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The Merchants of Middle-earth - Page 7

© Michael Martinez

The Shire expanded a little in the 24th century of the Third Age when the Oldbucks founded the Buckland, "a virtually small independent country" as Tolkien describes it. It's not clear why Gorhendad Oldbuck felt the need to found a new land beyond the Baranduin river, but it's conceivable that the influence and authority of the Thain was by this time declining. When it became clear the Dunedain would not re-establish the northern kingdom, the chieftains of the Shire Hobbits elected Bucca of the Marish to be their Thain, essentially to be a local king. But the Thainship though hereditary had little power by the end of the Third Age. So Gorhendad may have desired to establish a land where he would have greater authority than in the Shire. The effect of his colonization, however, was to rejuvenate activity between the Shire Hobbits and the Bree Hobbits. The Bucklanders traded with both the Shire and Bree. 330 years later Tobold Hornblower revolutioned the economics in the Southfarthing by planting Pipe-weed. Although the Bree-landers were the first to smoke Pipe-weed the Southfarthing eventually became the primary source for this luxury item and its reputation extended to Isengard and probably beyond. Dwarves took up the habit of smoking from the Hobbits, and they may have purchased supplies to ship to relatives in distant lands. It is thus evident that the Shire established a small but thriving trading economy with Bree, the Buckland, the Dwarves of Ered Luin, and probably also Tharbad and Dunland. Trade with the south probably dropped off after Tharbad was deserted in the 30th century, but Saruman seems to have developed a strong connection with the Sackville-Bagginses from around the year 3000 onward. Bree's influence declined steadily throughout the later Third Age, but it seems the Dunedain of Eriador used Bree as a center of operations. They could purchase supplies there and gather news as well as organize their Ranger activities which seem to have focused on protecting Bree, the Shire and Buckland, and their own homelands, where those lay. In "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony" Tolkien writes that the Rangers lived east of Bree, and Barliman's mention to Frodo of a saying in Bree, "there's no accounting for East and West, ... meaning the Rangers and the Shire-folk", implies the Breelanders were pretty sure the Rangers lived in the eastern lands. Aragorn mentions the Forsaken Inn a day's journey east of Bree, implying this is the last sign of civilization in Eriador between Breeland and Imladris. If that is the case, then it seems unlikely the Dunedain of Eriador actually lived directly east of Bree. There wasn't much there except for the Weather Hills beyond the midgewater marshes, and Aragorn told the Hobbits that no one lived in the Weather Hills. On the other hand he ventured south of Weathertop to find Athelas near an old place where his people had once camped or lived, so it's conceivable the Dunedain lived in the North Downs and/or the South Downs (probably resettling every now and then to avoid detection by Sauron's spies).

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