IN THE SHIRE-RECKONING by Diane Finnis-Robb  

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Part Three; Chapter Two "Diaries and Dispatches"

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   There were many, many textual materials found in the 1961 excavation of the Great Smials and, sixty-four years later as I write this, much argument still remains in Hobbit-study about their translation, authorship and provenance. By the time of the War of the Ring, Year Fourteen Hundred and Seventeen in the Shire calendar, the vast tunnels and rooms of the Great Smials had already ceased to be a home to hobbits and had become a repository for old and no longer useful things; “mathom” as the hobbits would call it. We know from other historical records that this place had been the home of Gerontius Took, grandfather of Bilbo Baggins, who lived there to the age of one hundred and thirty years with “both he and his room becoming older and shabbier together.” After Gerontius' death in Year Thirteen Hundred and Twenty other shirehobbits used the Great Smials much as he had; as a resting place to put all kinds of things which they respected but had no reason to keep under foot. It was not a museum nor an archive; not an institution used for study or the dissemination of historical fact. Hobbits (with some notable exceptions) did not go in for such things. It was probably Goldilocks Gardner, daughter of mayor Samwise Gamgee, who was the first hobbit to use it as a library in or around the time of Year Fourteen Hundred and Sixty-three. But even if most of the Shirefolk, as we are told, had no real interest in such matters we are also told that they had a unique attachment to their own personal artifacts and effects; they held on to things from their ancestors and family members who came before them long after they had any practical use for these things themselves. And in all of history only hobbits would need to create a word like “mathom” to explain such an attachment.

   There are many corroborating letters and memoirs recovered at that site from the earliest days of the Shire which help to inform the story I have recorded here. The first generation of Shire-born hobbits were a surprisingly literate people (largely due to the schools and post offices that were among their earliest institutions) and if they did not have a practical use for things written by themselves or their friends they at least had the common sense to keep them around. The diaries and journals of many of the characters mentioned in this story were indeed kept at the Great Smials and I have drawn on those resources particularly in describing the events of Year Twenty-nine. But, of course, there are many key figures of that time for which we have no direct personal recounting of those days.

   I have already stated that the diaries and journals of Alaura Fairheart do not seem to have survived her death and that her words, as discovered in the vast libraries of papers at the Great Smials, come to us through the collection of old copies of “THE SHIRE-RECKONING” or letters written to her children (mostly after those important events of Year Twenty-nine). Her sister Ermenberga Bophin, a prodigious memoirist herself, also quoted Alaura quite often and that has helped to colour my impression of her in this later part of this book.

   The Oldbuck, from what we are told, wrote few correspondences and no diaries have ever been found. It is said that on his travels he kept only journals of names and place descriptions and sketchbooks filled with the sights he had seen. The absence of these journals, whether from the Great Smials or any other place yet undiscovered, is a tremendous loss to our understanding of Middle-earth during his well-traveled days.

   Twoody, who spent most of his daily life involved with bookkeeping, ledgers and claims, was a poor memoirist. It is true that during his marriage to Alaura he did try, probably through her example, to become better at this task. But those diaries preserved at the Great Smials are spotty and irregular and they stop completely after the Summerdays of Year Twenty-nine. We believe that Twoody wrote and sent many letters after that year, but we have only a handful of responses to them through which we might conjecture upon their content.

   The Youngbuck, whose speeches and decisions made such an impression on his friends that many of them have chosen to record them, also left surprisingly little of his own writing behind. The few letters that we do have are elegant in their script and skillful in their language. These are skills that he no doubt learned from his mother but could have only been honed through deliberate practice. The fact that so little remains from his hand does not suggest that he, like his uncle Twoody, had little time for such documents but asks the question of why they were never found.

   But much of the historical accounting which I have relied upon for later part of this book comes from Youngbuck’s uncle, Clooty the Builder as he was called. Clooty had been there since the very first days of the Shire and, as a hobbit with a clever eye for detail, kept daily accounts of his labours. Indeed, he was of such an ordered approach to all of those labours that he seems to have ended each day with an hour-to-hour recording of all that he had seen and done as well as a rumination on what must be done tomorrow. These journals give us exact dates, schematic drawings, listings of materials for the location of buildings and the acquiring of their source materials, descriptions of terrain and flora, a listing of clients and some of their family members, and much much more. Not quite diaries and not just ledgersheets, when we compare Clooty’s journals with the earliest deeds found in the Assayers’ Office a very clear picture of the hobbits western expansion during the first forty years of the Shire may be seen.

   I have also cited Clovis Bunce’s book, “The Bunces Between the Bridge and the Borderlands”, among my sources and there is indeed more than one surviving copy to be found at the excavation of the Great Smials. First published in or around Year Seventy-five of the Shire calendar the book seems to have been copied over many times through the centuries and was certainly familiar, if only in legend, to those four famous hobbits who participated in the War of the Ring. It is very much an adventure tale and there are many elements within it that exaggerate and inflate the story of Clovis’ father and grandfather. Yet some of Clovis’ own notes for the making of this book were also recovered at the Great Smials and they include many letters from his father which explain the events of Year Twenty-nine in a more measured tone. In these we get a first-hand account from Bovo Bunce who, or so it seems, politely suffered the embarrassment of being a subject of his son’s book.

   Poppy and the three Zaragamba brothers were unlettered as were most of the Lausa-folk. Childebrand and his two sons left no accounts behind other than the few which turned up in Youngbuck’s possession by the end of this story. Waltraub Thornburrow, who would go on to become the third Chief Constable of the Shire, left behind letters which serve well to inform us of the coming twenty years of development even though they tell us very little of Afterl-ithe in Year Twenty-nine.

   I tell you this because the events of the first seven days of After-lithe are quite well documented in those accounts that I have mentioned and I will try to present portions of them here with little embellishment. Some additional information I will add as necessary, but for the most part this chapter represents the fairest translation of excerpts from the journal entries and letters that some (though surely not all) scholars of Hobbit-lore can agree upon.

-D.F.R.

 

   The Shire calendar, even in these early years, quite reasonably held to a system of seven days of the week. But the three winter and three summer feast days (called “Yule” and “Lithe” respectively) were not part of that seven day arrangement so the first month after “Summerdays” the Shirefolk called “Afterlithe”(originally “After-lithe”) and it began again the weekly seven day cycle. Therefore the First of After-lithe in Year Twenty-nine, the events of which were recounted in the previous two chapters, occurred on a Stersday² and at the beginning of the Shire week.

 

**Stersday**

●  As most of the events of the First day of After-lithe are given in greater detail in the chapters above, details we examine here regard the close of that evening. We know that Horris Bunce and his party of reeves had chosen to camp in the Green Hill country that evening and would not enter Sarn Ford until late the next day.

●  We do not know how or when Reginard Swiftook entered the town. He may have heard of Horris’ approach when in the town of Whitwell and rode through the night to reach the ford. In that case he would have passed Horris and his reeves without even noticing where they had camped. But it is certain that Reginard would have arrived no earlier than three hours past nightfall in the town of Sarn Ford and by then his father had already been taken prisoner.

●  Commander Ohtar had allowed Troby’s kidnapper to ride away to his fate. He and his soldiers had killed five of the thugs who served as Swiftook’s bodyguard and captured two others. Presumably these men were immediately questioned by Ohtar, though we have no account of that questioning. They were then sent across the ford that same evening to be held in the custody of Ohtar’s other soldiers on the eastern shore. The bodies of their fellows were sent across as well; Ohtar would allow no grave for these thugs in the Shire.

●  Certainly some of the Lausa-folk from Whitwell and areas to the west would have come with word of Horris and his reeves marching toward the ford by the middle of the afternoon. But with the soldiers now controlling the town, the Old Took taken prisoner and his bodyguards killed or banished, it is uncertain who they would report to. Most of the Lausa from around the town at the ford went into hiding when the soldier rode in and remained so through that whole first night.

●  Somehow the reports of Horris’ approach came to the ears of Troby, though we have no account of how this happened. But most records indicate that Troby rode out to meet his friends from the north on the following day.

 

**Sunsday**

●  On the Second morning of After-lithe Youngbuck and Gormadoc Zaragamba did go off to survey the western edge of the Shire to make a map of what would one day become the Zaragamba’s home. The events of this are detailed in Chapter Fifteen of Part II, “the far downs”.

●  Gilley Bramblethorn, on this same morning, was busily trying to get the hobbits of Nobottle ready to leave and join Gormadoc and the others. While the decision of these hobbits was made fairly quickly, getting them ready to leave was a more time-consuming act and would require much preparation.

●  The Oldbuck, perhaps feeling some uncharacter-like touch of nostalgia, had breakfast at the Budge-and-Bridge Inn that morning, where he was recognized by the owner, Leubovera Bolger. She told him much of what he has missed. After he departs rumours begin to circulate of his return.

●  Also on this morning Clooty Pudifoot enlists a young hunter who lives north of the Delvings, one Robin Phloxflower, to accompany him on his mission to find Youngbuck and his party.

   At dawn I purchased two good ponies- Misty and Nevers- from the stablemaster and put letters out to Hugo [Stumbletoe, his partner] and Twoody away in the Buckland; It was my intention to be gone from the Delvings for some days, perhaps even a week, to find Youngbuck and his friends. I provisioned the ponies with rations for two which should last more than that week’s time and then I set off, perhaps an hour after the dawn, to hire Robin.

● Robin Phloxflower, hitherto unmentioned in this story, has very little substantiated biographical information. That the Phloxflowers were never a large enough family to make their names listed in Families of the Shire is one matter, but there seems to be no evidence of them in any of the Assayers’ lists of deeds. It is possible that the Phloxflowers were among those late-comers to the Shire who simply took the land on the fringes and never bothered to file any claim for it. There are also some scholars of Hobbit-lore who link this “Phloxflower” name to another famous family of hunters, the “Floxleafs”, who come into repute some three hundred and fifty years later.³ There is nothing to verify that in the texts that remain, but certainly Clooty, and many other hobbits of that time held Robin’s prowess as a hunter in high regard.

   I did not need to hire Robin as I did the ponies. When I told him about the missing youngsters and the rumour of troubles in Waymeet he came immediately and, though our previous connections have been few, from the very first he seems a most agreeable companion.

   We went longways around the Delvings and then south toward Waymeet. Robin himself had no previous dealings with the Swiftooks but, from rumour, held the reason to distrust them. I will admit that I was worried to find the old Landlord present there, for I feared him in my youth, just as I fear him now, and worried that he would be too clever for me. Thankfully cleverness was not a trait held in abundance by the Swiftook who now runs Waymeet.

   I had never been to the settlement before, mostly due to the Swiftooks of course, but I had heard from many travelers and traders during the past year who had done business there. It is not so much a town as the opportunity for one. Carts and open stys, water-carriers rather than wells, overturned barrows rather than houses and tanned hide canopies overhead rather than dry and secure holes to rest in. An entirely abysmal place. The overall feeling was one of a rough encampment which all of the denizens could not wait to leave.

   Back behind the main wagonpath there was a large darkly-coloured oilcloth pavilion that was clearly made for Men rather than Hobbits. It was twelve ranga wide and might easily house a dozen soldiers. We saw none of the Big Folk however in the whole of our time there but, given the Landlord’s previous employees, I still take this as a very dangerous indication.

   There were a dozen small stalls of trade goods, all unmarked, but the largest had the familiar blue sign of ‘SWIFTOOK P., P., P. & P.’ as I had seen in the early days of the Shire, but with the mocking adoption of the Swiftook name. It was here that we met the Landlord’s son, Leufred. Whether this young son recognized my name or our family connections was unclear...

● The matter of naming and the constant changing of names was often as difficult for hobbits as I imagine it must be for readers. Clothair (Clooty) was born into a Bree-land household with his father’s name, Littlefoot, and upon registering for property in the Shire, he adopted the name of his older brothers who had become famous for first exploring the land, Pudifoot. He was related by marriage to “the Landlord” because his sister Alaura had, in her second marriage to Twoody, become a Swiftalk. But by that time Clooty had gained a very great reputation for himself and had come to be known throughout the Shire as “Clooty the Builder”. Indeed, this is how he signed any documents later than Shire Year Ten. We do not know how he introduced himself at this meeting, but this comment in his diary seems to suggest that he expected to be recognized and may have even used his popular name as a form of subtle intimidation. But Clooty knew nothing of this second son of Childebrand Swiftook as we do; Leufred was largely unlettered and not much interested in family history. Clooty may well have mistook Leufred’s ignorance for guile. But the constant changing of hobbit names, frustrating to many of us but commonplace for them, may have played a part in this mistake.

   ...but he met with us eagerly enough when he heard we came from the Delvings and seemed anxious to do business. He seemed particularly eager to offer us a tribe of goats for some unfathomable reason. When he heard that we had not come for trade but for inquiry about four missing young hobbits he grew more than a bit hostile, but offered some suggestion that he knew of their passing through Waymeet. He asked us the names of these youngsters and I decided, given our family histories, to describe them instead:

   'Three youngbucks and a doe,’ I said, wondering if the former title might incite a reaction. ‘All in the first years of their maturity, but still reckless in their youth. One of the bucks had a game leg and another of them was particularly well-mannered and wise-speaking. Have you seen them?’

   ‘“Have I seen them?” You ask’ he responded in kind. ‘Well I can fairly tell you that I myself have not, and that is the courtesy I would offer anyone on such a salutary mission as your own, even though you take up my time with matters other than trade. But,” at this point I felt he tried his best to disguise his avarice with politeness, ‘if you were to ask me if I had heard reports of them then that might be a matter for barter.’

   So, being distrustful of methods of extortion which this Swiftook had so obviously learned from his father, I offered him what I felt was an excessively good price for the first item I saw, a sack of wine, if his “reports” would come as part of the parcel.

   It seems that the four hobbits had indeed come through Waymeet in the morning three days past. Here they met and bartered with Leufred’s brother Reginard and were equipped for further journeys. Leufred then told us what they had received, though I noted that he did not consult any list of transactions and, or so I believe, may have been going completely from conjecture. But he claimed that they had received a pony, food provisions, building tools, bows and quivers, rope, bags and casks, and, more surprisingly, seed and animal feed.

● These items are all unsubstantiated by historical documents. Some of them were definitely in the possession of the Zaragamba brothers and some were, of course, specifically requested by Youngbuck and his friends. But the popular conclusion is that Leufred, having no real list of these items at hand, just named things he had heard were in short supply at Waymeet in the hopes of getting more out of Clooty.

   He claimed that his brother had made this contract with the four hobbits based upon a letter of credit from, curiously enough, Horris Bunce. Why Horris, who from what I have heard was as surprised as anyone by the disappearance of the four truants, would have made such a letter or, more incredible, entered into any financial arrangement with the Swiftooks, was quite beyond my comprehension. I asked the younger Swiftook if he could show me this letter of credit and there he grew quite indignant. ‘I’m certain that I cannot and would not. My brother’s business dealings are his own just as mine are with you. You’ve bought your winesack and a bit more besides, master,’ he said, coming forth from behind his stall and counter, ‘and I am not some clerk to deliver you with records. I make it that you have gotten what you have paid for and, if there is nothing else within my shop which interests you, our business is concluded.’ And here, for the first time as he stood clear of his counter, I could see that he had a sword fastened to his belt. A sword of all things! Most un-hobbitlike to be certain, but as he laid his hand upon its hilt, this little Swiftook seemed to me the most pitiable creature I had ever met!

   I write this entry now about a league or so due west of Waymeet. Robin and have taken a second breakfast and a time to discuss our next steps. We have also had time to agree that the Swiftook’s sack of wine was neither worth drinking nor carrying. We spilled it on the ground and, after some discussion, decided to keep the sack. Our plan now is to head towards Greenholm, Twoody’s retreat where he had awaited Gondo for many years. I think that Berty and his friends, provisioned as they were, may indeed have gone there just as Twoody suspects.

●  Clooty and Robin Phloxleaf would indeed reach Greenholm later that day and find it vacant but with evidence of a recent camp.

