Charting the Shire lines - Page 9
© Michael Martinez
When one looks at the Tale of Years, one cannot help but notice there is a gap of several years after the fall of Angmar (1975) before the Shire chieftains elected a Thain (1979). Why did it take them so long to make this decision? Aranarth had decided in 1976 he would not restore the Kingdom of Arnor. There must have been darned little left for him to govern, and that would mean the Shire must have been almost completely destroyed, its people scattered (and diminished by losses to war and famine).
So it took 3 years for the Shire families to come together again and decide to be a single community rather than many smaller communities. Whether they held moots before the year 1979, they had to have one in that year. And the Thain would have been more than a figure-head: he commanded the Shire-muster and the Shire-moot. In those years these would have been important functions. If the Boffins did indeed engage in "military research", this would have been the time for them to rise to prominence, and perhaps their functions as researchers lasted only long enough to ensure the Hobbits could protect themselves. After a few generations, at most, they would have settled down to being well-to-do whatevers.
In the years 1979 to 2340 the Shire enjoyed relative peace, and Gorhendad Oldbuck, the twelfth Thain, decided it was time to lead a new migration. He founded the Buckland, and changed the family name to Brandybuck. The Tooks were then awarded the Thainship, and the fact that the Thainship was continued by the Shire-folk implies it was deemed still necessary. At the very least, Shire-moots must have continued to this time.
The Shire must have conducted business with Bree, the Buckland, and the Dwarves of Ered Luin. Although they need not have had contact with the Elves, the Hobbits lay directly between Imladris and Lindon. It would be necessary for Elves to pass through the Shire, and the Dunedain may have visited the land from time to time to ensure everything was peaceful and prosperous. But there may have been other communities, especially in the years prior to 2758 (the year the Long Winter began), where Men and/or Hobbits still lived outside the Shire.
One of the curious aspects about the Shire at the time just prior to the War of the Ring is that the Bounders, the branch of the Shirriffs charged with "beating the bounds", had been greatly expanded. "There were many reports and complaints," Tolkien wrote in the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings, "of strange persons and creatures prowling about the borders, or over them...." Years later, in 3019, Sam tells Ted Sandyman in The Green Dragon that "others besides [his cousin] have seen queer folk crossing the Shire -- crossing it, mind you: there are more that are turned back at the borders. The Bounders have never been so busy before."
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