Book 1

The following passages have been ‘tagged’ based on the following categories:

• GARMENTS, JEWELRY, ARTIFACTS (such as common tools, tableware, containers, belts, pouches, &c.), LIGHTING, FURNITURE, Warfare-related (WEAPONS, ARMOR, TACTICS, other MILITARY matters—troop strength &c.), FOOD (cooked) & DRINK, ARCHITECTURE, ECONOMICS &LIVELIHOODS (including LIVESTOCK), FLORA (including herbs & foraged foods), FAUNA (including non-working animals), MATERIALS (fabrics, metals, & wood—including TREES), CULTURAL/SOCIAL, TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION, PHYSICAL descriptions

The Lord of the Rings, Prologue: 1. Concerning Hobbits:

“Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more numerous formerly than they are today; for they love peace and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-farmed countryside was their favourite haunt. They do not and did not understand or like machines more complicated than a forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a hand-loom, though they were skilful with tools.” CULTURAL; TOOLS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“They are quick of hearing and sharp-eyed, and though they are inclined to be fat and do not hurry unnecessarily, they are nonetheless nimble and deft in their movements. They possessed from the first the art of disappearing swiftly and silently, when large folk whom they do not wish to meet come blundering by; and this art they have developed until to Men it may seem magical. But Hobbits have never, in fact, studied magic of any kind, and their elusiveness is due solely to a professional skill that heredity and practice, and a close friendship with the earth, have rendered inimitable by bigger and clumsier races.” CULTURAL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“For they are a little people, smaller than Dwarves: less stout and stocky, that is, even when they are not actually much shorter. Their height is variable, ranging between two and four feet of our measure. They seldom now reach three feet; but they hive dwindled, they say, and in ancient days they were taller. According to the Red Book, Bandobras Took (Bullroarer)…was four foot five and able to ride a horse…” PHYSICAL; HOBBITS; DWARVES; 3A For a more straightforward reworking of the above passage, see _Unfinished Tales_: “The remarks [on the stature of Hobbits] in the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings are unnecessarily vague and complicated, owing to the inclusion of references to survivals of the race in later times; but as far as The Lord of the Rings is concerned they boil down to this: the Hobbits of the Shire were in height between three and four feet, never less and seldom more.” PHYSICAL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“As for the Hobbits of the Shire, with whom these tales are concerned, in the days of their peace and prosperity they were a merry folk. They dressed in bright colours, being notably fond of yellow and green; but they seldom wore shoes, since their feet had tough leathery soles and were clad in a thick curling hair, much like the hair of their heads, which was commonly brown. Thus, the only craft little practised among them was shoe-making; but they had long and skilful fingers and could make many other useful and comely things.” CULTURAL; GARMENTS; PHYSICAL; ECON; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“And laugh they did, and eat, and drink, often and heartily, being fond of simple jests at all times, and of six meals a day (when they could get them). They were hospitable and delighted in parties, and in presents, which they gave away freely and eagerly accepted.” CULTURAL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“The Harfoots were browner of skin, smaller, and shorter, and they were beardless and bootless; their hands and feet were neat and nimble; and they preferred highlands and hillsides. The Stoors were broader, heavier in build; their feet and hands were larger, and they preferred flat lands and riversides. The Fallohides were fairer of skin and also of hair, and they were taller and slimmer than the others; they were lovers of trees and of woodlands.” PHYSICAL; CULTURAL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“The Harfoots had much to do with Dwarves in ancient times… They were the most normal and representative variety of Hobbit, and far the most numerous. They were the most inclined to settle in one place, and longest preserved their ancestral habit of living in tunnels and holes. The Stoors lingered long by the banks of the Great River Anduin, and were less shy of Men. The Fallohides, the least numerous, were a northerly branch. They were more friendly with Elves than the other Hobbits were, and had more skill in language and song than in handicrafts; and of old they preferred hunting to tilling…In Eriador they soon mingled with the other kinds that had preceded them, but being somewhat bolder and more adventurous, they were often found as leaders or chieftains among clans of Harfoots or Stoors. Even in Bilbo's time the strong Fallohidish strain could still be noted among the greater families, such as the Tooks and the Masters of Buckland.” CULTURAL; ECON; ERIADOR; RHOVANION; MEN; ELVES; HOBBITS; DWARVES; 3A