●  After a night and a morning’s worth of cajoling and organizing Gilley managed to get sixty-three relatives of the Zaragamba clan to agree to set out from Nobottle to join their kin at the Far Downs. But the large group is ill-prepared to leave immediately. Laden with all they can carry, it may take two or three days to reach their new home.

●  Horris and the reeves delayed their departure until just before the noon hour. During this time Horris began to draft a report to be sent back to the West-farthing of the things which they had encountered on the first day of their march. One can imagine that it took him some time to decide who such a letter should be addressed to, for Horris alone among his reeves knew that Oldbuck had returned to the Shire and that consequently Twoody and Alaura had their own problems to contend with.

●  The contents of this letter were not recorded in THE SHIRE-RECKONING as much other official business was in those days, but the original was found in the Great Smials Excavation.

To the SHIRE-COUNCIL,

   Yesterday, on the FIRST of AFTER-LITHE, I and the full company of REEVES travelled long through the TOOKLANDS to come to the SETTLEMENT at our SOUTHERN FORD. We were assembled as a FULL COMPANY to address NEW REPORTS from the NIGHTSWATCH at Stonebows bridge which came to OUR ATTENTION on the FIRST MORNING of the SUMMERDAYS.

●  Much of the earlier part of the letter goes on to explain the arrival of Commander Ohtar and his horsemen at the bridge, the reaction and the steps taken by the Nighstwatch, as well as the rumour that the Swiftooks may have aligned themselves with the forces of Angmar. Much of that is already recounted in this tale and need not be repeated here.

●  There is also much description of what Horris and his reeves saw on their march through the Tookland. That too is recounted in the letter with detail, but has already been alluded to in the previous chapter.

●  Around noon time, as Berty was sketching the two tall benches which he believed signified the western edge of the Shire and as Oldbuck, still in disguise, marveled at the sight of the Budgeford bridge, Horris and his deputies set out to walk the remaining twenty miles or so to the southern ford. They went cautiously over the old Broken road, for they were still wary of some confrontation with the Southrons, yet saw nothing for many miles. There were farmhouses and a few scattered barns, but all was dark and no one came to meet them. Horris and the reeves could not know it, but all of their southern neighbours had gone into hiding since their leader was taken prisoner.

●  At some point along the way they were met by Waltraub Thornburrow who came riding on his pony to find the reeves.

●  So we will return here to the part of Horris’ letter to the Shire Council, taken up later in the evening on the Second of After-lithe, as he reports on how he and his reeves, after two days' hard march, came to the Southron town that Men were calling Sarn Ford.

   We were met outside of the settlement at the ford in the late afternoon by one of our own NIGHTSWATCH; young WALTRAUB THORNBURROW. I knew from reports that he had ridden south as an escort to the KING’S SOLDIERS and, upon hearing of our arrival near the town, had gone out to meet us. He then reported that the KING’S SOLDIERS had KILLED OR ROUTED ALL of the dangerous BIG FOLK from the area and TAKEN THE LANDLORD INTO THEIR CUSTODY. While this seemed like very good news indeed to myself and my tired reeves, THORNBURROW also told us that the Commander of the KING’S SOLDIERS had TAKEN CONTROL OF THE SETTLEMENT and would, with first light of morning (that being THIRD DAY of AFTER-LITHE on which I now send you all this account), REQUEST that he may TAKE the LANDLORD north to the KING’S JUSTICE.

●  Quite a number of issues regarding the southern settlements and Sarn Ford itself are raised here in Horris’ letter to the Shire Council but, sadly, he gives no deeply personal account of his own meeting with Commander Ohtar, Childebrand and Reginard Swiftook and Waltraub Thornburrow or of the accounting which must be made for the crimes of the Tooks.

●  Therefore we must turn again to his grandson's adventure novel, “The Bunces Between the Bridge and the Borderlands” for any account of this pivotal meeting between the northern and southern factions of the Shire. Now it should be said that this negotiation is depicted by Clovis, Horris’ grandson, as the Firebrand’s last important moment as a statesman and general in those early years and as such may be seen as a thing wherein any grandson might romanticise the details. Whether Clovis learned the story from his grandfather or from other sources is unknown.

  Weary from two days of relentless marching, the troop of reeves were conducted to the very heart of the town, where the King’s soldiers had pitched their camp by a great stone well. There, twelve noble horses, tall and proud, stood tethered in a patient ring, while among them, as if a prince in humble company, was a single small pony, tended with a care that bespoke its special favour. A young hobbit, diligent in his service, brushed the little beast’s mane, all the while casting furtive glances towards the soldiers, whose own hands, skilled and swift, groomed their chargers with the practiced ease of campaigners.

   Closer to the well, seven soldiers had arranged their gear and fashioned a rough table from upturned crates and battered barrels, where they now sat concluding their evening meal. The folk of the town, wary as wild creatures at the scent of danger, kept their distance, though Horris and his Reeves caught glimpses of curious faces peering from behind shop windows and beneath shadowy porches—each one anxious, awaiting what fate the morrow might bring.

   Nightswatchman Thorburrow led Horris and his companions straight into the midst of the King's soldiers, announcing in a voice clear and resonant so that all who lingered in the square might hear: "Behold, representatives of the Heir of Elendil, rightful lord of these lands! With you now stand hobbits from the northern Shire—the Reeves, as they are called—who have journeyed far to sustain the peace and render aid to their southern kin. For two days and more have they marched, driven by the gravity of the troubles that beset us."

   At the approach of the Reeves, the soldiers all rose, but one of their number stepped forward, hands open in a gesture of amity. “Welcome, friends!” he cried, his smile broad and warm as summer sun. “Marching is thirsty work, be it for the tallest man or the smallest hobbit, and travel fare seldom fills the belly as it should. Yet fortune has smiled upon us: your southern kin have provided us with victuals fit for a king, and there is plenty for all. Tell me, noble Reeves, will you break bread with us?”

   The Reeves, cheered by this hearty welcome, looked to Horris for his answer. “Gladly shall we dine with you, and with thanks for your generosity,” he replied. “Yet, if you permit, we will first refresh ourselves at the well—among Shirefolk it is ill custom to share supper with travel-dust upon one’s feet.” Without further ado, Horris drew up the first bucket and, to the laughter and wonder of the Men, plunged his head into its icy depths, sending rivulets streaming down his neck and over his ears.

   “Tell me, is it the custom in your country to bathe one’s head before supper?” asked one soldier, amusement twinkling in his eye.

   “Nay, before breakfast, usually,” Horris replied with a cheerful grin. “But when sleep is scarce, cold water on the neck is as reviving as rain upon withering lettuce. Now, by my troth, I am fit to face even that old villain Swiftook!”⁴

   Thus it was that Horris was escorted by Nightswatchman Thornburrow away from his company of Reeves to meet with Commander Ohtar of the King’s soldiers and his captive. “The King’s forces swept into town yesterday, midway through the afternoon,” Thornburrow explained as they walked, “and, by fortune’s grace, no hobbits were lost in the assault. The Landlord and his two burliest bodyguards—giants among the Big Folk—fled for the safety of that tall house they built yonder. The soldiers now call it ‘the Crook’s Quarters,’ and the name suits it well. The Landlord had hired other Big Folk, who tried to make a stand at the well but were dispersed as swiftly as milkweed in a hailstorm. The riders came fast, their swords flashing, their horns sounding, and naught could avail against them. Swiftook and his two guards were quickly beset and trapped within, and held fast. Meanwhile, the other hobbits of the town have kept to their hiding places, waiting to see what fate would bring. Some of the King’s men tried to draw them out, but they would have none of it. Resistance there was not, only the uncommon skill of hobbits in hiding when Big Folk bearing swords come to call. The Commander ordered his men to leave the carts and shops untouched and to take what provisions they could from within the Crook’s Quarters for the garrison. Great stores were found, some rare and fine delicacies among them; I think the Commander hoped that sharing them near the well might coax the Southrons from their hiding spots. That hope remains unmet, and if I may judge such a man, it has caused him no little vexation.

   “But not long after the soldiers settled and began to prepare their meal last eve, some new Southrons came hastening into town with tidings from the west,” Thornburrow continued. “Fortune favoured me, for I caught one or two before they encountered the King's soldiers. They were younglings, bearing news that a party from the north had come armed into Whitwell and was marching toward the ford. I suspected you must be at the head of such a company. When I conveyed this to Commander Ohtar, he resolved to withhold judgment upon the Landlord until you, as a representative of the Shire in the North, arrived. He and his lieutenant await you now in the Crook’s Quarters.”

   Thornburrow gestured toward a shabby, two-storied building just ahead. Horris, who had spent his youth in the Bree-land, was well acquainted with stone and crete edifices—built by folk with scant means and a pragmatic eye. Wooden-framed windows, thatched roofs, stairways of timber—all these were common devices among the Big Folk, and to hobbits, who dwell in holes by nature, they seemed both ugly and impractical. Yet this building, constructed by hobbit hands, showed a keener craftsmanship, though its design bore all the marks and expectations of the Big Folk. “Here,” thought Horris, “at the heart of this town stands the meeting place of buffoons and villains.”

   The building boasted a wooden porch with a clapboard shingled roof, and in the deep shadow of that place sat a Man. As the two hobbits drew near, the Man rose slowly, and in that moment Horris was swept back to memories of the Battle of the Bank and the Black Captain—who had emerged from shadow with dread intent at a desperate hour. The silhouette before him, tall and imposing, matched that memory: easily twice Horris’s own height, with the deadly shape of a long sword at his hip. No cloak nor hat adorned him, but Horris marked the high boots of a rider and the deadly composure of a seasoned warrior.

   Horris did not falter—neither at the Bank fourteen years before, nor now, nor ever. He halted, rooted in place, and stood his ground, awaiting whatever fate might unfold. For a brief span, silence reigned, deep and expectant.

   "I am Horris Bunce, elected Chief Constable of the Shire, sworn to uphold the King’s peace in the land he has granted to all hobbits. I and my companions from the north have come to speak with our neighbour, the Landlord Childebrand Swiftook. Is he within? If you are his jailer or his guardian, declare it now—for I would treat with the one and banish the other."

   The man descended from the porch’s shadows into the circle of torchlight that illuminated the building and its environs. He was clad in a light hauberk of chainmail, the high boots of a horseman upon his feet. His beard, not yet entirely grey, was full and neatly trimmed, and his face — lined and weathered — shone with the wisdom of experience. Though he smiled not, there was a quiet assurance in his gaze that banished Horris’ unease.

   "Jailer I am, for the present," said the tall man gravely. "You may call me Ohtar, Chief Constable Bunce. I command a company of riders stationed beyond the ford, as well as the detachment you see here in the town. We serve the Heir of Elendil and acknowledge the authority of your King in Norbury, who has named you and your people as stewards of these lands.

   "In honour of that authority, we have awaited your arrival, for word of your coming reached us some hours ago," the Commander continued. "It appears that this southwestern frontier of your land requires the vigilance of both our companies."

   The Firebrand advanced to meet the tall captain at the foot of the porch, reaching up to offer his hand. The Man took it kindly, saying, "Sit with me a while, Chief Constable, that we may share our knowledge of this affair. I have found wine of fair quality here, and food shall be brought as you require. I have already spoken with this 'Landlord' of yours, and I assure you he will not depart until together we determine his fate. Moreover, he shall find the waiting most uncomfortable."

   The Firebrand smiled broadly. "I have marched far to bring discomfort to that villain, and if sitting and speaking comfortably with you—while enjoying good food and wine—adds to his unease, then I thank you for your offer and am pleased to accept it."

●  The account given by Clovis Bunce of this conversation is rather long and filled with much speculation, exaggeration and outright fabrication of the many crimes of Childebrand Swiftook. Once again it must be noted that there is very little evidence for any of this and that Clovis’ intention was to tell a thrilling family history in need of a truly sinister villain. The work makes for interesting, even exciting reading on its own but is a complete digression from the story told here.

●  Careful readers will also note that Clovis completely omits Reginard Swiftook from this part of the story though we know that he was in fact present in Sarn Ford that evening. Indeed, there is a reference to his presence which, if intentional, might prove that Clovis did more research than is commonly believed. Instead the author chooses to save his character Reginard for a later confrontation with Bovo Bunce in one of the more exciting chapters of the second part of his book though that event never truly happened.

●  While the meeting between Commander Ohtar and Horris Bunce happened in the early evening while Youngbuck and Gondo were making their first camp on the western edge of the Shire and while Gilley was trying to organize the hobbits of Nobottle, we should turn our attention back to Clooty and Robin Phloxflower. They had spent a good part of the day exploring around the southwestern edge of the Chalk hills and looking for signs of Youngbuck and his friends. Robin knew the western edges of the Delvings well and hoped to pick up some other evidence of their passage. Clooty writes in his journal later that day:

   So according to the young Swiftook our truants were apparently laden with supplies and had at least one pony now, and Robin was hopeful of finding some clue along the ground as to their trail, their direction and to their overall plan. I will confess that the grocer’s list of supplies that they had bartered for with the Swiftooks seemed very suspicious to us both; almost as if they were looking to settle a plot of land for themselves rather than go on some adventure from the spur of their youthful imaginations. Unlike myself, Robin had visited the area around Greenholm in his travels and therefore knew the way well. He seems to think of it, just as Twoody himself does, as being the very dangerous western edge of the Shire and keeps it as a border for himself in any of his longer treks spent hunting.

   He did manage to find some evidence of hobbits and ponies headed west in the lower Chalk hills, but this may have been from some other party. It was a trail of at least a half-dozen hobbits and four ponies, at least a few days old and, to make matters worse, they seemed to be followed (or stalked!) by two of the Big Folk. Considering these tracks and the evidence of that tent in Waymeet we immediately became concerned that the Swiftooks were again working with the Big Folk. This would be very alarming indeed, so we followed that trail for a time in hope of learning more. We came to evidence of a camp, but much of the ground had been disturbed and even Robin could not rightly say how many were camped there. The trail then crossed a small stream, but on the other side we found some footprints from the clumsy Men heading south with no hobbit prints nor signs of ponies this time. We then decided to head directly to Greenholm so that we would come there before nightfall and examine that place better.

   Greenholm is a sad place and I am glad that I never accompanied Twoody here before. It is fashioned into the hollow of an old moss-ridden tree of a kind I had seen only rarely in the Shire; similar to an alder, but with a bark which is hard and dark, almost black.⁵ I have never seen one of these so large however, fully over forty ranga high, and the hollow in its trunk wide enough to have once formed a very dry and comfortable hobbit house. Twoody abandoned it a dozen years ago, after Gondo was declared dead, and, to the best of my knowledge, he has never returned. [there are some very well executed and interesting drawings of Greenholm found on the following pages of Clooty’s journal, but unfortunately my publishers were unable to secure the right to print them in this edition⁶]

   But some persons had indeed come here, and recently at that. Robin found evidence of a small camp from just a few days past; the same collection of hobbits he felt certain, and there was also evidence of four ponies. Happily there was no evidence of the two Men. The camp had been neatly tended it seemed and Robin believed that some small group of hobbits, six to eight in number with four ponies, had spent a night here not more than three days past. He spent two careful hours before dusk examining all the area around the old homestead while I prepared a camp for ourselves; for surely it would be impossible to follow further in the dark of night.

●  So Robin Floxflower, who must have truly been a very skillful hunter, did manage to determine that the party of hobbits who they were following earlier did come to Greenholm. Moreover, he found evidence that the party had split up and that two hobbits, leading one pony went south while another larger group of five or more were leading three other laden ponies north and back in the direction of the Road. Furthermore, as the ground was softer here near Greenholm than where they had first found the tracks in the Chalk hills, Robin was able to determine that one of the hobbits heading north was lame.

●  Clooty therefore knew then that this northbound group probably contained Poppy Noakesburrow and perhaps he was returning with some other hobbits to the Delvings. But who were these other hobbits? And who were the two hobbits who went south?

