Glossing the Hobbit Heroes' Homecoming

There were brave Hobbits in the Shire who chose to defy the new order imposed by 'the Chief'. Fredegar 'Fatty' Bolger, one of the 'conspirators' to sneak Frodo and the Ring to Crickhollow, had tried to stand up to Sharkey's men. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins and Mayor Will Whitfoot both had attempted to take a hero's role, as well. All had failed and been punished and imprisoned. What was needed by the people of the Shire were true, bona fide Heroes who could provide them the 'boon', the benefit of truly Heroic acts: wisdom, courage and the self-assurance which only comes as a result of grand experience and extraordinary effort. This desperately needed boon was to come trotting down the Great Road in the persons of Meriadoc Brandybuck, Sword Thane of Rohan, Peregrin Took, Guard of the Tower, and Ring-bearers, Samwise the Brave and Frodo Nine-Fingers, four of the most renown Heroes of the War of the Ring, returning to their homeland.

So changed were they from their experiences that none who saw them panoplied as captains and Periannath Princes, recognized them. This lack of recognition signifies more than a change of attire or, in the case of Merry and Pippin, growth in physical stature due to their drinking the Ent-draught provided them by Treebeard. This scene is meant to signify the substantial changes in character each of the Hobbits had under-gone as a result of their ordeals. These Four were no longer simple little folk content to sit with pipe and flagon and watch the world roll by. Faced with an evil which they thought had been destroyed with Sauron and the Ring, the Four were more than prepared to deal with the menace facing the Shire. (Gandalf had told them as much when he departed their company near the Barrow Downs.) Defying the bans of 'the Chief' and chastising the sheriffs who tried to enforce them, the Four Heroes road on to Hobbiton to deliver their boon and deliver their people from the thralldom of the 'Boss' and his henchmen.

After appraising the situation, the two captains, Meriadoc and Peregrin, replete in the accoutrements of war, mustered the Hobbitry, sharing command. Drawing upon the military experience they had gained from their involvement as men-at-arms in the War of the Ring, they formulated a battle plan and lead the Hobbit forces in the Battle of Bywater. By their bravery and their skillful leadership, they

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