“So, though there was still some store of weapons in the Shire, these were used mostly as trophies, hanging above hearths or on walls, or gathered into the museum at Michel Delving.” WEAPONS; CULTURAL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Though slow to quarrel, and for sport killing nothing that lived, they were doughty at bay, and at need could still handle arms. They shot well with the bow, for they were keen-eyed and sure at the mark. Not only with bows and arrows. If any Hobbit stooped for a stone, it was well to get quickly under cover, as all trespassing beasts knew very well.” CULTURAL; WEAPONS; HOBBITS; 3A

“All Hobbits had originally lived in holes in the ground, or so they believed, and in such dwellings they still felt most at home; but in the course of time they had been obliged to adopt other forms of abode. Actually in the Shire in Bilbo's days it was, as a rule, only the richest and the poorest Hobbits that maintained the old custom. The poorest went on living in burrows of the most primitive kind, mere holes indeed, with only one window or none; while the well-to-do still constructed more luxurious versions of the simple diggings of old. But suitable sites for these large and ramifying tunnels (or smials as they called them) were not everywhere to be found; and in the flats and the low-lying districts the Hobbits, as they multiplied, began to build above ground. Indeed, even in the hilly regions and the older villages, such as Hobbiton or Tuckborough, or in the chief township of the Shire, Michel Delving on the White Downs, there were now many houses of wood, brick, or stone. These were specially favoured by millers, smiths, ropers, and cartwrights, and others of that sort; for even when they had holes to live in. Hobbits had long been accustomed to build sheds and workshops. The habit of building farmhouses and barns was said to have begun among the inhabitants of the Marish down by the Brandywine. The Hobbits of that quarter, the Eastfarthing, were rather large and heavy-legged, and they wore dwarf-boots in muddy weather. But they were well known to be Stoors in a large part of their blood, as indeed was shown by the down that many grew on their chins. No Harfoot or Fallohide had any trace of a beard. Indeed, the folk of the Marish, and of Buckland…still had many peculiar names and strange words not found elsewhere in the Shire.” CULTURAL; ECON; ARCHITECTURE; GARMENTS; SHIRE; EASTFARTHING; HOBBITS; DWARVES; 3A

“The craft of building may have come from Elves or Men, but the Hobbits used it in their own fashion. They did not go in for towers. Their houses were usually long, low, and comfortable. The oldest kind were, indeed, no more than built imitations of smials, thatched with dry grass or straw, or roofed with turves, and having walls somewhat bulged. That stage, however, belonged to the early days of the Shire, and hobbit-building had long since been altered, improved by devices, learned from Dwarves, or discovered by themselves. A preference for round windows, and even round doors, was the chief remaining peculiarity of hobbit-architecture.” CULTURAL; ARCHITECTURE; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“The houses and the holes of Shire-hobbits were often large, and inhabited by large families. (Bilbo and Frodo Baggins were as bachelors very exceptional, as they were also in many other ways, such as their friendship with the Elves.) Sometimes, as in the case of the Tooks of Great Smials, or the Brandybucks of Brandy Hall, many generations of relatives lived in (comparative) peace together in one ancestral and many-tunnelled mansion. All Hobbits were, in any case, clannish and reckoned up their relationships with great care. They drew long and elaborate family-trees with innumerable branches. In dealing with Hobbits it is important to remember who is related to whom, and in what degree. It would be impossible in this book to set out a family-tree that included even the more important members of the more important families at the time which these tales tell of. The genealogical trees at the end of the Red Book of Westmarch are a small book in themselves, and all but Hobbits would find them exceedingly dull. Hobbits delighted in such things, if they were accurate: they liked to have books filled with things that they already knew, set out fair and square with no contradictions.” CULTURAL; ELVES; HOBBITS; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Prologue: 2. Concerning Pipe-weed:

“There is another astonishing thing about Hobbits of old that must be mentioned, an astonishing habit: they imbibed or inhaled, through pipes of clay or wood, the smoke of the burning leaves of a herb, which they called pipe-weed or leaf, a variety probably of Nicotiana.” ARTIFACTS; MATERIALS; FLORA; HOBBITS; 3A