   After much discussion and a rather sad and sleepless night, I decided this [next] morning that Robin and I should follow the trail to the south. The Swiftook we had met in Waymeet had told us that Berty and his friends had purchased one pony along with his other supplies on a line of credit from Horris Bunce. As unlikely as that sounded, it could only be another one of the infamous pranks of Horris’ son Bovidine. Bovo and Berty were incorrigible when together and they may have some other adventure in mind which their friends Poppy and Hildegund would not follow. I certainly hoped that was the case, though I couldn’t say who the other hobbits were who were accompanying them with their own laden ponies. Settlers they had met along the way, perhaps?

   But even more disconcerting was the thought that this one pony and its two hobbit friends were turning toward the unknown and unmapped south; the same direction the trail of those Big Folk led to. That is what made up my mind the most. Could Berty and Bovo have gone off to see what these suspicious and likely dangerous Big Folk were up to? Once again Twoody’s words were reminding me of “how much of the father we see in the son.”

●  So Clooty and Robin camped that night in Greenholm and prepared to set out south with the coming of morning.

●  Reginard had indeed come to Sarn Ford either on the previous evening or sometime before Horris and the Reeves entered the town. He saw that there were tall soldiers, horsemen, camped near to the well and none of his father’s Big Folk were anywhere to be seen. Nor were there any hobbits. All of the Lausa-folk seemed to have gone into hiding. We believe that he spent some hours trying to find the other Southron hobbits and learn from them what had happened, but we can also suspect those Lausa-folk, leaderless and in hiding, had very little information to share.

● We have some letters from Reginard written to his wife, Donnamira Swiftook, which are undated but give us some idea of chronology for the Second and Third days of After-lithe and, later, some of Reginard’s fate in the days which followed. Some of the first letter is here:

Dearest Mira,

   I trust that this letter finds you and the children safely hidden from what is now occurring. I have arrived safely and secretly in town to discover this catastrophe we seem to be facing. When I first saw the soldiers in the centre of town my heart leapt in dire worry of your safety.

   Seeing that all of the townsfolk had gone into hiding I quickly did the same, skulking my way around to our cousin Marmadoc’s farm on the north-western edge of the town. He quickly took me in and told me all that he knew of what had occurred.

●  Reginard goes on to recount for his wife all which he had heard happened on that fateful day of the First of After-lithe in hope that she and their children had been nowhere close enough to witness it. From this description it seems that this same “cousin Marmadoc” had been that very first farmer of Sarn Ford to encounter Troby Thornburrow as he came riding through his fields and much of that accounting has already been told in an earlier chapter.

●  Marmadoc seems to have remained at the town well long enough to witness the slaying of the Big Folk and the capture of Childebrand Swiftook. The knowledge of this filled Reginard with a new purpose.

   If father has indeed been taken by the King’s soldiers then I must learn more of it. All of our friends and neighbours have gone to ground and no one can say what is happening as no one will go near the soldiers’ encampment. But, dearest, I must. I cannot abandon my own father and I cannot help him knowing so little as I do. Cousin Marmadoc’s young son, bold Ferdibrand he calls him, has offered to assist me and also to be my runner to you. I’m going now into the town to learn what I might and I will send letters back to you through bold Ferdy at every chance I get.

   Kiss the children from their father and save the memory of more kisses for yourself until I return, 

Your loving husband, Reginard

●  Reginard set a dangerous plan for himself to learn more about the capture of his father. He doesn’t speak of it directly in the letters to his wife, but we can puzzle it out from other accounts of that day.

●  Euric Bophin was not remotely the dedicated diarist that his wife Ermenberga was but, at her insistence, he had tried to keep records of his more important duties. Certainly the “March Through the Tooklands”, as this excursion was later called, was just such an occasion for him to rather scrupulously take note of what he saw, heard and discovered.

●  Euric had not slept well in days by this point. He had traveled all night on the first evening of the Summerdays, stood vigil with little rest in the Delvings another two full days and a night with only short sleep while awaiting the coming of Youngbuck, and then departed on the last night of that holiday to reach the Great Smials by dawn. Upon doing so, he found that his battalion was to march right away to the southern ford, a trip of a dozen hours and more, and, dog-tired though he was, Euric went willingly along. They had a full rest in the Green hill country on the night of the First, for which Euric was deeply thankful. But still too on edge to sleep deeply, on the evening of the Second day of After-lithe Euric was both troubled and tired.

●  When the Reeves were greeted by the King’s soldiers all of them took their rest with enjoyment and none so much at need as poor bedraggled Euric Bophin.

●  But when the Chief went off to interrogate the Landlord it was Euric who was the only one amongst his peers that noticed there was a Southron hobbit grooming a lone pony over in the town’s rather makeshift stables.

   The stories of these soldiers captivated all of us, certainly, and they were gracious and grand and there was no hobbit amongst us in the service of the Reeves that did not wonder at their adventures in the larger world. They told us of goblins and trolls, of giant wyrms and of bats the size of hawks, and my friends, tired as they were from their day’s march, thought these to be bedtime stories and gathered their blankets and rolls to fall asleep at the telling. The soldiers looked on them with kindness and humour; for these were stories they had lived and struggles they had met and so, for them, they seldom brought peace nor sleepfulness.

   Sleep was in me but not yet on me. I had traveled so far in the past five days but my hope to accomplish something from these travels remained unfulfilled. I had not been able to find Youngbuck and his friends nor been able to give word of him to his parents. Following hard upon that failure came these two days of long marching without resolution. We had come hard on against a dangerous purpose only to find that these soldiers, kindly as they were, had taken that purpose from us. Bedtime stories could not tire my need to do something of use. So while my friends listened to the stories of these gracious soldiers my eyes were drawn to the town we had come to... conquer? Overthrow? I could not say, for what was Horris’ intention I could not know.

   My attention was eventually drawn away to the first Southron hobbit I saw in the town. Still a youngling, he stood in the stables, away from the encampment, grooming a pony, but mostly watching the manner in which these other soldiers groomed horses of their own. While all the other hobbits of the town had gone into hiding, well I wondered, who was this brave hobbit to be tending to this one lone pony? The other soldiers did not try to speak with him and I thought that this might be under orders of their commander, but I was under no such orders and so I went to do so myself.

● In Clovis Bunce’s account this hobbit in the stables is present as the reeves first come to the well, but here Euric tells us more. Certainly the arrival of this hobbit came after Horris and Troby had left and, from the description, after the meal the reeves shared with the other soldiers. It's a clear example of how Clovis’ book moves further and further into fiction even though he may have heard more accurate tellings of the events.

   I approached the young hobbit slowly, for I did not want him to bolt away. ‘That is a fine pony. Is he your own?’ I asked him.

   ‘No, sir,’ he replied, leaving the pony’s side and watching me warily. ‘I saw him ride in just after midday yesterday, go out again today, and no one has seen to him yet this evening, you see...’

   ‘Did a hobbit ride him?’ I asked.

   ‘Yes, sir,’ the youngling said, becoming less skittish as I approached himself and the pony. I could see now that his clothing was simple, his feet rich in dirt like a farm boy and his hair not entirely wild but certainly unkempt. He did not have the look nor assurance of a stable boy. Perhaps he was simply curious enough and courageous enough to come into town to find out what was happening. A brave heart to be sure.

   Smiling at him I said, ‘well then, this must be the pony of Warden Thornburrow. Troby we call him. Like myself, he is from the northern part of the Shire and will very likely be glad for the attention you have shown his friend here. My name is Euric. Will you tell me yours?’

   ‘Ferdy, sir, my family calls me,’ he said. ‘Are you one of the soldiers?’

   ‘No, no, or at least not really,’ I said. ‘They are the King’s men from up in Norbury and, though they’ve treated us kindly enough and accepted us to their table, they are not common helpers like we reeves of the north. Do they frighten you?’

   ‘Oh, yes, sir. Very much so,’ the young hobbit replied.

   ‘Ferdibrand!’ came a voice from just beyond the torchlight and in the thicket of carts and boxes where these soldiers had made their temporary stable. I looked up to see a hobbit, one perhaps a bit older than myself if not by much, coming out of the darkness. ‘Come away from those strangers!’

   This hobbit came cautiously forth, keeping himself in shadow and ready to run if need called. ‘He means no harm to the pony, master,’ he said. ‘He is curious about all these tall riders and is too young to understand how dangerous soldiers can be.’

   ‘Are you his father?’ I asked.

   ‘I am, master,’ the hobbit replied, ‘and he should be at home in hiding with the rest of his family while there’s Big Folk abroad slaying and taking prisoner those that gets in their way. But he’s too young to remember the roughness of the world growing up as he has in the peace of the Shire. He has not the experiences we older hobbits have.’

   All the time he spoke, this hobbit remained outside of the stables, bidding his son to come to him while speaking to me from the safer position at the edge of torchlight. He was well-spoken, in his rustic way, and I hoped to draw him into a conversation which might tell us something of the hold Landlord Swiftook had over the poor folk of this town. Just who were these hundreds of Southron hobbits who had come to live here in so short a time?

●  It is certain from other discovered writings that this particular Southron hobbit was indeed Reginard Swiftook in disguise. We have no direct indication that Euric had met Reginard in the past, though it does seem likely. Either way Reginard’s disguise seemed to hold through their meeting and Euric believed him to be Marmadoc Labingi, the name he gave at this meeting.

●  Euric did indeed learn something of the Southron hobbits from “master Labingi,” and much of that which is included in his letter is told elsewhere in this tale. He learned of how the Lausa-folk had come from the Weather hills and of their relationship to the Swiftook clan. He learned that they consisted of many large families which had come over the ford rather than the bridge fearing the “hostilities” of their northern neighbours.

●  Euric also learned that Childebrand Swiftook had many friends and employees among the Big Folk who had been contracted to protect them here from such hostilities and these friends had helped to keep them supplied from across the ford so they would not have to deal with their northern neighbours. Euric was reminded by this hobbit that the Agreement of Year Fifteen excluded trade between the Tooklands and the north and, if he had been more awake, more on his guard and as distrustful as Chief Horris, Euric might have realized that this was a particularly acute understanding of Shire history and law for a farmer from the Tooklands to hold. But it escaped his notice and Reginard’s disguise held throughout their conversation.

●  Reginard, through this conversation, learned that these soldiers who were now encamped in the town were the King’s Men, and that many others of their battalion now held the other side of the ford where other Men, the Landlord’s accomplices, had previously set up camp. Those Men which the King’s soldiers had overthrown, those that had given aid to the Landlord and supplied the Southrons in their expansion, Euric reported that those Men, or so it had been told, came from Angmar.

   ‘Do you know of Angmar?’ I asked.

   ‘No more than I know of giant blood-sucking bats, graveyard-stalking ghouls or fire-breathing wyrms,’ he replied, ‘not from sight nor experience but through reputation. For anyone who has lived in the Weather hills has heard too much of the Witch-king, his soldiers and his goblins and the dreadfulness of his purpose. We have long learned in our deep places in those hills to avoid such evils and this is why we have moved west to this land to escape them. Do you say that the Old Took, who you call “the Landlord” has been in league with Angmar? All along? This I cannot believe!’ he replied.

   Yet in his eyes I could see scepticism, a wavering of doubt in what he had been previously told.

   ‘Believe or no,’ I said, ‘this is the claim these soldiers make and it gives them reason to march on these employees of Landlord Swiftook. It is the reason we hobbits of the north come here with questions of our own. My own Chief, along with the commander of these soldiers, is meeting with Swiftook now to discover what they may of these Men. But you and your family, or the other Southrons of the Shire are in no danger from us; of that I can assure you.’

● More of the meeting between Horris Bunce, Commander Ohtar and Childebrand Swiftook comes to us here from “The Bunces Between the Bridge and the Borderlands.”

   The Landlord Childebrand Swiftook sat ensconced in a generously cushioned chair beside a hearth of old stone, a low fire casting flickering shadows across his weathered features. The old hobbit’s feet, freshly groomed and immaculate, rested upon a footstool, while an open book lay before him, as if he were a gentleman of leisure with neither peril nor purpose to disturb his peace. Nearby, a soldier stood sentinel, yet the Landlord gave him not so much as a passing glance. It was only at the entrance of Horris Bunce—the Firebrand, mud-stained and limping from the long road—that the prisoner’s gaze sharpened, measuring the man who had come so far.

   “Ah, that old wound yet troubles you, does it, Horris?” said Swiftook, lifting his gaze from the pages with the languid manner of one unhurried by the march of time or the precariousness of his situation. “You have come far, despite the pain, and now, as fortune would have it, I find that I am possessed of time to spend in discourse. Let us speak, then, for the day is long and my obligations, currently, seem few.” His eyes, sharp and appraising, swept to Commander Ohtar at the chamber’s edge, then settled once more upon the Firebrand.

   “Doubtless, these good soldiers have already pressed my food and wine upon you, so let us dispense with pleasantries,” he continued, his tone sardonic. “Tell me, Horris, what summons you from the West-farthing to my threshold?”

   Wearied by his journey, the Firebrand mastered his temper. He rubbed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger, summoning the patience earned through years of trial and hardship.

   “I come as Chief Constable of the Shire,” he said at last, his words slow and deliberate, “and because you, Landlord Swiftook, are an inveterate criminal. Once again, it is my duty to reckon the harm you have wrought — upon the Shire and upon honest, unsuspecting folk — by your greed and usury. I am here, as I was fourteen years ago, to stand against the bullies and cutthroats you employ to make our people timid and afraid. Tired and battered I may be, as you observe, yet it gladdens me to learn these soldiers have driven out or slain your ruffians — doing the Shire a service, for not a single hobbit has come to grief as did those nine who marched with me before. I—”

   “Nine, yes,” the Landlord interjected gravely. “But it was eight who marched with you, Horris, and the ninth died upon the bridge.”

   The Firebrand’s face hardened at this interruption and all it implied, but with effort, he pressed on.⁷

   “You were not present at the Bank, fourteen years gone, when the Shire itself came to demand answers, Swiftook,” he continued, voice edged with old wounds. “We dealt with the mischief you left behind. But today, you are here, and the reckoning is now yours.”

   “So that you might judge me, Horris?” Swiftook replied, a half-laugh curling his words. “And by what warrant? You may be the bravest hobbit in all the Shire — of that I’d make no denial — but you have ever been the lapdog of my brother Twoody and that wild-eyed Gondo before him. Bold you are, but you know the limits of your own station. How is it, then, that you come to judge me?”

   “Mmmn,” the Firebrand murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration and a search for patience once again. “You deal in falsehoods as readily as coin, yet here you speak half a truth. My judgment of you is already made, Swiftook — as a criminal, a usurer, and a blight upon the fellowship of hobbits in our Shire. If you have not grasped that, let this conversation stand as proof. I have despised you for fourteen years, and while that simmering pot of contempt might make me an imperfect judge, it sharpens my eye for your misdeeds. Judgment, however, is for others to levy—I will never speak in your defence.

   “There is a Council in the Shire charged with such decisions, Swiftook, and as Chief Constable it is mine to report what I find,” Horris went on. “So, no—I will not judge you. But how you answer what follows will decide who your judge is to be.”

● In Clovis’ book this cat-and-mouse game continues between the Firebrand and the Landlord with Commander Ohtar remaining silent. This may have indeed been the case, though we have no way to know for certain. We do know that Swiftook was questioned at length that evening regarding his contacts with Men from the east. Were there more in the Shire? From where was he being supplied? And by whom? This follows closely with the description in Clovis’ account, with Swiftook constantly dodging the question and claiming that he had a right to hire whomever he pleased in his own lands and that he was more than willing to argue that with any Council members from the Shire at the time of their choosing. He even went so far as to demand compensation for loss of his workforce either from these soldiers or his interfering neighbours to the north who aided them in this surprise attack. It makes for a very entertaining read and I have only omitted it for two very important reasons: 1) entertaining though this conversation is it is quite clearly, like Horris’ speech to the reeves in the preceding chapter, an aggrandizing fictionalization by the author and 2) Horris Bunce came into the Bree-land at twenty-seven years of age, and had none of the knowledge of the lands east of there which this fiction implies.

● But Commander Ohtar most certainly did. As gratifying as it may be for Shire-hobbits to hear a tale of how the Firebrand had finally met and dealt with his old enemy the Landlord it seems much more likely that Commander Ohtar questioned him more. But we cannot be certain in that assumption.

