February 07, 2022

35. Do the Hobbits Have H.O.A.s?

Listen Later

1 hour 1 minute

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Oriana’s choice of topic: the Shire. The

homeland of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins and many of Middle-earth’s hobbits in

general, and the entry point for nearly every reader to Tolkien’s imaginative

geographical and creative landscape, the Shire often seems like an idyllic and

nostalgic English utopia, an untroubled land where the beer is good, the

family trees are all spelled out carefully and there’s not much to worry about

aside from the occasional wolf or Orc raid over the centuries. Yet Tolkien

himself said he didn’t view it as a utopia, and both as sociopolitical

organization and as physical location, the Shire has more going on with it

than might be seen at first glance, even by some of its most well-known

inhabitants. What is the sense of history among the hobbits of the Shire, and

how do they regard their land and their sense of who they are? What does the

Shire being a seemingly safe place truly reveal when the Scouring is necessary

at the end of the grand story? Who are the authorities, if there are any, that

keep this seeming anarchist fantasy going as a functioning concern, and does

that cover monetary issues as well? And is that the only linguistically

blessed fox in the Shire, much less Middle-earth as a whole?

Show Notes.

Jared’s

doodle. A

party of special magnificence indeed.

Amazon’s title announcement

video – FINALLY. (And yes we

know there’s more but that happened after recording this episode – next time!)

TheOneRing.net

got some behind the scenes shots from the creation of said video, pretty cool.

The formal Haggerty Museum of Art

announcement about the

“J. R. R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript” exhibition in Milwaukee, running

from August 19 to December 12.

Douglas Trumbull is rather

well known in the field.

The Shire: a basic overview.

Some of our relevant past episodes on the Scouring of the

Shire and Sam

Gamgee.

Karen Wynn Fonstad’s Shire

map,

as with all her work, is very great. (Pick up The Atlas of Middle-earth if you haven’t.)

What is utopia? Everywhere and

nowhere…well, nowhere, really.

Golf is canon!

English gardens are indeed a

thing.

Asterix rules, the end. The specific

volume in question – and

here’s the lawn

joke.

Merry England, or rather an

overview of the stereotype.

A recent article on Tolkien and

satire in the context of the

Shire.

Air traffic controller

memes!

The Worlds of J. R. R.

Tolkien by John Garth – well worth picking up. Here’s the

Birmingham map mentioned – Sarehole is location 1.

Britton Hill – Florida’s highest

point. (In contrast Ned climbed Mount

Marcy once.)

Who doesn’t love a Shire fox?

Watership Down and The Plague

Dogs, both very good reads and

often harrowing movies.

The feast with Gildor at

Woodhall as depicted

by Alan Lee.

Lovely Crickhollow.

Support By-The-Bywater and our network on

Patreon!

...more

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By-The-Bywater: A Podcast about All Things J.R.R. Tolkien

By Jared Pechaček, Oriana Scwindt, and Ned Raggett

4.8

3232 ratings

February 07, 2022

35. Do the Hobbits Have H.O.A.s?

Listen Later

1 hour 1 minute

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Oriana’s choice of topic: the Shire. The

homeland of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins and many of Middle-earth’s hobbits in

general, and the entry point for nearly every reader to Tolkien’s imaginative

geographical and creative landscape, the Shire often seems like an idyllic and

nostalgic English utopia, an untroubled land where the beer is good, the

family trees are all spelled out carefully and there’s not much to worry about

aside from the occasional wolf or Orc raid over the centuries. Yet Tolkien

himself said he didn’t view it as a utopia, and both as sociopolitical

organization and as physical location, the Shire has more going on with it

than might be seen at first glance, even by some of its most well-known

inhabitants. What is the sense of history among the hobbits of the Shire, and

how do they regard their land and their sense of who they are? What does the

Shire being a seemingly safe place truly reveal when the Scouring is necessary

at the end of the grand story? Who are the authorities, if there are any, that

keep this seeming anarchist fantasy going as a functioning concern, and does

that cover monetary issues as well? And is that the only linguistically

blessed fox in the Shire, much less Middle-earth as a whole?

Show Notes.

Jared’s

doodle. A

party of special magnificence indeed.

Amazon’s title announcement

video – FINALLY. (And yes we

know there’s more but that happened after recording this episode – next time!)

TheOneRing.net

got some behind the scenes shots from the creation of said video, pretty cool.

The formal Haggerty Museum of Art

announcement about the

“J. R. R. Tolkien: The Art of the Manuscript” exhibition in Milwaukee, running

from August 19 to December 12.

Douglas Trumbull is rather

well known in the field.

The Shire: a basic overview.

Some of our relevant past episodes on the Scouring of the

Shire and Sam

Gamgee.

Karen Wynn Fonstad’s Shire

map,

as with all her work, is very great. (Pick up The Atlas of Middle-earth if you haven’t.)

What is utopia? Everywhere and

nowhere…well, nowhere, really.

Golf is canon!

English gardens are indeed a

thing.

Asterix rules, the end. The specific

volume in question – and

here’s the lawn

joke.

Merry England, or rather an

overview of the stereotype.

A recent article on Tolkien and

satire in the context of the

Shire.

Air traffic controller

memes!

The Worlds of J. R. R.

Tolkien by John Garth – well worth picking up. Here’s the

Birmingham map mentioned – Sarehole is location 1.

Britton Hill – Florida’s highest

point. (In contrast Ned climbed Mount

Marcy once.)

Who doesn’t love a Shire fox?

Watership Down and The Plague

Dogs, both very good reads and

often harrowing movies.

The feast with Gildor at

Woodhall as depicted

by Alan Lee.

Lovely Crickhollow.

Support By-The-Bywater and our network on

Patreon!

...more

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