“'This is the one art that we can certainly claim to be our own invention. When Hobbits first began to smoke is not known, all the legends and family histories take it for granted; for ages folk in the Shire smoked various herbs, some fouler, some sweeter. But all accounts agree that Tobold Hornblower of Longbottom in the Southfarthing first grew the true pipe-weed in his gardens in the days of Isengrim the Second, about the year 1070 of Shire-reckoning. The best home-grown still comes from that district, especially the varieties now known as Longbottom Leaf, Old Toby, and Southern Star. 'How Old Toby came by the plant is not recorded, for to his dying day he would not tell. He knew much about herbs, but he was no traveller. It is said that in his youth he went often to Bree, though he certainly never went further from the Shire than that. It is thus quite possible that he learned of this plant in Bree, where now, at any rate, it grows well on the south slopes of the hill. The Bree-hobbits claim to have been the first actual smokers of the pipe-weed. They claim, of course, to have done everything before the people of the Shire, whom they refer to as "colonists"; but in this case their claim is, I think, likely to be true. And certainly it was from Bree that the art of smoking the genuine weed spread in the recent centuries among Dwarves and such other folk, Rangers, Wizards, or wanderers, as still passed to and fro through that ancient road-meeting. The home and centre of the an is thus to be found in the old inn of Bree, The Prancing Pony, that has been kept by the family of Butterbur from time beyond record. 'All the same, observations that I have made on my own many journeys south have convinced me that the weed itself is not native to our parts of the world, but came northward from the lower Anduin, whither it was, I suspect, originally brought over Sea by the Men of Westernesse. It grows abundantly in Gondor, and there is richer and larger than in the North, where it is never found wild, and flourishes only in warm sheltered places like Longbottom. The Men of Gondor call it sweet galenas, and esteem it only for the fragrance of its flowers. From that land it must have been carried up the Greenway during the long centuries between the coming of Elendil and our own day. But even the Dunedain of Gondor allow us this credit: Hobbits first put it into pipes.’” (Meriadoc Brandybuck, Herblore of the Shire). ECON; CULTURAL; TRAVEL; FLORA; GONDOR; BREE; SHIRE; MEN; HOBBITS; DWARVES; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Prologue: 3. Of the Ordering of the Shire:

“The Shire was divided into four quarters, the Farthings already referred to. North, South, East, and West; and these again each into a number of folklands, which still bore the names of some of the old leading families, although by the time of this history these names were no longer found only in their proper folklands. Nearly all Tooks still lived in the Tookland, but that was not true of many other families, such as the Bagginses or the Boffins. Outside the Farthings were the East and West Marches: the Buckland; and the Westmarch added to the Shire in S.R. 1462. The Shire at this time had hardly any 'government'. Families for the most part managed their own affairs. Growing food and eating it occupied most of their time. In other matters they were, as a rule, generous and not greedy, but contented and moderate, so that estates, farms, workshops, and small trades tended to remain unchanged for generations.” CULTURAL; ECON; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“The Shirriffs was the name that the Hobbits gave to their police, or the nearest equivalent that they possessed. They had, of course, no uniforms (_such things being quite unknown_), only a feather in their caps; and they were in practice rather haywards than policemen, more concerned with the strayings of beasts than of people. There were in all the Shire only twelve of them, three in each Farthing, for Inside Work. A rather larger body, varying at need, was employed to 'beat the bounds', and to see that Outsiders of any kind, great or small, did not make themselves a nuisance. At the time when this story begins the Bounders, as they were called, had been greatly increased.” GARMENTS; CULTURAL; ECON; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book I The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 1: A Long-Expected Party:

“‘Cabbages and potatoes are better for me and you. Don't go getting mixed up in the business of your betters, or you'll land in trouble too big for you,’ I says to him.” FOOD; ERIADOR; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“The light of the lanterns fell on his beaming face; the golden buttons shone on his embroidered silk waistcoat. They could all see him standing, waving one hand in the air, the other was in his trouser-pocket.” LIGHTING; MATERIALS; GARMENTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“I hope you are all enjoying yourselves as much as I am. Deafening cheers. Cries of Yes (and No). Noises of trumpets and horns, pipes and flutes, and other musical instruments. There were, as has been said, many young hobbits present. Hundreds of musical crackers had been pulled. Most of them bore the mark DALE on them; which did not convey much to most of the hobbits, but they all agreed they were marvellous crackers. They contained instruments, small, but of perfect make and enchanting tones. Indeed, in one corner some of the young Tooks and Brandybucks, supposing Uncle Bilbo to have finished (since he had plainly said all that was necessary), now got up an impromptu orchestra, and began a merry dance-tune. Master Everard Took and Miss Melilot Brandybuck got on a table and with bells in their hands began to dance the Springle-ring: a pretty dance, but rather vigorous.” ARTIFACTS (Musical); ECON; CULTURAL; DALE; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“[Bilbo] took off his party clothes, folded up and wrapped in tissue-paper his embroidered silk waistcoat, and put it away. Then he put on quickly some old untidy garments, and fastened round his waist a worn leather belt. On it he hung a short sword in a battered black-leather scabbard. From a locked drawer, smelling of moth-balls, he took out an old cloak and hood. They had been locked up as if they were very precious, but they were so patched and weatherstained that their original colour could hardly be guessed: it might have been dark green. They were rather too large for him. He then went into his study, and from a large strong-box took out a bundle wrapped in old cloths, and a leather-bound manuscript; and also a large bulky envelope. The book and bundle he stuffed into the top of a heavy bag that was standing there, already nearly full.” GARMENTS; MATERIALS; ARTIFACTS; WEAPONS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“But, of course, most of the things were given where they would be wanted and welcome. The poorer hobbits, and especially those of Bagshot Row, did very well. Old Gaffer Gamgee got two sacks of potatoes, a new spade, a woollen waistcoat, and a bottle of ointment for creaking joints.” CULTURAL; FOOD; ARTIFACTS; MATERIALS; GARMENTS; MEDICINE; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“'Lock the door, and don't open it to anyone today, not even if they bring a battering ram.' Then [Frodo] went to revive himself with a belated cup of tea.” WEAPONS; DRINK; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book I The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 2: The Shadow of the Past:

“'But this one was as big as an elm tree, and walking - walking seven yards to a stride, if it was an inch.' 'Then I bet it wasn't an inch. What he saw was an elm tree, as like as not.' 'But this one was walking, I tell you; and there ain't no elm tree on the North Moors.'” TREES; ERIADOR; SHIRE; 3A

“‘My cousin Hal…works for Mr. Boffin at Overhill and goes up to the Northfarthing for the hunting.’ “‘All the same,’ said Sam, ‘you can’t deny that others besides our Halfast have seen queer folk crossing the shire—crossing it, mind you: there are more that are turned away at the borders. The Bounders have never been so busy before.’” ECON; CULTURAL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Frodo took [the Ring] from his breeches-pocket, where it was clasped to a chain that hung from his belt.” GARMENTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Through Mirkwood and back again it led them, though they never caught him. The wood was full of the rumour of him, dreadful tales even among beasts and birds. The Woodmen said that there was some new terror abroad, a ghost that drank blood. It climbed trees to find nests; it crept into holes to find the young; it slipped through windows to find cradles.” ARCHITECTURE: FURNITURE; RHOVANION; MEN; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book I The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 3: Three is Company:

“The Shire had seldom seen so fair a summer [3018], or so rich an autumn: the trees were laden with apples, honey was dripping in the combs, and the corn was tall and full.” FOOD; ERIADOR; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Presently Sam appeared, trotting quickly and breathing hard; his heavy pack was hoisted high on his shoulders, and he had put on his head a tall shapeless felt bag, which he called a hat. In the gloom he looked very much like a dwarf.” ARTIFACTS; GARMENTS; MATERIALS; CULTURAL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; DWARVES; 3A

“Thin-clad birches, swaying in a light wind above their heads, made a black net against the pale sky.” TREES; ERIADOR; SHIRE; 3A

“Just over the top of the hill they came on the patch of fir-wood. Leaving the road they went into the deep resin-scented darkness of the trees, and gathered dead sticks and cones to make a fire.” TREES; ERIADOR; SHIRE; 3A

“They set no watch; even Frodo feared no danger yet, for they were still in the heart of the Shire. A few creatures came and looked at them when the fire had died away. A fox passing through the wood on business of his own stopped several minutes and sniffed.” FAUNA; ERIADOR; SHIRE; 3A

“'Walking for pleasure! Why didn't I drive?' [Frodo] thought, as he usually did at the beginning of an expedition. 'And all my beautiful feather beds are sold to the Sackville-Bagginses! These tree-roots would do them good.'” FURNITURE; MATERIALS; FAUNA; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A We know hobbits kept ducks and geese, and geese were kept in Bree as well.