● Whether it was Othar or the Firebrand who asked it, one final question seems to have emerged which settled the fate of the meeting. Here again we will return to “The Bunces Between the Bridge and the Borderlands”.

   “These soldiers—these companions you have chosen, Horris,” declared the Landlord with a vehemence sharpened by long-held resentment, “they are far more perilous than any of the blundering Big Folk I ever brought to bear. See how they cut a grand figure upon their noble steeds, parading in their polished mail and sounding their brazen horns; how they mouth high words of kingship and lineage, of knightly quests and chivalric glory, weaving tales that seduce even the wisest into dreams of valour. Yet beneath all their pageantry, they are but thugs — make no mistake! They roam the land in packs, cloaked in self-righteousness, dispensing ‘justice’ and upholding ‘honour’ and ‘law’ — but always those are the laws that secure their own station and power. You believe they come as saviours? When have the lords and captains of these Sea-kings ever lifted a finger for the sake of hobbit-folk? Never, I say! And now their king in Norbury, shrewd fool that he is, grants us land he can no longer defend and bids us hold it in his stead? Well, let him have my thanks, and let him leave us to our own fates!

   "But this king, and these soldiers whom you so lavishly praise — those you support and consort with, Horris — they will never permit us to live in peace," the Landlord pressed on, his voice now tinged with both bitterness and warning. "They will ride at their pleasure through these old, half-forgotten lands, heedless of the toil by which we hobbits strive to improve them. Whatever their hearts desire — be it tax or tribute — they shall demand, and we poor folk, powerless to gainsay them, must pay. You call me 'Landlord,' but in truth, we are but tenants, labouring at the king’s pleasure, at his whim. For in that 'King’s Agreement,' which I have studied more deeply than ever you have, there is no true ownership for hobbits, only a license to till and tend the earth for some future master, for some purpose of theirs and not our own.

   “As for the men I have brought into my employ, they are a far cry from these kingly soldiers of yours,” Swiftook pressed on, his voice taking on a note both defensive and sly. “They are plain fellows, Horris — Big Folk who heed my word, keep peace in our villages, and are content with the coins I see fit to place in their purses. Many among them despise the Shire, despise hobbits, and long only for the day they may depart. Yet such men are, paradoxically, the most useful: they are here to serve us — yes, us hobbits — seeking merely their payment and a swift departure, not to lord it over us with grand promises and lofty titles as your soldiers do. I am no longer in my youth, Horris, but let me tell you — were I to ride to Glumhallow, within a week I could muster sixty such Big Folk as would sweep these arrogant soldiers aside and, for once, let hobbits rule the Shire as we see fit.”

   “Glumhallow?” Commander Ohtar said, at last stepping from the shadows. “You have met these folk in Glumhallow⁷ then, master Landlord?”

   Then the Landlord grew silent and looked up at the soldier with genuine fear in his eyes.

   “Very well,” the Firebrand said. “You have been long in making your own uncomfortable bed, Swiftook. I will tell the Council that you have gone to lie in it.”

● For a less fictional presentation we can now return to the letter Horris Bunce had been writing to the Council and his entries made there on the next morning, the Third day of After-lithe:

   TOGETHER the Commander and I questioned LANDLORD SWIFTOOK about the BIG FOLK in his employ, WHERE they had come from and WHO was the provider of all his SUPPLIES. He was as cagey as ever, but eventually revealed that these MEN had indeed come from a place called GLUMHALLOW which the Commander knows to be an encampment of the forces of ANGMAR. Because of this WE AGREED that the LANDLORD SHOULD BE TAKEN to MEET WITH THE KING’S JUSTICE and that I and a patrol of SEVEN REEVES should remain here at the ford until Swiftook’s son, REGINARD could be found. But that issue was resolved this very morning.

 

**Moonsday**

●  On the Third morning of After-lithe, as Horris woke early to continue composing his letter to the Shire Council, Youngbuck and Gormadoc Zaragamba had reached the northwest corner of what would become the Zaragamba’s home. The events of this are detailed in Chapter Fifteen of Part II, “the far downs”.

●  Gilley Bramblethorn, on this same morning, is busily trying to get the hobbits of Nobottle ready to leave and join Gormadoc and the others.

●  Rumours of the Oldbuck’s return continue to circulate amid the towns in the north of the Shire. Some say it is not him but some changeling creature who doesn’t look a day older than when he left. Others say he has become old beyond his years, a bent and bearded pilgrim with a tall walking stick. None of these rumours are eye-witness accounts of course, but all the hobbits who hear them find them nonetheless exciting.

●  Ermenberga Bophin comes to visit the Great Smials early in the morning. She stays there for many weeks, turning away curious hobbits and well-wishers and consoling her sister.

●  Twoody’s Assayer’s Office in Buckland continues to be closed and there are no reports of his whereabouts.

●  Clooty and Robin Floxflower set out south from Greenholm following the tracks of two hobbits and a pony. This land to the south is unmapped by any of the Shire hobbits and even Robin has never traveled there.

●  The soldiers and the reeves break camp early and announce that there will be a town meeting around the well two hours before midday. Troby rides through the surroundings of the town making this same announcement and hoping that the Southrons will be less intimidated by the voice of another hobbit.

●  We pick up here with more of Horris’ letter which describe the events of that morning in Sarn Ford:

   As we gathered at the town well, many of the SOUTHRONS came out of their hiding places. Perhaps FORTY or FIFTY brave hobbits could be seen, plain hardy-looking folk, who had been living under SWIFTOOK’S COMMAND for some years now. It was difficult to read the expressions on the faces of these Southron hobbits; what fear they had after the events of the previous two days seemed to have melted into the kind of practical curiosity we all might have for what comes next. Bridge-warden THORNBURROW and myself led THE LANDLORD from his home while the KING’S SOLDIERS and our own REEVES stood in honour. COMMANDER OHTAR came forward to ADDRESS them and, indeed, all of the HOBBITS present.

   ‘THE KING WHO HOLDS THESE LANDS HAS WISELY GIVEN IT INTO THE CARE OF ALL OF YOU FOLK,” he proclaimed, “AND THOUGH I HAVE NOT TRAVELED HERE IN MANY YEARS I DEEM THAT YOU HAVE BUILT MUCH THAT IS GOOD AND IN A VERY SHORT TIME. IT IS A WISE KING WHO CAN RECOGNIZE AND INVEST HIS TRUST IN SUCH WORTHY STEWARDS. BUT I ALSO DEEM THAT IN YOUR INDUSTRIOUSNESS YOU HAVE PUT YOUR OWN TRUST INTO AN UNSCRUPULOUS AGENT AND MADE POOR DEALS WITH REGARD TO YOUR FUTURE. THIS HAS BROUGHT YOU GREAT DANGER IN YOUR SHORT TIME IN THE SHIRE AND NOW WE HOPE TO RELEAVE YOU OF THIS DANGER.

   “THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE LIVED HERE IN THE SOUTH OF THE SHIRE HAVE DONE SO AT GREAT PERIL AND UNDER THE YOLK OF EVIL MEN,” the COMMANDER continued. “YOUR NEIGHBOURS TO THE NORTH NARROWLY ESCAPED THIS DANGER FOURTEEN YEARS AGO, BUT YOU FOLK HERE IN THE SOUTH KNOW IT ALL TO WELL: THE THREAT OF THOSE CRUEL FOLK WHO MY SOLDIERS AND I HAVE DRIVEN OFF.

   “THEY CLAIMED TO BE PROTECTORS AND GUARDIANS WHO BROUGHT SUPPLIES FOR THE BUILDING OF YOUR HOMES AND CITIES. THEY WERE NOT. THEY WERE THUGS AND OVERSEERS WHO HAD YOU LABOUR TO BUILD HOMES AND DEFENSES FOR THEMSELVES. YOU WISHED TO BUILD A TOWN BUT THEY HAD YOU BUILDING A FORT.

   “FOR THESE WERE MEN OUT OF ANGMAR,” the COMMANDER said, leaving a moment there for all to react. I am very much happy to report that they did just as any of our folk in the north may have done; they met this news with a mixture of PRACTICAL FEAR and ANGRY RESOLVE. Backed into a position of UNDERSTANDING they found the COURAGE to ACTION.

● It should be remembered here that the hobbits of the South-farthing were almost entirely made up of Lausa-folk who had lived in the Weather hills for many generations under fear of the wars caused by the Witch-king in Angmar. They had fled their old warrens there for the promise of the Shire, but that had been only eight years before. They had come to know peace and hard work here in this new land, but many still remembered too well the dangers that they had hoped to leave behind and the idea of representatives of Angmar leading them here filled them with anger and disappointment.

   “FROM WHAT I AND YOUR OTHER NORTHERN NEIGHBOURS HAVE UNCOVERED,” the COMMANDER continued, “THERE IS ONE HOBBIT, THIS LANDLORD CALLED CHILDEBRAND SWIFTOOK, WHO HAS BEEN THE UNSCRUPULOUS AGENT IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH THESE DANGEROUS AND DEVIOUS FOLK. IT WAS HE WHO STRUCK ACCORDS WITH THE ENEMY AND WHO RELIED UPON THEM FOR BOTH SUPPLIES AND MILITARY FORCE. IT WAS HE WHO FUNDED THE GROWTH OF THE SHIRE AND THEN LATER, FEELING HIS CLAIM COMPLETE, TRIED TO FORECLOSE ON HIS NEIGHBOURS FOR DEBTS HE WAS OWED. AND IN THE NORTH, FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, IT WAS HE THAT SENT MEN OUT OF ANGMAR TO TAKE THOSE CLAIMS BY FORCE. HE WAS REBUKED IN THE NORTH OF THE SHIRE. THE BRAVERY OF YOUR NEIGHBOURS DROVE HIM OUT FROM THOSE OLD CLAIMS.

   “BUT FUNDS AND SUPPLIES AND COMMANDS CAME OUT OF ANGMAR THEN AS THEY DO NOW AND IT IS ANGMAR WHO WISHES TO COLLECT. AND SO IT WAS THIS SAME LANDLORD, STRIKING AGAIN OUT OF OBLIGATION TO HIS PARTNERSHIP, THAT BROUGHT MANY OF YOU HERE TO THE SOUTH OF THIS LAND TO TAKE AND HOLD AS MUCH OF IT AS YOU COULD. HE BROUGHT YOU TO BUILD HOUSES AND GARRISONS AND DEFENSES NOT FOR YOURSELVES BUT FOR THOSE SAME CRUEL MEN OUT OF ANGMAR WHO SEEK A FOOTHOLD IN THESE OLD AND PEACEFUL, VENERABLE AND CHERISHED LANDS.”

   I record as much of the COMMANDER’S speech here as I (and others) can remember, for it truly caught the hearts of the Southrons, and all of us hobbits assembled. Shouting began to happen in the distant areas around the well and a call of “DOWN WITH THE OLD TOOK!” could be heard to rise. The LANDLORD himself saw how quickly the mind of these hobbits had changed and, I will admit, I took some joy in seeing the expression of fear come to his face.

   “CHIEF CONSTABLE BUNCE AND BRIDGE-WARDEN THORNBURROW FROM THE NORTH HAVE AGREED THAT THE OFFENSES OF CHILDEBRAND SWIFTOOK ARE MATTERS TO BE BROUGHT TO TRIAL BEFORE THE KING,” the COMMANDER said, his outstretched hands calming the crowd. “AND IT MAY WELL BE THAT THIS MISCREANT LANDLORD AND UNSCRUPULOUS AGENT OF THE SHIRE HAS SOME INFORMATION WHICH MAY PROVE USEFUL TO YOUR KING. I WOULD, IF YOU SHIREFOLK WILL BUT GIVE ME LEAVE, TAKE HIM FROM THIS PLACE AND TO A TRIAL IN NORBURY.”

   And here again came many shouts and calls to take the old criminal away, for such was the anger that COMMANDER OHTAR’S pronouncements caused in these hard-working and misguided people.

   “BUT THAT KING HAS DECREED THAT THIS LAND SHOULD BE FREE TO ALL HOBBITS AND THIS SWIFTOOK HAS BEEN GIVEN A DEED FROM YOUR NORTHERN NEIGHBOURS THAT THIS PART OF THE SHIRE MAY BE HIS HOME; I WOULD NOT TAKE A PRISONER OF SOMEONE IN THEIR HOME WITHOUT CONSULTATION WITH HIS NEIGHBOURS. SO TELL ME NOW, SHIREFOLK, NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN NEIGHBOURS ALIKE, WHAT SHALL YOU DO WITH THIS LANDLORD, THIS UNSCRUPULOUS AGENT OF THE SHIRE’S PROSPERITY?”

   The STRENGTH of the COMMANDER’S speech was such that many shouts of “DOWN WITH THE OLD TOOK!” and “TAKE HIM TO THE KING!” continued to rise from townsfolk. Our own REEVES rather carefully avoided being caught in the fervor of the moment as everyone waited to hear if there would be some form of rebuttal.

   That is when REGINARD SWIFTOOK made his presence known. He came forward from the crowd and all the other Southron hobbits gave him room and silence so that he might speak.

   “YOU AND THESE NEIGHBOURS TO THE NORTH MAKE MANY CLAIMS AGAINST THE GOVERNOR OF OUR CITIES HERE IN THE SOUTH,” he said, “INDEED, NOT JUST THE GOVERNOR BUT THE VERY FATHER AND GRANDFATHER OF MANY OF OUR FAMILIES. I WONDER, CAN THESE CLAIMS BE PROVED? WHERE ARE THESE MEN FROM ANGMAR NOW? IT SEEMS TO ME THAT ON SOME INVITATION FROM THOSE SAME NORTHERN NEIGHBOURS WHO HAVE GRANTED THIS LAND TO GAFFER SWIFTOOK AND HIS FAMILIES YOU AND YOUR SOLDIERS HAVE RIDDEN IN TO OUR HOMES AND PUT ALL OF OUR GUARDIANS TO THE SWORD. NOW YOU AND OUR LESS-THAN-FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURS CLAIM THAT THESE GUARDIANS WERE INVADERS, WORKBOSSES AND USURPERS. YOU MAKE ARGUMENT TO KIDNAP AND IMPRISON THEIR EMPLOYER WHO IS OUR CHIEF AND FOUNDER, GRANDFATHER AND GAFFER. MOREOVER, OR SO IT SEEMS TO ME, YOU WANT US TO ASK YOU TO DO THIS THING SAYING ‘WHAT SHALL YOU DO WITH THIS LANDLORD?’ YOU SAY WHAT YOU WILL DO WITH ONE BREATH AND ASK OUR PERMISSION, NO, OUR BLESSING WITH ANOTHER.

   “IF THE KING HAS INDEED SAID THAT THE SHIRE SHOULD BE FREE TO ALL HOBBITS,” Rginard went on to say, “YOU SEEM TO MEAN ‘FREE TO LET US DO WHATEVER WE ARE TOLD TO DO BY THE KING’S SOLDIERS.’”

   REGINARD did indeed cause some of the hobbits around him to RECONSIDER what they had seen and heard. The COUNCIL will remember that in the EARLIEST DAYS of the SHIRE most of us had come from the Bree-land and had no immediate fear of the Big Folk as many of our far-off kindred like these Southrons do. Indeed, the deliveries which the LANDLORD received in those early days seemed safe to us, for they were protected by tall Men from the wider world and we were glad to build trade with them from the start. REGINARD SWIFTOOK had hit upon a point; these Southron hobbits, oppressed and controlled by the LANDLORD though they may have been, perhaps felt safer with those cruel Big Folk standing guard than with soldiers who seemed to do as they would by force.

   The COMMANDER prepared to speak and I moved forward asking that I might take his place for a moment.

   “HELLO, REGINARD,” I said, “WE ARE GLAD YOU HAVE COME, FOR IT WOULD BE FRUITLESS TO HAVE THIS DISCUSSION WITHOUT YOU.”

