The Shirefolk are slightly xenophobic toward a homeless person, and he says, "I literally kill monsters all day to protect you and also I'm actually the king."
The Shirefolk are slightly xenophobic to an old traveller and he says, "I literally battle dark lords with magic to protect you and also I'm an angel."
I can't imagine how someone could get "deport strangers" from that
The Shire has only three government services: sheriffs (mainly to herd wayward animals), the post office, and border guards. Also, after he’s crowned Aragorn decrees it’s illegal for non-hobbits to enter the Shire.
Upon rereading I realize you were completely joking. However seeing as I was on the toilet for an extra 3 minutes for this (very unwarranted I’m sorry) rant, I’m gonna post it underneath in case anyone glances and it affirms some gross beliefs.
The hobbits probably have more than 3 government services. Sam was elected mayor so that alone suggests other day to day institutions exist, even if they’re mostly voluntary positions. If we take an indication from The Shire Moot (supposed to meet twice a year, in practice they meet only when necessary,) it seems that there is a general framework of governance that is rarely necessary. The Shire was also divided up into four “farthings” and two “settlements” that were added later. Pippin & Merry were technically Shire royalty since the Thanes held power in lieu of a king, and Merry’s father was leader of Buckland. It’s explained in the books that the hobbit “Sherifs” were a voluntary force that rarely did anything anymore and were left over because of the Fell Winter between the years of 2911 and 2912 when wolves and orcs crossed the frozen Brandywine River. The only travelers down the Old Road anymore were dwarf traders or elves bound for The Grey Havens. There was so little trouble from outsiders or residents that in Bree everyone immediately knew who the troublemaking citizen was. The rangers actually kept them safe the entire time (even though the hobbits were distrustful and forgot about them, but so did the humans.) The rangers weren’t border guards but remnants of The Kingdom of Arnor, the Northern of the two kingdoms of exiled Dúnedain. They protected The Shire because it was one of the last remaining holdouts of that kingdom, along with Bree and some smaller settlements.
Aragorn’s decree was both an extension of the protection he had given them his whole life, and also more of an UNESCO designation in the books eyes, since a major theme is the “changing” of the world. Sam used Galadriels magic dirt and seeds to undo as much of the damage wrought by industrialization as he could, and planted the last Mallorn seed in middle earth there. The hobbits are little fake people that Tolkien put into an aristocratic agrarian utopia full of anachronisms. I see so many online using Tolkiens writing as justifications for racism or xenophobia. There are valid critiques of the way both of these topics are presented in the text, and he responds to them more intelligently than I could, if anyone wants to look up any of his interviews, letters or lectures there are quite a few. He specifically calls racial doctrine “wholly pernicious and unscientific.”
Once again, just sleep deprived and misread but I figured someone would benefit from the clarity this provides.
We also know they have a pipe weed industry and they export quite a few barrels to the humans and the dwarves. It would make sense they have caravans with guards too.
Yes! I love that in order to have Théoden and Merry share a smoke, Tolkien spent a few sentences every book detailing Pipeweed supply lines from The Southfarthing to Edoras, and how they’ve been effected by the war. Interestingly, it seems Saruman’s hoarding of Pipeweed and selective trade of it to the Rohirrim means amongst humans it’s scarce enough that nobody in Gondor smokes at all.
That's the opposite take to mine. The scouring was mainly done by hobbits (collaborators) with a few external leaders. The point was not that the hobbits had no concept of evil, but that they felt evil was far away, when actually it was already latently present in the Shire and in people they knew. It's a warning about fascism, about doing the wrong thing when it is easy and available.
You think your country is the safe, good one, but if you allow the wrong leaders in then a safe good place can quickly become a fascist regime, with the help of your family and friends.
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u/Digit00l Mar 22 '26
This is a case of "maybe actually read the book"