Charting the Shire lines - Page 8
© Michael Martinez
In 1636 everything changed anyway. The Great Plague swept north and wiped out the Stoors of Dunland and nearly all the Hobbits outside of the Breeland and the Shire. Why? Probably because they maintained close contact with one another and lived along the Greenway. They would have spread the Plague quickly and easily, and suffered as grievously as did the other peoples of Cardolan.
Tolkien says the Hobbits of the Shire survived though the Plague reached them, too. That would seem to imply they were not yet very numerous, and that there were wide lands between the major communities. Hence, the folklands of the Tooks, Baggins, Chubb, Bolger, and other leading families may have been only sparsely populated.
The most significant consequence of the Great Plague would be the resulting insularity of the Shire. The Hobbits would have learned to their horror that their relatives beyond the Baranduin were mostly dead. They had no real reason to maintain contact with the outside world.
As when the ancient world had to recover from devastating plagues, Arnor would have had to change its economic practices to cope with the devastation wrought by the Great Plague. Labor would have become expensive, and communities would have been reduced in size. The period would represent an opportunity for younger sons to branch out and try new things rather than just stay at home and help with the family farm. So the years 1637-1974 may have represented an expansion and revitalization for the Hobbits. They would have founded new towns and learned new trades.
All to come crashing down in the final war with Angmar. Tolkien notes in a couple of places that the Hobbits sent some archers to the aid of the king at Fornost. These Hobbits were never heard from again, and undoubtedly either died before reaching Fornost or were lost with the royal army when it was defeated by the forces of Angmar. Such a loss might have seriously impacted the relatively peace-loving Hobbits. But it also weakened them. They couldn't withstand the onslaught that followed in the wake of Arnor's collapse and they had to flee into hiding.
Where would they hide? Many undoubtedly fled across the Lhun, but others must have fled into the woods and hill-lands far away from the towns. Michel Delving was probably occupied or destroyed. The Hobbits survived, and again they sent out archers to help overthrow Angmar. These brave souls (or some of them) probably survived the war to return home proudly. But there would have been little home to return to.
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