●  Horris’ letter goes on to describe the debate that was had all that morning regarding the crimes of Childebrand Swiftook. While his past crimes were well established in the north of the Shire it is important to remember, as Reginard points out, that amongst the Lausa-folk in the south the "Landlord" was the leader of their community and kin to many. But they also all agreed with the statements of Commander Ohtar. The Big Folk Swiftook had hired were inarguably thugs and enforcers of his commands and that they had indeed acted like cruel and selfish masters rather than helpful guardians, pushing them into the labour of building quarters and military defenses for the Men rather than houses and holes that they had expected to build for themselves.

●  Moreover it should also be remembered that the Lausa-folk had no clear understanding of the King’s Agreement as hobbits from the northern part of the Shire do; they knew there was a king of course, and they knew that he had given the Shire over to hobbits for some unguessed reason, but they had very little understanding of the arrangement beyond that (and this was a condition which Childebrand Swiftook was very careful to maintain among his southern followers). Some of them thought that building this town at the ford and the outer defensive wall may have been a requirement the king had attached to this gift of land and, like all sensible hobbits, they were prepared to earn their way with good hard work. There were probably some who even thought that the cruel bodyguards might be representatives of the king. If they once did then that idea was put quickly out of their wooly heads when they saw Commander Ohtar and his troop of real soldiers come riding into town with their horns blowing and their swords shining.

●  So if the soldiers had indeed saved them from Men who worked for the Witch-king of Angmar then the southern hobbits were sincerely thankful and glad to host these soldiers and offer all the food and drink they may. But on the subject of the arrest and deportation of their leader the Lausa-folk could not quite agree; for if he had broken some law of the king or some law of their neighbours in the north, the Old Took (as they called him) was still their leader and these lands in the southern part of the Shire were held in his name and not in their own. Questions arose as to whether homes they had built with their own hands might now be taken away if the Old Took, who had given them the right to do so, was taken away as a criminal.

●  Childebrand himself was not given the opportunity to speak at this assembly. If he had, then things may have gone a different way. The idea had grown throughout the Shire that the elder Swiftook had a special mastery in his voice that hobbits could not resist. This was only a rumour, of course, but all the hobbits present, whether from the north or the south, found it best not to test such rumours. His son Reginard spoke well on his behalf and so, much to the consternation of Commander Ohtar and his Men, the argument continued well into the morning until a break was called for meal at “Elevenses.”

● But as the day and that argument wears on, as Youngbuck and Gormadoc are charting the northern edge of their mapmaking, while Gilley and sixty-three Zaragambas of Nobottle have their final arguments over what necessities they may carry, the Oldbuck comes to Stonebows bridge to look out at a very curious sight.

● Bridge-wardens had been stationed there in teams of two, even in the daylight hours, since Commander Ohtar and his soldiers had ridden into the Shire on the First Evening of the Summerdays. It so happened that Odulf Bramblethorn, the same young hobbit cousin of Gilley who had first spoken with Commander Ohtar, held the watch this Third day of After-lithe and, given the eventfulness of his earlier appointment, had decided to take careful notes of all that he witnessed.

Moonsday Watch, Third Day of After-Lithe

   -Arrived in the early morning to relieve the Nightswatch. My partner for the day was Sigibert Heathertoes [brother to Dulf’s friend and fellow Bridge-warden Harry] and the weather was mild. The Nightswatch had nothing to report of activity on the Road other than a brief bit of rain around midnight.

   -Sigibert and I settled into our own manners and posts and at the noon hour I chose to go walk the bridge as I do now three times on every watch.

   -As I was returning and crested the eastern rise of the bridge I saw a horse, a very great beast indeed, coming at speed out of the Shire through the gate and climbing the bridge. Sigibert was running behind it shouting, but this horse was quick as the wind despite its size; faster than anything I had ever seen before and I knew with a certainty that this must be one of the horses Commander Ohtar had led into our land six nights past.

   -There was indeed a rider on his back, one of the Big Folk yes, but not one of the soldiers. He had let go of the reins and was clutching the neck of this great red beast with all his might. I could see the fear in his eyes even from our distance; the man had no control of the horse and, though it is a queer thing to say, I felt that I could hear laughter from the animal coming down the wind of her speed.

   -I was frozen at the crest of the eastern slope watching. The bridge is wide of course, but I was transfixed and if the horse would run me down I am not ashamed to admit that I could do nothing against it. I could not dodge nor roll myself into a ball nor look away. For that moment the terror I saw in the man was my own.

   -The great beast came up the eastern slope of the bridge, indeed, within ten ranga of where I stood, and then she reared up, shook the man’s hands from her proud neck and, with a loud and angry cry, kicked high her back legs and threw the hapless rider over the side of the bridge and into the deep, fast waters below. The man let out a long and terrible shout and was gone.

   -Then the horse looked at me. She snorted and shook her head, pounded one of her hooves and whisked her tail. I, of course, had no response. She cocked her head and looked at me again and then, not finding any signal from me which made her happy, turned around and went to the lower arc of the bridge. There she found some gathered water in a puddle to lap at and left me alone to decide what should come next.

   -The rider was long gone of course. I did look over the side to see if he had survived his fall, but there was no sign of him. The Brown river moves very fast under the bridge and he had been thrown from a very great height. I did not have a very good look at him, I am sorry to report, but I do not think he was dressed like or had the bearing of the soldiers I had seen cross the bridge five nights before.

   -I then crept warily past the great beast, though she seemed quite docile now, and joined Sigibert on the farther crest of the bridge. We stood there for a bit, talking about what we should do and how we should report this and then we saw another unfamiliar hobbit approaching us walking briskly but calmly up the Road from the Shire.

●  This “unfamiliar hobbit” was, with very little doubt, Gondo the Oldbuck. His movements throughout the Shire in the first week of After-lithe are difficult to track as many hobbits were reporting rumours of sighting him in a variety of different, and somewhat distant, places. But Odulf’s own written report claims that the hobbit gave his name as “Undundol” and that he had “recently come from the Budgeford bridge.”

●  Oldbuck claimed to have seen the horse and rider barrelling full speed up to the Road ahead of him and had followed in curiosity. He had not seen the horse throw his rider over the side of the bridge, but listened attentively to Odulf’s accounting of it and asked if he “might be allowed to be of some assistance.”

   -He then walked easily and comfortably forward to the great beast and I followed, less comfortably I should say, and a few paces behind. His hands were out and open at his sides, about belt height, and the hobbit was saying something to the horse in a language I could not understand. The horse seemed to recognize some of this foreign talk however and cocked her head to listen. Master Undundol continued forward without reserve and, to my surprise the horse walked forward as well to meet him. The strange hobbit lowered his face just a bit and the horse came and did the same, touching the top of the hobbit’s head with her muzzle. Then they both seemed to laugh, yes, even the horse, and master Undundol brought a carrot out from a bag at his side and fed it to the beast hand to mouth.

   -After a few moments, after the horse ate the carrot and the hobbit examined her, the two came toward me, walking like old friends. “This is a very fine mare, Bridge-warden. A soldier’s horse if I am not mistaken, and I suspect there’s quite a tale to be heard of how she came here from inside the Shire. But first, we should take her in and give her comfort, for that rider, whoever he was, was no friend to fine horses.”

   -And so with the great beast following behind us master Undundol and I walked back into the Shire to the little stable we had set nearby for ponies. It is small for a horse of such great size of course, but comfortable, with a clean trough of drinking water, a decent supply of oats and under good shade. Master Undundol called for a ladder and a brush and a bucket and removed his walking cloak to set to work on grooming the now very calm and happy looking beast. It was then that I could see that he carried a sword with him and wondered just who this kind and knowledgeable hobbit might be.

●  Odulf’s report goes on to tell us that he shared with “master Undundol” some of the information he had about the coming of the soldiers over the bridge five nights past. It cannot be judged from this report whether he mentioned the possibility of people out of Angmar in the south of the Shire, but we do know that he spoke to the strange yet kindly hobbit about the Landlord, Childebrand Swiftook, residing at the southern ford and that the soldiers had been led there by Odulf’s friend and fellow Bridge-warden Waltraub Thornburrow.

●  After the horse had been well-groomed and stabled, “master Undundol” is reported to have said his kind farewells to the two Bridge-wardens. When they asked if he had an any advice regarding what they should do with the great animal, Odulf reports:

   -“Do with her?” he asked in return, with a great and kind smile on his face. “Oh, lads, she will do for herself, whether you choose to do anything for her or not. This is a soldier’s horse and, for whatever reason, she has chosen to await her friend and master here at the bridge. If I would suggest anything it would be that you continue to show her the kindness of your stable and then go to your kitchens and prepare yourselves for more guests.”

● And with this the strange hobbit is reported to have departed and, choosing to avoid the road, turned his feet south through the woods toward Stock.

●  By midafternoon on the Third of After-lithe the trek of Gilley and the Zaragambas out of Nobottle had been slow and fraught with delays. Fortunately the passage of sixty-five hobbits and all of their belongings had raised a considerable stir in the land south of the Chalk hills and Robin Floxflower was able to detect them at a great distance. He and Clooty would come to find this party, and the answers to some of their many questions, before nightfall.

●  With her sister Ermenberga settled into the Great Smials and the care of her children settled into aunt Ermie’s capable hands, Alaura was finally able to seek solace in her writing. We hear that she went to the top of the Great Smials and sat amongst the small grove of silver birch trees there and wrote the last work of hers to be presented as editor of THE SHIRE-RECKONING.

●  But at Sarn Ford the day was wearing long and the decision of what to do about Landlord Swiftook had still not met with a conclusion. We return now to Horris’ letter to the Shire-council as it remains our best document of those events:

   “JUST ACROSS THE FORD I AM TOLD THAT THERE ARE TWO OF THE BIG FOLK, REGINARD,” I said, “BODYGUARDS TO YOUR FATHER, WHO AWAIT THE TRIP TO NORBURY FOR QUESTIONING. IF YOUR QUESTIONS WOULD SUGGEST THAT YOU NEED TO THEM TO SAY, ‘OH, YES, I DO IN FACT TAKE MY COMMANDS AND MY PAYMENTS FROM THE WITCH-KING IN ANGMAR’ THEN I WOULD HAPPILY HAVE THE COMMANDER HERE CALL THEM BACK AS WITNESS. I’M SURE WE COULD PUT TOGETHER A RATHER NICE PODIUM FOR THEIR TESTIMONIAL BEFORE ANYONE MIGHT DRAG THIS DISCUSSION ON INTO THE DINNER HOUR.

   “I HAVE LEARNED MUCH MORE ABOUT YOU SOUTHRON HOBBITS IN THE LAST TWO DAYS THAN ANYONE HAS BOTHERED TO TELL ME IN TEN YEARS,” I continued. “FROM THAT I SUSPECT THAT YOU ALL, YOU WHO CAME FROM THE HARD LANDS OF THE WEATHER HILLS IN THE WEST, CAN SAY MUCH MORE ABOUT ANGMAR FOLK THAN I COULD. REGINARD ASKS FOR PROOF THAT THESE FOLK CAME FROM ANGMAR AND I SAY ‘WHAT DO THE LASH MARKS ON YOUR OWN BACKS TELL YOU?’” I was guessing at this of course, but from what I heard from Bridge-warden THORNBURROW and the expression in many of these hobbit faces I could see that they had suffered much abuse from these Big Folk the Swiftooks called “GUARDIANS”.

   “I HAVE SCARS THAT I’VE EARNED STANDING UP TO SUCH FOLK AND MY FRIENDS AND I FROM THE NORTH HAVE MARCHED MORE THAN A LONG DAY FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN TO AID YOU AGAINST THEM. THANKFULLY THE KING’S SOLDIERS ARRIVED FIRST AND NOW YOUR TOWN IS FREE OF THOSE THUGS WHO THREATENED YOU. REGINARD HERE, HIMSELF THE SON OF THE OLD LANDLORD SWIFTOOK, MAY NOT LIKE IT MUCH, BUT I SHOULD THINK THAT THE REST OF YOU SENSIBLE HOBBITS SHOULD BE GLAD TO SEE THESE BIG FOLK GONE AND PROBABLY WONDERED WHAT THEY WERE DOING HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.”

   This seemed to have won back some of the crowd.

   “IT SEEMS,” the COMMANDER interjected before anyone else could speak, “THAT JUST WHAT YOU HOBBITS OF THE SHIRE ARE IN FACT FREE TO DO IS THE QUESTION WHICH WE NOW FACE. I AM HERE TO REPRESENT THE HEIR OF ISILDUR, BUT IT IS NOT WITHIN IN MY AUTHORITY, NOR MY WONT, TO SET YOUR OWN PATH TOWARD JUSTICE. YOU MAY CHOOSE TO KEEP THE LANDLORD HERE, TO QUESTION OR TO FORGIVE OR EVEN TO EMPOWER HIM AS YOU WILL; WE HAVE ROUTED THE MEN FROM ANGMAR AND WILL, IF YOU WANT NOTHING ELSE FROM US, GO ON AND LEAVE YOU ALL IN PEACE TO SETTLE YOUR OWN DISPUTES. BUT I WARN YOU, THIS GOVERNOR, THIS LANDLORD SWIFTOOK, THOUGH HE MAY SUFFER YOUR JUSTICE, HE WILL NOT STOP HIS CRIMINAL WAYS. MORE AND MORE MEN OF HIS EMPLOY WILL COME. IT IS THEIR GOAL TO ESTABLISH THEMSELVES HERE IN THE SOUTH OF THE SHIRE AND THEY WILL NOT BE SHY ABOUT IT. THE NEXT GROUP OF MEN TO COME FROM ANGMAR AT THIS LANDLORD’S CALLING WILL NOT BE THUGS AND RUFFIANS BUT MUCH, MUCH WORSE!

   “YOU MAY TELL ME THAT ‘HE IS OURS’ AND THAT ‘ONLY HOBBITS SHOULD DECIDE HIS FATE,’” the COMMANDER continued, “AND I WOULD THEN RIDE ON IN ACCEPTANCE OF YOUR WILL. FOR IN THE SHIRE, GIVEN TO THE GOVERNANCE OF HOBBITS, IT SHOULD BE HOBBITS WHO DECIDE WHAT IS FAIR AND JUST. SURRENDER HIM TO THE JUDGMENT OF THE KING OR KEEP HIM FOR YOURSELVES. I WILL LEAVE YOU TO DECIDE BUT, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, MY MEN AND I WILL DEPART IN TWO HOURS TIME.”

   And at this the COMMANDER turned sharply on his heel and motioned for his men to take the Landlord back into the Crook’s Quarters. When Bridge-warden THORNBURROW and I sought to follow, the Commander bid us to remain; “THIS IS AN ARGUMENT OF HOBBIT JUSTICE,” he said, “PLEASE, DO NOT DENY YOUR SOUTHERN NEIGHBOURS THE WISDOM OF YOUR OWN INSIGHTS.”

●  And so it was that Horris and the Reeves were left to discuss the fate of Childebrand Swiftook with about fifty Southron hobbits who had come to the meeting. Reginard Swiftook was the principle speaker for these folk at first, but as the complaints of his neighbours about the abuses they had suffered from Swiftooks’ "guardians" came more to light, even Reginard could not defend them. Horris does not go into great detail about these arguments in his letter to the Shire Council, but we have a report of them in later writings by Waltraub Thornburrow.

●  Troby, riding boldly into town as he had done, had gained the respect of all of these Southron hobbits. It is certain that even Reginard could see this and began to feel the argument of clemency for his father lessened.

●  So it was that a decision was finally reached as it appears at the end of Horris’ letter:

   So it has BEEN DECIDED that the LANDLORD CHILDEBRAND SWIFTOOK shall be taken to NORBURY to stand before the KING’S JUSTICE. But REGINARD SWIFTOOK had convinced his neighbours that he SHOULD BE ALLOWED to ACCOMPANY his father and SPEAK IN HIS DEFENSE. It is for that reason that I must LEAVE ASIDE MY OWN DUTIES as Chief Constable for a time; for I too would be on hand to give an ACCURATE REPORT at this trial.

