would not be included in the film, in fact, had not even been filmed, moreover, because he did not particularly like that part of the story. For that reason, I decided not to discuss it last month and rather focus on the film in the form as I saw it. However, the more I thought about this omission and discussed it with friends and fellow-fans, the more I realized that there was much to say regarding the importance of 'The Scouring' to the completeness and the integrity of the epic.

First of all, 'The Lord of Rings' is a tale of heroes. The final stage of every Hero's journey is the 'Homecoming'. After successfully completing his quest, the Hero must return home to share the beneficial results of his struggle with his people. Without the Hero's homecoming, the tale of the quest is incomplete. The Hobbits of the Shire, as depicted in Jackson's version of Tolkien's tale are oblivious to what the Hobbits of the Fellowship have accomplished on their behalf. It's as if Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin had been off on nothing more remarkable than a year-long lark, following in the questionable and disreputable foot-steps of 'Mad Baggins' rather than being the principle instruments in the destruction of the Sauron the Dark Lord and the re-establishment of the King of Arnor and Gondor.

The Shire, a peaceable back-water of Middle-earth, was not immune to the evil machinations of Mordor. The diligence of the Dunedain, the Rangers of the North, had kept the Shire safe but with the Dunedain fighting in Gondor with Aragorn, the Shire had been left defenseless to an invasion of swarthy-faced men and half-orcs. By the time the Hobbits of the Fellowship had made it back to the Shire, Saruman and Grima Wormtongue had taken control of the Shire, subjugated the population and begun its transformation into a mini-Mordor. As if this wasn't bitter enough evidence of the pervasive nature of evil, Hobbits (e.g. Lotho Sackville-Baggins, Ted Sandyman, etc.) had been seduced by Saruman's sweet tongue to assist in the Shire's ruination. According to the Peter Jackson's truncated version, the Hobbits of the Shire had little more to concern themselves with than what to have for second-breakfast. On the contrary, the Shire was in desperate need of Heroes or else the vision given Samwise in the Mirror of Galadriel would be fulfilled - the Shire would be destroyed and its gentle inhabitants enslaved.