14 Facts About The Shire

The Shire is an inland area settled exclusively by hobbits, the Shire-folk, largely sheltered from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth.

In Tolkien's fiction, the Shire is described as a small but beautiful, idyllic and fruitful land, beloved by its hobbit inhabitants.

The Shire measured 40 leagues east to west and 50 leagues from north to south, with an area of some 18,000 square miles : roughly that of the English Midlands.

The main and oldest part of the Shire was bordered to the east by the Brandywine River, on the north by uplands rising to the Hills of Evendim, on the west by the Far Downs, and on the south by marshland.

The Shire was subdivided into four Farthings, as Iceland once was; similarly, Yorkshire was historically divided into three "ridings".

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The Shire was covertly protected by Rangers of the North, who watched the borders and kept out intruders.

The Shire returned the following year, secretly bearing a magic ring.

The Shire was invaded by four Ringwraiths in search of the Ring.

The Shire was liberated with the help of Frodo and his companions on their return at the Battle of Bywater.

The trees of the Shire were restored with soil from Galadriel's garden in Lothlorien.

Michael Stanton comments in the JR R Tolkien Encyclopedia that the Shire is based partly on Tolkien's childhood at Sarehole, partly on English village life in general with, in Tolkien's words, "gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmland".

Industrialization of the Shire was based on Tolkien's childhood experience of the blighting of the Worcestershire countryside by the spread of heavy industry as the city of Birmingham grew.

The Shire makes an appearance in both the 1977 The Hobbit and the 1978 The Lord of the Rings animated films.

The Shire scenes were shot at a location near Matamata, New Zealand.