   The Southron hobbits have elected young WALTRAUB THORNBURROW to serve as their WARDEN in the absence of the SWIFTOOKS. He brings this report to you now and will then return to the ford. I am leaving EURIC BOPHIN and SIX OTHERS of our company here to meet with the hobbits of the southern community until Troby may return. Without the presence of the Swiftooks our Southron neighbours find themselves at a loss for just what to do next. As ever, our REEVES are here to HELP.

   As for my own return from NORBURY I cannot say. But I will not go back to my comfortable hole and my declining years until I have seen JUSTICE DONE to those who have BROKEN the FAITH of the SHIRE.

●  Two other hobbits, one from the north and one from the south, were also selected to travel with the prisoner and the soldiers. One, selected by Horris, was Ageric Proudfoot, youngest brother of Roderick Proudfoot who had died on the Stonebows bridge fourteen years ago. The other, selected by Reginard, was Merovech Galpsi, a cooper who worked in Sarn Ford. They were brought along to serve as witnesses as to how the prisoner was treated and to serve as couriers who might bring back an honest reporting of Swiftook’s trial. Their names are worth noting here for they formed a fast friendship on their travels and, for many years after they, and their family, continued to be envoys between the Shire and the King’s court in Fornost Erain. Their children married and for another three hundred years and up until the fall of the Northern Kingdom, the Proudfoots were welcomed by many Men as the representatives of the Shire.

●  But Ohtar had been very firm in his demand that the company cross the ford together by dinner time on the Third day of After-lithe and go immediately on their way. Ponies were brought forth for the five hobbits, but it would be more than a week's ride from Sarn Ford to Fornost Erain.

●  Troby had agreed to accompany Vardamir north to the Stonebow’s bridge in hope of recovering the man’s horse. He was also given Horris’ letter to present to the Shire Council and then ordered to return as soon as he may. Vardamir was given another horse by one of the soldiers and together the two new friends, on borrowed horse and borrowed pony, went immediately north.

● Reginard Swiftook did not get time to meet with his wife or children before departing. We have no real evidence of where Reginard’s family was living at the time, because in the earliest days of the South-farthing there were no official deeds and all of the land belonged to Reginard and his father. But young Ferdibrand Labingi was a good and loyal courier and so many of Reginard’s letters reached his wife and, through the rather strange family history which follows, came to be found in the 1961 excavation of the Great Smails.

My Dearest Mira,

   I have been away from you for weeks, returned at a dark hour and now, oh, my love, now I must leave again without seeing your sweet face. I am glad to know that you and our children are secure and safe after the invasion of our home. I could not come to you, dearest, for I have gambled against my own safety this morning to defend my father and now find that if I am to defend him further I must depart from the Shire and immediately.

   You will hear much, I am sure, about my father in the days to come and while I am gone. Mira, my love, I hope that you will not believe it and try to keep such gossip from the ears of our children. These soldiers who have invaded our home have grievances against father’s business partners in the east and make claims that father must be taken to the King’s court in Norbury for trial. They claim that the hiring of Big Folk as guardians is somehow an act of treason. Many of our neighbours, fearful of and awed by these soldiers, have agreed to these claims and now he, in his age and infirmity, is to be taken more than a week’s travel away from our home.

   I must go with him, my love. I must care for him in travel and defend him in his trial and I cannot know what this future means. But I will not put you, my love, or our family at such risk as my father’s business makes me now face. I will, I swear, send messages to you as soon as I may. Two young couriers will travel with us and I have selected your nephew, Merovech, as my own. Look for him in three weeks time to be carrying all of the news and the love I may put into a letter.

   This is no adventure, my love. As you know, I have no taste for adventure and would rather spend my days growing old and grey beside the hearth with you, children and grandchildren at our feet, then walk into the unknown court of some unwanted king. But I must defend my father; for family, fathers and sons alike, must take care of their own.

   My brother Leufred is in Waymeet. It may take days for this news to reach him there and, as is often the case, I have no idea how he may react. For now it might be prudent for you and the children to remove yourself to Whitwell. There are no northern constables there and less upheaval. But you know well your own mind regarding the safety of our children and the preservation of our home. It would be unfair of me, who must leave you because of one responsibility, to second guess your decisions. But change is coming to the South, of that there is no question. Leufred will very likely rail against it but you, my dear and cunning Mira, must adapt to it.

   I hope Ferdibrand gets this letter to you quickly, for my time to write is gone. I must cross the ford with my father and with his enemies and hope to bring him somehow safely home. But all I can think of is how I have returned to you and gone on so quickly, without a glance and without a kiss and without a touch which says

I love you, -R

●  And so we have evidence that Commander Ohtar and his soldiers departed over the ford with five hobbits.

●  Troby and the soldier Vardamir are presumed to have left the town heading north at about this same time though we cannot be fully certain. Troby did write about his time among the soldiers some years later and most of those memoirs were used for depictions in the previous chapter. He will however have one more important encounter on his way back to the Stonebows bridge.
 

● We also know through this later account that Troby and Ohtar parted as friends and gave blessing to one another in the hope that they may meet again:

   “You will be welcome to cross the Stonebows any time, day or night,” I told him, “that we might show you our hospitality and in the hope that you will tell us more tales of peaceful times. It’s good to hear news from the outside world I suppose, but that doesn’t seem very peaceful any longer and many of us are glad to be gone from such struggles. But I should dearly like to know more about what this land was like before we hobbits came into it, back when Men like yourself lived here in peace as we do.”

   “And I would surely like to tell you such tales of peacetime, warden Troby,” he said with a smile. “The memories of my people are long and those old stories of innocent days filled with beauty are as important to us as the noblest deeds of battle. I would hope to come here again, perhaps in a year’s time, and share them with you.”

   But then his face darkened with seriousness as it sometimes did and he tightened his brow as if he could smell something on the wind which I could not.

   “I would hope to do this,” he said, “if my path would allow it.”

●  We know through Troby’s writing that this was not to be so and that Ohtar the Twelfth would never come to the Shire again in his lifetime.⁹

●  The meeting between Clooty, Robin and Gilley seems to have happened not more than a league outside of the settlement of Nobottle. The Zaragamba families who Gilley and Olo were leading were unprepared for travel, included many children and elderly hobbits and quite insistent on carrying as much with them as they could. Clooty gives us some description of them here:

   We crested a small hill some hours before dusk and finally saw with greater detail the great band of folk moving north. They are hobbits! And a great many of them at that. At first glance we put their number at fifty but now, having been among them, give the count at sixty-five. Berty is not with them as we had hoped, but the Bramblethorn girl, Gilley she is called, seems to be leading them. That is well, I think, for she seems a very clear-headed and determined young hobbit and had much to tell us of their travels.

   Upon meeting we decided to camp early so Robin and I could hear her tale and, as we did this I took notice of the strange hobbits and their belongings. I have seen many pioneers to the Shire in my thirty years, but none who seemed so doughty nor as hard-bitten as these. Their clothing and their tools, their wagons and their sledges were all patched and worn, as if they had spent years in the wild, but the manufacture of these items was clever in design and built purely for function. I was reminded almost immediately of how I felt when Tomba Fallohide and his kinfolk came riding into the Shire twenty years ago in drawn chariots and their bold colours and well-tailored waistcoats. I was impressed by the Fallohides then and find myself equally impressed by these Lausa-folk as Gilley calls them today; but for completely opposite reasons. There is a keen no-nonsense quality to their craftsmanship. Their things are well built and hard-used, looking as if they have been repurposed through years of their privation. They are of varying ages, seeming to have more does than bucks among them, but all seem suited to the hard work of pioneer life. If this is what the hobbits of the South-farthing are like then it is no wonder they have come so far in such short a time.¹⁰

● Clooty’s journal from that evening goes on to recount all that Gilley could tell him of their adventures and, of course, this was a major source for Part II of the book you now read. She seems to have left nothing out of the tale with the understandable exception of the dream that she and Bovo shared.

●  But there is nothing in her account, or what we can tell of it from Clooty’s writing, which would give either of them reason to suspect the true identity of “master Undundol”.

●  Therefore Clooty decides that Berty’s quest to aid the Zaragambas is a good and reasonable one to follow. And so Clooty decides that he and Robin will travel with them all on the next morning and make the matter of settling these deeds go all the faster. Then he would see to these other wild plans his nephew is entertaining.

 

**Trewsday**

   The Fourth day of After-lithe in year Twenty-nine of the Shire brings much less adventure or conflict, but it is the calm before things to come.

●  Berty and Gormadoc meet Bovo on Faralong hill in the morning as was told in the previous chapter. There Bovo describes the dream he and Gilley shared and the three hobbits begin to reckon with the idea that some form of prophesy has been given to them.

●  Meanwhile Gilley, Olo, Clooty and Robin continue their movement northward with the Zaragamba family. But the group is large and heavily laden, having more livestock to manage than pack animals and their progress is slow.

●  In Sarn Ford Euric Bophin begins to meet with many of the Lausa-folk from the town to hear their complaints and answer their questions to the best of his abilities:

   After Horris and the soldiers departed [on the night of the Third] many of these Southron hobbits came forward and started to open the doors of their shops and tend to their homes or businesses. I decided that the old building the soldiers had called the Crook’s Quarters was distasteful for myself and my companions, so we kept our own bivouac at the vacated camp by the well after the soldiers left. We were still twenty-five in number then, but in the morning Asselin Oakbottom would take seventeen of our band back west and north along the Broken road just as the Chief suggested. This leaves me with six reeves, who I have not yet selected, to stay here and advise our neighbours on just what to do next.

   This would be easier work in Hobbiton-by-the-Water of course, for there I know my neighbours well and have built a trusting relationship with them over many years. I do not know these people in that way and already many of their customs and ways of speaking seem strange to me. Will I have to meet all the Tooks of Tookland before they will allow me to help them?

   It seems certain at first glance that far too many raw materials have been wasted on this tall defensive wall they have built at the river and on the ridiculously man-sized Crook’s Quarters. Perhaps I might use their anger at Swiftook as an energy for dismantling these buildings while I examine their more individual needs...

●  And Euric did that very thing on the morning of the Fourth of After-lithe as his other companions set out for the north. He knew that he needed to hear from these townsfolk about their individual needs but he also knew, from all his past experience, that if you gave a hobbit a chance to work rather than complain they would be much happier for the former; work may not silence complaints of course, but for an industrious folk (as all hobbits were) busy hands may serve for settling bigger issues.

●  And so on the morning of the Fourth, as Euric and his company were reduced to seven in number, he sent three of the reeves to the wall and three to the Crooks Quarters.

   “These are not buildings fit for Shirefolk,” I told them, “for Shirefolk are hobbits and hobbits want no fortified walls nor towers nor homes with stairs as the Big Folk do. Let’s begin by regaining those materials and supplies which the Landlord has made you waste on the Big Folk and bring it here where we might put it to better uses. My companions will work beside you in this process. But throughout the day I will be here, beside the well to meet with any of you and to hear your complaints.

   “We are not here to be your bosses,” I told them. I was, I will admit, a bit weak-kneed doing so for I am not the public speaker that the Chief is, bless him for that. “This is not the way of your neighbours in the north. But we have learned many useful things in our thirty years of developing this land and sharing work together has always been our strength. If we can help you build this land to the way of your own choosing then I promise we will do so. “ I said to them all.

●  And Euric was good to his word. Troby would return to Sarn Ford in a week’s time to take up his position as the new warden of the South-farthing, but Euric, despite disturbing news from his home in Buckland, would stay for the remainder of the late summer and into the fall of that year to aid the new friends that he made among the Lausa-folk.

●  “Master Undundol” was sighted again on the morning of the Fourth of After-lithe in Stock where he stopped to enjoy a hearty breakfast at the publichouse called the Golden Perch. No one knew him there at first, and in his disguise he asked many questions about the South-farthing which Shirefolk still called the Tookland in those days. But the owner of the Perch, Nordbert Button, was a friend of Gondo’s from their youth in the Bree-land and after his arrival they spoke together privately for some time. When Gondo left that afternoon he was equipped with a canteen, extra skins for carrying water, a tinderbox, his walking stick and sword, a quiver and a bow, a haversack of dried fruits and meats, a bag of salt for curing, a knife, a small handaxe, a bedroll and, lastly a small shovel. Once again, thirty years later, Gondolpho Bucklestrap, now called the Oldbuck, went forth like a pilgrim into the Shire to make a new home for himself.

●  Upon returning to his new home Gormadoc inspected the work that Marcoul and Poppy had done and was quite pleased. As the hobbits put together a small second breakfast for themselves Berty collected his notes and wrote the draft that would be used for Gormadoc’s claim:

   HERE I, THEUDEBERT YOUNGBUCK, do DECLARE and DESCRIBE the AREA of the WEST-FARTHING of the SHIRE which is to be HELD IN SERVICE to THE KING by GORMADOC ZARAGAMBA as a GOOD and LOYAL CITIZEN. Having a FAMILY of WIFE, SEVEN SONS (THREE WED) and SIX DAUGHTERS (FOUR WED) and choosing to live in an OPEN AREA of the WEST-FARTHING with NO ADJACENT NEIGHBOURS, GORMADOC and his KIN are ENTITLED TO NO MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED LONG-FURROWS of LAND on the FAR WESTERN BORDER of the SHIRE as DESCRIBED in MY OWN MEASURE and SURVEY NOTES drawn upon the SECOND, THIRD and FOURTH DAYS of AFTER-LITHE in YEAR TWENTY-NINE of the SHIRE-RECKONING and PRESENTED to the OFFICE OF THE ASSAYER in BUCKLAND as befits ALL SUCH CLAIMANTS...

●  The fact that Youngbuck’s document was intended for the office in Buckland which was run by his uncle Twoody rather than the closer branch office in the Delvings run by Clooty tells us that he might have intended to send some other letter or document to Twoody and Alaura when the claim should eventually be filed. Perhaps, once again, Youngbuck was making secret plans which he had yet to share. If any such letter was ever written it has not been found and, as the later events of this first week of After-lithe will show us, neither Twoody nor Alaura would have received it.

●  The claim goes on to describe the land of Gormadoc’s claim and much of that detail was used for the writing of “the far downs,” the last chapter of the previous section of this book.

●  This was the first of a many claims which Berty would write for the western edge of the Shire in his day and, while he has often protested to having no head for such things, it is one of the more eloquent title claims found in all of the Shire annals, reading much like a travel logue which many writers, hobbit and otherwise, have sought to emulate in their own descriptions of that land.¹¹

● After the writing of the claim was done Youngbuck was anxious to set out and measure a similar plot of land for Gormadoc’s brothers Marcoul and Olo on the south side of the Road. We have scant records of this other than a comparative analysis of the coming events and Bovo’s notes to his son Clovis for the book that he was making several decades later. These notes are on old and carefully folded pages but were found inserted in some of the earliest manuscript versions of "The Bunces; Between the Bridge and the Borderlands" which were discovered at the Great Smials:

   Youngbuck was in a hurry to get moving, that much is true. He put the claim into Gormadoc’s hand just after our lunch time and told him; “I don’t believe we need to send it on to the Buckland any time soon, but should some representative of the Swiftooks, or even some brave folk out of the Delvings, come a-knocking you may show them this. If they can read, they will go away rather than break the law. If they cannot read then they will still likely go away in fear of the law. This will be your land now, cousin Gordo,” Youngbuck told him. “For a claim on the King’s Agreement is the law of the Shire and all of us, all of the Shirefolk of the north, will defend you in having what is yours.” 

   These words were great words for the Youngbuck to say and I will never forget that moment.

   But, yes, he was quick to get us on to exploring the other claim and so we set out that same afternoon; Youngbuck, Marcoul and I. We took no pony with us for Gormadoc, with his unspoken notion still in his head, hoped to keep the three animals so that he and Poppy could use them in construction of his home. I think about that every day, Clovis, about leaving Youngbuck’s pony Cinders behind and the fate that decision brought. It was not my own, but I agreed to it. I am well suited to traveling lightly through a wood, though it seems a tragic hubris to claim that here, and therefore I agreed with Youngbuck that we might move faster without a pony, or her load of comforts, to slow us down.

   I will relive that decision every day of my life.

●  But so it was that Youngbuck, Bovo and Marcoul departed that very same afternoon of the Fourth of After-lithe to examine and describe two smaller claims just south of the Road which together would be the equal of Gormadoc’s to the north. Marcoul and Olo, being the younger Zaragamba brothers, did not have as many children as Gormadoc and therefore it was hoped the measurement would not take as long. Youngbuck’s plan, or so it seems, was to draw another hundred long-furrow claim which the brothers might put forth and divide between themselves.

●  They set out west first so that Youngbuck could show them both the spot on the Road which he suspected was the very western edge of the Shire. From there they continued south following the same small creek for a short time before it began to turn west.

   Youngbuck was set against going into the west just as he had always promised. So we continued due south in the later part of the afternoon. The lands were lower here and soon entered into sparsely wooded areas. We knew that eventually, if we followed this course much longer, we would likely come into the wooded area around Greenholm again, though it lay a league or more beyond the stretch of what would become Marcoul’s own lands. But Youngbuck was still looking for something, some obvious marker before we turned west.

   It was I who found it. We had decided to set up camp before dusk in a small clearing and I, always hating the drudgery of collecting firewood, decided to do a bit of hunting for our meal. There was a slight hill near the camp, wooded with silver birch trees that I thought might be a likely place for game. Entering into the copse of birches I discovered a spring which fed into a basin of cut stone to create a pool of clear cool water. When I showed it to Youngbuck he immediately began to draw it, claiming it might be as old as the Road itself and that it would make an excellent marker for the southwestern edge of the claim.

●  This site was called the “White Spring” by Youngbuck in his claim and became an important site three hundred and fifty years later when Bucca of Marish, one of Oldbuck's direct relations, was named first Thane of the Shire. This matter is dealt with in greater detail in my larger work “The Fall of Arnor”.

●  At sunset of the Fourth day of After-lithe the Zaragambas again made an early camp. The slow progress frustrated Clooty, so other plans were made. Here again from Clooty’s journal:

   They are a hearty people, these Lausa, and could undoubtedly be pressed to go further if not faster. But there are many younglings among them and neither Gilley nor myself, impatient as we are, see the need for pushing them more than two leagues a day.

   Apparently the site Berty has chosen is just north of the Road, probably about one league away. Tomorrow morning Robin and I will leave our ponies to help aid the party and go off on foot. We shall see what needs to be done for these folks and, once that is seen to, I hopefully will be able to drag my wayward nephew home to his mother.

● Also at sunset of the Fourth day of After-lithe a large and empty wagon pulled by three ponies arrived at the Great Smials. It was driven by Cheldric Bophin, Euric’s youngest brother and also brother-in-law to Alaura. Ermenberga welcomed him in for the night, but Alaura was seeing no visitors so that she might spend time among her children.

 

**Heavensday**

   The sad events of this Fifth day of After-lithe are documented mostly in retrospect; even Clooty, who was a diligent keeper of his own journals, found no time nor desire to write about those events until many days had passed. It should also be remembered that all of what was transpiring in the eastern part of the Shire was completely unknown to the hobbits on the western border of those lands.

● The day began with Berty, Bovo and Marcoul waking to survey the land south of the Road from their new landmark at the White Spring and eastward toward the Chalk hills. Much of this land held numerous low hills and small outcroppings of trees that they all agreed would make it useful for lumber production and the eventual tending of livestock. It was not so wide and open a land as Gormadoc had on the northern side of the Road, not as amenable to the raising of crops, but it would certainly be a good land for the hobbits to build in and to supply them with materials. The three hobbits found a rather swift stream moving east in this land and then turning invariably south and the Youngbuck told them stories of the kind of mills that his uncle Clooty had been building which used the power of such fast flowing waters to cut lumber and mill grains.

●  In the South-farthing Troby and Vardamir were heading north at an easy pace and enjoying one another’s company. Vardamir was anxious to reach the Stonebows bridge and see that his friend, Vëalalaith, was safe and that they would be reunited, but he did care greatly for the company of Troby, the first hobbit whom he had ever met, and was content to ride along at his pony’s pace.

●  Also on that morning Gormadoc had a mind to mark the western border of his lands as Youngbuck had suggested. He told Poppy about his plan and together they took the three ponies, saddled for work, along with tools and a good supply of rope and set off down the Road into the west. There is an account of this in Clovis’ book of course, but we fortunately have Bovo’s own notes on the events which ring closer to an eyewitness report:

   Poppy saw the rock which Gormadoc had intended to move and knew why right away. It sits there still at the edge of our land and does indeed look very much like the Farthing-stone in shape and size. It lay on the other side of the shallow creek which Youngbuck declared as the border of the Shire, but there wasn’t much of a bluff near the creek and they both felt that with the help of the ponies it might certainly be moved the two dozen ranga [Númenórean strides, equal to just a bit more than a yard] or so that it might sit closer to the Road and on our side of the border. Poppy roped it up himself while Gordo dug out some of the soil in front and the ponies did indeed pull it toward the creek easily enough. But it became stuck in the mud of the creek bed and all the strength of the ponies and the hobbits could not get it to the other side.

   Then Poppy had one of his numerous clever ideas and it seemed certain that, if given time, it would have worked. He thought that the oilcloth tarp which some of the Zaragamba provisions had been wrapped in might help. I don’t quite understand the workings of things like this myself, but I’m told that he explained to Gordo that they might spread the cloth out at the bottom of the creek and then topple the stone onto it and pull both the stone and the cloth up the other side like a sledge. What Gordo thought of the idea I cannot say, but it was decided that Poppy should go and get the cloth and any other tools needed for the job. The trip from Gormadoc’s new hole to the stone was perhaps an hour's walk for your uncle Poppy. He put the large oilcloth along with some other tools into the wheelbarrow he had fashioned a few days before. That wheelbarrow was probably the most fortunate thing to have come along that day or to have been made in the early days of hobbits coming into the far west.

   Whether Gormadoc had tried to move the stone without his help, or if the ponies stirred somehow, or something else had caused the stone to shift, Poppy could not say. but he returned to that place to find the stone had toppled into the creek right on top of our friend. By chance the creek was shallow enough that Gordo could keep his head above the water, but his right arm and his legs and much of his lower body were caught beneath.

   Clovis, I do not know how you intend to write about this misadventure and the events which followed it. I have read and enjoyed the stories you have drafted of your grandfather and I am glad of the pride you have shown in telling of his exploits. I sometimes wish that I had learned such fondness for him when I was your own age. But the extraordinary, tragic and calamitous death of this kind-hearted hobbit, our friend Gormadoc, has grown into a tale to scare many younglings and future settlers in the Far Downs. If you must write about it, and those things which Youngbuck and I did afterwards, I cannot and would not stop you. But please, if you do, remember your dear uncle Poppy when you do so. His death is recent in your memory I know, but he loved you and your brothers and sisters greatly.

   Poppy was one of the most innocent, loyal, gentle and responsible friends that I and your mother ever had. That day of Gormadoc’s death put a mark on him in such a way that I never heard him laugh so heartily again. If you must write about that day then, please, remember your uncle Poppy when you do so.

● Gormadoc had lain in the stream bleeding for some time, but regained consciousness a bit when Poppy found him. With the help of the ponies and some tools, Poppy was able to roll the stone further off of his friend and pull him free. But the injuries were dire and there had been much blood lost. Poppy bound the wounds as he could with the little supplies he had on hand and carefully lifted his friend into the wheelbarrow he had returned with. He then started back up the Road to Gormadoc’s hole bearing his friend and with the three ponies, now detached from the ropes which bound them to the stone, following solemnly behind.

●  The stone was never moved any further and for all the long ages of the Shire it lay there in the creek on the southern border. It was not as tall as the creek was wide, but in the height of summer water would rush around it in a way that could be heard from the benches of the Waymeet twenty yards away where Gormadoc had meant for it to stand.

●  Above where the stone lay the hobbits; Youngbuck, Bovo, Gilley, Poppy, Marcoul and Olo cleared and long-maintained a little a small circular lawn of grass. It was a somber place at the quiet border of the Shire which looked out into the grey valley of the west with its three distant towers. There the six of them built seven chairs to sit alone above the stone and the little creek and the sound of the water.

●  Bovo came there many times over the rest of his years, particularly after the birth of his children, and to them he called the place “Gordo’s Gift”.

●  For the next two hundred and fifty years or so, as the Zaragamba’s family lived and worked in those lands it was called “Gordo’s Stone” and there were many sons and daughters who were too saddened by the noise of the water or the legend of it falling to build their homes nearby.

●  Three hundred years later and more, during the events of “The Fall of Arnor”, it would be called “Fate’s Farthing”, a name that came to it from a chapter in Clovis’ own book.

●  And in the days of the War of the Ring, so many hundreds of years in the Shire’s future, there were still some folk of the West-farthing who remembered fragments of the story. By this time most of them had what any hobbit would call a “healthy fear of all things elvish” and they came seldom to this edge of their land. If Gormadoc Zaragamba’s name had been forgotten by most of the folk who dwelled in the Far Downs this was still called the “The Doom Stone” and no sensible hobbits would linger long in such a place.

●  Clooty and Robin, leaving their ponies behind, departed the procession of Gilley, Olo and the other Zaragambas shortly after sunrise. Robin felt that he could clearly find the site along the Road which Youngbuck had chosen as Gilley had described it. It was indeed not too much further than a league to the north of where they were now.

●  But Youngbuck, Bovo and Marcoul were in fact less than a league away from the Zaragamba train in the wooded lands to the south. Their going was somewhat slower over that terrain as Youngbuck stopped many times to try and record the way streams or old pathways may have run. And there certainly was an orderliness to be found in this area; overgrown paving stones and even two little old wells showed them that this had indeed been farmland many hundreds of years ago.

●  Twoody left his home in Hobbiton-by-the-Water fairly early that same morning to post a long letter to the Shire-Council and another to his friend Horris Bunce. Having done this, he turned his feet west along the Road toward the Delvings. We are told, mostly through rumour, that he avoided encountering any inquisitive hobbits along the way and carried with him only a small backpack and the black walking stick that his friend Gondo had fashioned for him twenty-eight years ago when the first walked together in the Shire.

●  At the Great Smials in Buckland on that same morning of the Fifth day in After-lithe Chedric Bophin, with the help of Alaura’s son, Gondobert, began to load the large wagon with furniture and goods from inside the home. Rumor had begun to spread in the Shire (just as it always had) and there were many other Bucklanders who turned out and over to help in the hope of finding out just what was really going on. Ermenberga, stern but ever polite, turned them away at the gate (which, of course, encouraged new rumors).

● In the early afternoon of that day Clooty and Robin reached the Road and easily found the work being done on Gormadoc’s home. There they also found Poppy and his gravely injured friend. Clooty wrote of this several days later in his journals:

   I knew from the start that there was little which might be done for the poor fellow. His limbs on the right side of his body had been very badly crushed, there had been a lot of blood loss, his fever was high and his breathing was uneasy. He was in and out of sleep and I told Poppy to try to keep him awake as best he may. Strangely the hobbit didn’t seem troubled by his own condition and was glad to hear from Robin and I that his family was coming to him and would no doubt arrive tonight. This brought a tear to his eyes and he said; “I will be here and now so will they.” Then, with a brighter smile he said an even more curious thing; “Tell Bovo to keep the Faralong hill and to keep the cow as he was meant to.”

We three did what little we could to ease his discomfort, but he did not last for an hour or two more and did not get to see his children again.

●  Clooty spent some of that time examining the claim Berty had written as Poppy told him of how the other hobbits in his party were now surveying the lands south of the Road. Clooty asked Robin to find the three explorers, to tell them what had happened and to take the three ponies so that he might send the hobbits back as fast as possible.

●  He then went to to the work of examining the claim Berty had written for where he did find one more clue to the mystery of what had occurred in these past few days:

   “The NORTHWESTERN LINE of the claim holds a series of FIVE HILLS sparsely wooded and with good TILLABLE LAND and adequate ground for HOLE-DWELLINGS. The furthest in the northeast is the steepest and HAS BEEN CALLED by some of my companions THE FARALONG HILL...”

●  Clooty recorded in his journals that before Gormadoc died he saw the signing of his claim and wept at seeing it done. Soon after the hobbit passed away Clooty and Poppy cleaned his body and laid him in peace inside the shallow start which had been made for his hole. They put clean blankets over his broken body and laid a shovel by his side. They took his good and unbroken left hand out from the blankets and placed in it the signed an official claim, now a deed, so that it might pass from his hand to that of his eldest son when his family would arrive later that evening.

●  By the early afternoon of that day Troby and Vardamir had reached the Shirbourne river at the edge of that unpopulated land which hobbits had called the Marish. They remembered the ford they had found on their journey south a few days before and were now surprised to see a hobbit standing on a low hill on the other side of it and watching their approach. Troby never wrote much and kept no consistent diaries as a young man, but in later years, after he himself had become Chief Constable of the Shire, he did make an account of his travels and his meetings with the Númenórean soldiers. Written twenty years later, it is those writings which includes this encounter:

   He looked to be a young hobbit, that is the first thing I should say. For learning his true name later, and after my encounter with the Old Took who had looked so ancient, I find it strange that he could have looked so young. He stood on a little rise on the other side of the river and hailed us in a friendly manner as we crossed.

   “Do you know this hobbit,” Vardamir asked and I confessed that I did not.

   “Myeah govahnen,”¹² the stranger called as he looked upon my friend.

   “Myeah govahnen,” Vardamir answered with some surprise.

   “Eh-len see-lay loo-men oh-men-tee-el-voh!” I heard the stranger say. I could not have told you what was being said at the time of course, but my long friendship with Vardamir in years to come has taught many of the expressions and greetings of his strange language.

   “Well this is a most gracious meeting!’ Vardamir called back to the stranger, “and quite unexpected words to hear in the mouth of a hobbit. Will you sit with us for a time, master?” Vardamir said as we crossed the river and he began to dismount.

   “I will,” the hobbit answered, “and I have some meager fare that I might offer to fellow travelers at chance meetings.” As he said this he held his open hands out at belt height and lowered his head just a bit. I thought this to also be a very curious gesture, for I had seen Commander Ohtar do the same as he met my friend Dulf at the Stonebows bridge eight nights past, when this whole adventure began.

   Vardamir returned the gesture and then both of them took their swords from their belts and, sitting on the ground with their legs folded, placed the weapons before themselves. Knowing nothing of this custom I awkwardly did my best to do the same and laid the blade of the Nightwatch down as well. I must confess this took some time, for the blade is heavy and I nearly tripped setting it down.

   “You are indeed well-versed in the customs of my people, sir,” Vardamir said once we all were seated. “Tell me, are you thane in this land?”

   “I am not,” the stranger answered, “for King Argeleb never charged anyone with that title and preferred to allow hobbits to govern themselves. But you also comport yourself with all the manners of a captain, though I notice that your colours differ from Argeleb’s own. Are you in the service of that king?”

   Vardamir looked cautiously at the stranger then, as if the hobbit had noticed something quite subtle in a way which surprised him.

“Well,” I said in the uncomfortable moment, “I am Bridge-warden Waltraub Thornburrow, master. “Troby” to my friends if you will, and this is my friend Vardamir, who serves the heir of Elendil and walks through our lands with permission of chief constable Bunce. May I ask you of your name?”

At this the stranger smiled and said, “I have been called by a few names in my years, warden Thornburrow, most recently Gondolpho the Wanderer, master Undundol to others, but mostly Buck, if you will, by my friends.”

   It causes me great embarrassment to say this now, knowing what I and most hobbits should about the origins of our Shire, but it should also be remembered that the Oldbuck, most famous of our Founders, disappeared years before I was born. And this stranger, youthful still in his appearance, seemed more like in manners to Vardamir and even Commander Ohtar than he did to any other Shire-hobbit.

   I never put the two and two together as the saying goes.

   “I thank you for your candor, master Undundol,” Vardamir said.

   “And I thank you each for yours,” the Buck said. Then he pulled from his haversack some white summer wine and some salted cured fish for a little meal.

● The Oldbuck spoke with them for about an hour according to Troby’s account, and explained that he had been “Ambassador to the West”, a title which greatly impressed the young Vardamir. He further claimed to have heard something of Vardamir’s folk and their origin:

   “For I have been fortunate enough to listen to the Ley of Eärendur from one in the west who knows it well,” he said, much to Vardamir’s amazement.

●  The story which he refers to regarding Eärendur and his daughter is told in greater detail in “The Fall of Arnor”¹³ of course, and I mention it here only to illustrate the depth of the Oldbuck’s knowledge.

●  Oldbuck did not goad the two travelers but managed to learn much of what had happened in the southern part of the Shire in these past days. Neither Troby nor Vardamir could attest to all of the crimes which the Old Took was said to have committed, but they had first hand accounts of Men he had employed and no doubt of his alliances of the years and was now going forth to meet the King’s Judgement in Fornost Erain (which the hobbits called “Norbury”).

   “The Old Took,” the Buck said thoughtfully. “I am sorry for him, though I do not know all of the things which he has done, or the miseries he has brought upon himself. Things will not go well for him when he comes before the king’s scrutiny and under the high walls of Fornost Erain, yet much of the success of the Shire would not be possible without him.”

   “How is that, master?” I asked. “I was but a fawn when the Battle of the Bank happened-“

   “What year was that, Troby?” He asked.

   “Year Fifteen it was,” I continued, “but nine of our Shirefolk were killed then defending their own, you know-“

   “Terrible, yes, Troby, of course,” he said. “But they were not really defending their own, were they? This is the King’s land you see, and hobbits only tend it. Certainly Childy’s first and greatest mistake was in thinking it could be his own, no matter how he bargained to get it or whom he bargained with. Indeed, all hobbits should remember that our own King’s Agreement is no more than a similar bargain, for these lands are only recently his to give into our keeping.”

   “Only recently?” Vardamir asked. “Do you mean only recently King Argeleb’s or only recently the governance of King Elendil who came out of the Sea?”

   “I mean recently to all,” he said. “I have been to the high halls of Fornost Erain and marveled at the great stones which Elendil placed there in the first days of his kingdom. But those stones and the hill which that fortress stands upon are far older still. It seems to me, Vardamir, and I mean no insult, that a tall king like Elendil is of little higher standing in the land than the shortest of hobbits; for I have come to learn that we are all the land's stewards and not its masters.”

   We were quiet for a time and I confess that my young mind was filled with visions of tall castles made of stone and kings on golden chairs and swords gleaming under the light of stars just as it had been in the past week that I had ridden with the soldiers. Yet somehow the Buck’s words found their place in my heart, even when I was that young, and I think of them now more and more in my new responsibilities to the Shire.

   “No, it will not go well for the Old Took to come before the king, I think,” Vardamir agreed. “For Argeleb knows well the threat which comes from Angmar and will be aggrieved to hear that a hobbit had become aligned with the enemy. I hope it will not make the king re-examine your agreement with all hobbits. But his son, the Young Took, may be able to make a better case for his father when they come before the-“

   “The Young Took?” Buck interrupted in surprise. “He was there, you say? And went on to Fornost Erain with his father?”

   “Yes,” I replied. “Reginard is his name, but it seems that folks have come to call him the Young Took. Do you know of him?”

   "Of him, yes,” the Buck said, “though I had thought to meet him soon for reasons of my own. How very interesting! The Young Took and the Old, off to meet the king together! Oh, Childy, I was sorry for you and all that you had brought upon yourself, and that is still true, but in hearing this I can only envy you deeply. The Young Took and the Old off together. I hope that Childy, in all your treachery, you may come to appreciate the boon which you have been given.”

   At this the Buck stood, signaling an end to our conversation, and we both followed his example. He looked off into the west for a moment, but his face was hard to read. I could not fully understand the sadness that he must have had in that moment until the full tale of that famous father and son, the Youngbuck and the Old, became known to me a week later.

   We asked him where he was bound and he told us that it was his intention to find a new home for himself here in this part of the Shire. I offered him what little information I had about the land between the Shirebourne and Sarn Ford and he received it with a gracious smile. To this day I am still embarrassed by the ignorance I showed in explaining my meager knowledge of the area with a hobbit who, I later realized, was the land’s greatest explorer.

   “You are no doubt heading for the Baranduin bridge that we call the Stonebows, I would guess,” he said in reply. “You will not make it there today unless you ride long into the night, and there are no good paths from here to Stock. I would suggest stopping there and spending the night at the Golden Perch. The owner, Nordbert Button, is a friend of mine and you should tell him I’ve sent you. He sets a fine table and his beer is excellent. He will also be very glad for your news from the south. I’m afraid he won’t have a bed big enough for you, captain, but he will certainly do everything in his power to see to your comforts.

   “If you do this,” he continued, “then you may come to the Stonebows in the early morning where, I am happy to report, Vardamir, that your laughing mare waits to be reunited with you.”

   Vardamir and I looked at one another, quite astonished. We had mentioned nothing of his horse or the rider who had stolen it, nor of our destination.

   “How could you know this?” We asked.

   “Oh, come now, my friends,” he said with a little chuckle. “We spoke of more serious matters, but you should expect anyone you meet by chance to do his own bit of guesswork. Why would Vardamir ride north with you instead of leaving with the rest of his company across the ford? And you, young Bridge-warden, are clearly on some important business for which he wishes to see you safely through.

   “But as to the horse,” he continued, “I met with her myself on the bridge just two days past and she eagerly awaits your arrival. She is in the dutiful hands of two other Bridge-wardens whom I met and they will see her well provided for.”

   “Master,” I said, my mind swimming with all the surprises this hobbit had shown us, “do you... speak the language of horses?”

   At this he laughed as if in some memory of being asked, or even asking, such questions before. “No, of course not, Troby. No hobbit has a throat that can make the language of horses. But there are some wise horses who have learned the oldest language of the world.”

   At this we parted company. He continued west along the Shirbourne and we north to Stock and the Golden Perch. It was there that I learned that this was indeed the famous Oldbuck, founder and first explorer of the Shire, recently returned after twenty-five years among the Elves and, as anyone who had met him could agree, greatly changed from the experience.

   I had the opportunity to meet with him again only once in my years of service to Sarn Ford and the Tooklands. He invited me to his home on that occasion and, regrettably, I had to decline. But he stayed in that new home only seven more years and then, after the tragic events of Year Thirty-six of the Shire-reckoning, was never heard from again.

●  Gilley and the Zaragamba family reached their new home two hours before sunset on that Fifth day of After-lithe. Seeing them coming up from the south Clooty walked out to meet them along the way and tell them of the tragedy which had befallen. Poppy would not leave Gormadoc unattended until his sons and daughters were present. The other Zaragamba’s made their camp within one hundred yards of newly dug home while Clooty, Gilley and Olo escorted Gormadoc's wife, Gersvinda, and their sons; Omer, Fulvus, Moro, Reolus, Godun, Ansovald and Lull along with their daughters; Menegild, Kymma, Fallon, Arabella, Blesinde and Foy, forth to see the body and grieve. Gersvinda took the deed from her husband’s hand and Clooty explained the claim and also told her of Gormadoc’s last wishes regarding Faralong hill. Clooty, Poppy and Gilley left the family to their vigil and went forth from the shallow cave; the start of a home that now was a barrow. Then Gilley, hearing all of this news, went forth to meet Belle for the first time and her face was filled with tears.

●  Shortly after dark there was another tear-filled parting at the Great Smials in Buckland as Cheldric Bophin drove the loaded cart out of the gate with Alaura Fairheart riding secretly in the back along with some of her household belongings. They hoped to reach the Budge-and-Bridge inn in the hours before dawn where a place had been prepared. Led by Alaura's oldest daughter Ganda, the children went from room to room throughout all the holes in the seven hills of their great house and placed candles in the window awaiting their father’s return just as Berty had been taught to do.

●  We do not know Twoody’s whereabouts at that time and he never wrote about those days later in any journals or letters. Presumably he made camp for himself somewhere near to Waymeet, for he came there on the next morning, the Sixth day of After-lithe.

●  Robin had somewhat less luck in finding the explorers than he had in tracking the other hobbits from Greenholm; he was burdened with three unfamiliar though docile ponies and his quarry of three hobbits were making their way cautiously through a wooded area that left little sign of their passing. But he persevered, even well past nightfall, and eventually saw the smoke of their small campfire in the middle of the night.

●  Of their meeting nothing has been recorded. We can presume that Robin made himself known to them immediately and shared with them the terrible news of Gormadoc’s death, but what discussions they may have are lost. Yet in accordance with Clooty's plan Robin delivered the ponies and three hobbits set out immediately.

●  Marcoul arrived at Gormadoc’s Hole with the dawn of the Sixth day of After-lithe.

●  Youngbuck and Bovo were not with him.

 

**Mersday**

   Much of what happened on the Sixth day of After-lithe will be told in the following chapter but it is useful here to mention some few other remaining events.

●  Alaura will spend that day and the next in relative seclusion at the Budge-and Bridge Inn with her friend Leubovera Bolger. On the Eighth of After-lithe, again under cover of darkness, her cousin Cheldric would drive her in his cart south to Stock, where she will live for a week with Gondo’s old friend Nordbert Button. There she is met by Dursdale Mugwort who will escort her to Longbottom.

●  Troby and Vardamir will indeed reach the Stonebow’s bridge in the morning on the Sixth day of After-lithe where the soldier was reunited with his friend Vëalalaith and Troby with his friend and fellow Bridge-warden Dulf Bramblethorn. Vardamir did not remain long and departed east across the bridge to return to his family and his company, but he promised to return again when his duties may allow it. To his new friend Troby he gave a longknife of extremely good fashion in a leather scabbard woven with runes.

   “A dagger is as long as a sword in the hands of a hobbit," he said, “and a warden of your bravery should have a sword to show his office. Take it, my friend, with my wish that you shall never need to use it.”

●  Horris’ letter which Troby carried was handed over to the Shire Council that same day and a meeting was then called for on Highday, the Seventh day of After-lithe, to discuss these important developments away in the south.

●  It was later in that afternoon of the Sixth that Twoody’s letter to the Shire Council also arrived.

●  Marcoul Zaragamba arrived at the Far Downs just before the dawn of the Sixth and reported that Youngbuck and Bovo had indeed taken the two ponies they had been offered but that Youngbuck was so filled with rage over hearing of the death of Gormadoc that he immediately decided to go to Waymeet and confront the Young Took who he believed had caused them great harm and whom he held responsible. Bovo, unable to contain his friend, rode with him.

●  Upon hearing this news Clooty and Gilley took Clooty’s own two ponies and rode for Waymeet hoping to stop Youngbuck before he might do something foolish.

●  And also early in the morning on the Sixth day of After-lithe Theudebald Swiftalk, recently shamed and called “Swiftook” by his best friend, walked into Waymeet to confront his black sheep family of Swiftooks in hopes of finding his lost nephew Berty who was so dear to him now while everything else seemed lost.

end chapter two

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Chapter End Notes

Notes 7/10/2026

 

1)  So a confession is called for here: I never meant for this book to grow so long and never, in my earliest layout of its events, thought that this second part of the tale would need these many chapters to find resolution. In some of my earliest notes readers will find that “In the Shire-reckoning” was intended to explore the idea of a feud between the Bucks and the Tooks which I established in Book Three of my larger work, “The Fall of Arnor”. It started as a love triangle from the Shire’s earliest days and then grew to include the “Rip Van Winkle” inspired idea of a character (Gondo) disappearing into Faerie for twenty-five years and returning to a Shire which had changed drastically. But in the writing of those characters in Part One of this book I knew that a Part Two, twenty-five years later, would mean a younger generation of hobbits. Youngbuck and his friends, at their beginnings, had no significant plotlines of their own and were intended to simply meet with Oldbuck along the road. But when we create characters to serve our purposes as an author they often strain and grow against those purposes and find their own. Berty and his friends, the Lausa and the Nightwatch, the importance of the Dragonsword and conflicts within the Shire after the Summerdays, all grew out of my imaginings of these characters. The book has become overlong, or at least overlong for my plans and estimates of a finite and separate novel. But if the success of Harry Potter and other modern fan-based fiction has taught us writers anything it might be that the modern reader wants that same immersive experience that we writers experience; they want to live inside the world and see what comes next. For at least ten chapters now I have been writing far outside of outline and trusting the impulses of the story as it moves its way forward. I confess this, but I do not apologize for it; most of you are likely reading this as a PDF or online. That tells you the page count up front. If you’ve made it here to a note on page 335 then, well, you don’t need an apology. My confession is meant to offer you my thanks for sticking with me.

2)  I’m going to take some liberties here with the names of the days in the Shire calendar. They are usually called “Sterday”, “Sunday”, “Monday”, “Trewsday”, “Hevensday”, “Mersday” and “Highday” but all of these names, while Tolkien gives them other meanings, sound to my ears as too similar to our modern names. Careful readers will notice the slight modifications that I’ve made to make them seem less familiar.

3)  The Floxleafs, and Benbow Floxleaf cannot be found on Tolkien Gateway or any other index of Tolkien’s work; he is an invention of my own who plays a very significant part in “The Fall of Arnor" (where this whole overlylong story got its start). But yes, to my mind this Robin is an ancestor of Ben’s and I have written him as such.

4)  This bit is a direct quote from LotR’s “The Window on the West” chapter in which the dining customs of Numenoreans and Hobbits are compared. It is a quote from Sam of course, which I hope lightens the mood of Clovis’ style.

5)  The black bark of the tree in Greenholm, as I may have mentioned in a previous chapter, is “lebethron”. It is a tree of Gondor that Faramir made into walking sticks for Frodo and Sam.

6)  This is a little joke at my own expense. Since my formal training is as a painter and an illustrator I have often thought that I should like to make, as Tolkien did, some illustrations for these stories. And if I did have a publisher for these stories well then certainly I would offer my talents in that aspect of making the book more complete. But this is fanfic, the creative escape from my day job, and I can’t really put off other drawing projects to feed that escape at this stage of my life. Maybe one day when I am old and grey and nodding by the fire.

7)  We are told in LotR that no hobbit has ever killed another in the history of the Shire, but I leave the mystery of Roderick Proudfoot’s death on the bridge open to interpretation. Childy also has old wounds as we’ve seen in earlier chapters. Did he kill Proudfoot on the bridge while trying to escape? I cannot say, for I will not contradict the original text.

8)  Glumhallow is a town and old encampment in the north and east of the Weather Hills, part of the Lone-lands found not in Tolkien’s writing but in the Lord of the Rings Online game. The game is not something I play myself (who has the time?) but it is an excellent source for fleshing out more of the vacant geography from Tolkien’s stories. The contributors there are some of the best scholars in Tolkien lore today. Many other places could have been used, but I chose this because I thought the name to be keenly hobbit-like.

9)  Ohtar, or the distant relative of this Ohtar at least, is a character in the longer work called The Fall of Arnor and his family plays a part going back to the death of Isildur when Ohtar the First brought the shards of Narsil back to the kingdom of Arnor. That lineage, within my stories, has dutifully served the rightful heir of Elendil for eighteen hundred years retaining the name as a title.

10)  I’ve included this description because I wanted to further flesh out the Lausa-folk (my own invention) into the variety of cultures of the early American pioneers. I picture the Lausa at this time to be much like the early religious isolationists movements and therefore have Clooty describing their crafts in this way. think the Shakers without all the shaking.

11)  I often find myself being struck by how wonderful Tolkien is as a nature writer; he tends to describe the landscapes in his imagination with a clarity which makes readers wish to see them. I believe that if he had decided to become a travel writer, something still fairly new in his generation, he might have made much more money than he did as an Oxford don and teller of great tales.

12)  This exchange is told phonetically in the best way which Troby may accomplish for not understanding the language.

13)  Eärendur is a name which can be found readily enough by fans of Tolkien’s work, but the “Ley of  Eärendur” is work of my own which fleshes out that larger project The Fall of Arnor of which this novel (rather large itself) is only a byproduct.