“'I don't keep water in my pockets,' said Frodo. 'We thought you had gone to find some,' said Pippin, busy setting out the food, and cups. 'You had better go now.' 'You can come too,' said Frodo, 'and bring all the water-bottles.' There was a stream at the foot of the hill. They filled their bottles and the small camping kettle at a little fall…” ARTIFACTS; TRAVEL; HOBBITS; 3A

“‘There are some Men about,’ said Frodo. ‘Down in the Southfarthing they have had trouble with Big People, I believe.” CULTURAL; ERIADOR; SHIRE; MEN; HOBBITS; 3A

“At that point it bent left and went down into the lowlands of the Yale making for Stock; but a lane branched right, winding through a wood of ancient oak-trees on its way to Woodhall. 'That is the way for us,' said Frodo. TREES; ERIADOR; SHIRE; 3A

“The woods on either side became denser; the trees were now younger and thicker; and as the lane went lower, running down into a fold of the hills, there were many deep brakes of hazel on the rising slopes at either hand.” FOOD; TREES; ERIADOR; SHIRE; 3A

“Pippin afterwards recalled little of either food or drink, for his mind was filled with the light upon the elf-faces, and the sound of voices so various and so beautiful that he felt in a waking dream. But he remembered that there was bread, surpassing the savour of a fair white loaf to one who is starving; and fruits sweet as wildberries and richer than the tended fruits of gardens; he drained a cup that was filled with a fragrant draught, cool as a clear fountain, golden as a summer afternoon.” FOOD; DRINK; ARTIFACTS; ELVES; HOBBITS; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book I The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 4: A Shortcut to Mushrooms:

“Sam was sitting on the grass near the edge of the wood. Pippin was standing studying the sky and weather. There was no sign of the Elves. 'They have left us fruit and drink, and bread,' said Pippin.” FOOD; DRINK; 3A see previous citation

“They waded the [Stock-brook], and hurried over a wide open space, rush-grown and treeless, on the further side. Beyond that they came again to a belt of trees: tall oaks, for the most part, with here and there an elm tree or an ash.” FLORA; TREES; ERIADOR; SHIRE; 3A

“They passed along the edge of a huge turnip-field, and came to a stout gate. Beyond it a rutted lane ran between low well-laid hedges towards a distant clump of trees. Pippin stopped. 'I know these fields and this gate!' he said. 'This is Bamfurlong, old Farmer Maggot's land.” ECON; FOOD; TRAVEL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“They went along the lane, until they saw the thatched roofs of a large house and farm-buildings peeping out among the trees ahead. The Maggots, and the Puddifoots of Stock, and most of the inhabitants of the Marish, were house-dwellers; and this farm was stoutly built of brick and had a high wall all round it. There was a wide wooden gate opening out of the wall in to the lane.” ARCHITECTURE; CULTURAL; MATERIALS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“There was beer in plenty, and a mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon, besides much other solid farmhouse fare. The dogs lay by the fire and gnawed rinds and cracked bones.” FOOD; DRINK; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“‘I'll get out a small waggon, and I'll drive you all to the Ferry’… They threw their packs on board and climbed in. The farmer sat in the driving-seat, and whipped up his two stout ponies.” TRAVEL; LIVESTOCK; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“[Merry] was riding a pony, and a scarf was swathed round his neck and over his chin to keep out the fog.” LIVESTOCK; TRAVEL; GARMENTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“‘When it grew foggy I came across and rode up towards Stock to see if you had fallen in any ditches. But I'm blest if I know which way you have come. Where did you find them, Mr. Maggot? In your duck-pond?’” TRAVEL; FAUNA; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A Buckleberry Ferry must be large and stable enough for a pony!

The Lord of the Rings, Book I The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 5: A Conspiracy Unmasked:

“The people of the Marish were friendly with the Bucklanders, and the authority of the master of the Hall (as the head of the Brandybuck family was called) was still acknowledged by the farmers between Stock and Rushey. But most of the folk of the old Shire regarded the Bucklanders as peculiar, half foreigners as it were. Though, as a matter of fact, they were not very different from the other hobbits of the Four Farthings. Except in one point: they were fond of boats, and some of them could swim.” CULTURAL; ECON; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“At last they came to a narrow gate in a thick hedge. Nothing could be seen of the [Crickhollow] house in the dark: it stood back from the lane in the middle of a wide circle of lawn surrounded by a belt of low trees inside the outer hedge. Frodo had chosen it, because it stood in an out-of-the-way corner of the country, and there were no other dwellings close by. You could get in and out without being noticed. It had been built a long while before by the Brandybucks, for the use of guests, or members of the family that wished to escape from the crowded life of Brandy Hall for a time. It was an old-fashioned countrified house, as much like a hobbit-hole as possible: it was long and low, with no upper storey; and it had a roof of turf, round windows, and a large round door.” ARCHITECTURE; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“As they walked up the green path from the gate no light was visible; the windows were dark and shuttered. Frodo knocked on the door, and Fatty Bolger opened it. A friendly light streamed out. They slipped in quickly and shut themselves and the light inside. They were in a wide hall with doors on either side; in front of them a passage ran back down the middle of the house.” ARCHITECTURE; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“‘In that room there are three tubs, and a copper full of boiling water. There are also towels, mats and soap.’” ARTIFACTS; MATERIALS; CULTURAL; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“The stone floor was swimming.” ARCHITECTURE; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“I caught a glint of gold as [Bilbo] put something back in his trouser-pocket.” GARMENTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Merry and Pippin began a song, which they had apparently got ready for the occasion. It was made on the model of the dwarf-song that started Bilbo on his adventure long ago, and went to the same tune: Farewell we call to hearth and hall!…” CULTURAL (Musical); HOBBITS; DWARVES; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 6: The Old Forest:

“…the tunnel. It was dark and damp. At the far end it was closed by a gate of thick-set iron bars. Merry got down and unlocked the gate, and when they had all passed through he pushed it to again. It shut with a clang, and the lock clicked. The sound was ominous.” MATERIALS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Also northward, and to the left of the path, the land seemed to be drier and more open, climbing up to slopes where the trees were thinner, and pines and firs replaced the oaks and ashes and other strange and nameless trees of the denser wood.” TREES; ERIADOR; SHIRE; OLD FOREST; 3A

“No tree grew [in the Bonfire Glade], only rough grass and many tall plants: stalky and faded hemlocks and wood-parsley, fire-weed seeding into puffy ashes, and rampant nettles and thistles.” FLORA; SHIRE; OLD FOREST; HOBBITS; 3A

“Frodo was in the water close to the edge, and a great tree-root seemed to be over him and holding hi down, but he was not struggling. Sam gripped him by the jacket, and dragged him from under the root…” GARMENTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“‘I suppose we haven't got an axe among our luggage, Mr. Frodo?' asked Sam. 'I brought a little hatchet for chopping firewood,' said Frodo. 'That wouldn't be much use.'” “…[Sam] ran to the ponies and before long came back with two tinder-boxes and a hatchet.” “…Sam had struck a spark into the tinder…” ARTIFACTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“…there appeared above the reeds an old battered hat with a tall crown and a long blue feather stuck in the band. With another hop and a bound there came into view a man, or so it seemed. At any rate he was too large and heavy for a hobbit, if not quite tall enough for one of the Big People, though he made noise enough for one, slumping along with great yellow boots on his thick legs… He had a blue coat and a long brown beard… In his hands he carried on a large leaf as on a tray a small pile of white water-lilies.” GARMENTS; PHYSICAL; FLORA; BOMBADIL; 3A

“‘The table is all laden with yellow cream, honeycomb, and white bread and butter.” FOOD; BOMBADIL; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 7: In the House of Tom Bombadil:

"The four hobbits stepped over the wide stone threshold, and stood still, blinking. They were in a long low room, filled with the light of lamps swinging from the beams of the roof; and on the table of dark polished wood stood many candles, tall and yellow, burning brightly. In a chair, at the far side of the room facing the outer door, sat a woman. Her long yellow hair rippled down her shoulders; her gown was green, green as young reeds, shot with silver like beads of dew; and her belt was of gold, shaped like a chain of flag-lilies set with the pale-blue eyes of forget-me-nots. About her feel in wide vessels of green and brown earthenware, white water-lilies were floating, so that she seemed to be enthroned in the midst of a pool." ARCHITECTURE; FURNITURE; LIGHTING; ARTIFACTS; GARMENTS; MATERIALS; BOMBADIL; 3A

“‘Is the table laden? I see yellow cream and honeycomb, and white bread, and butter; milk, cheese, and green herbs and ripe berries gathered.’” FOOD; DRINK; BREE-LAND; BOMBADIL; 3A

"He opened the door, and they followed him down a short passage and round a sharp turn. They came to a low room with a sloping roof (a penthouse, it seemed, built on to the north end of the house). Its walls were of clean stone, but they were mostly covered with green hanging mats and yellow curtains. The floor was flagged, and strewn with fresh green rushes. There were four deep mattresses, each piled with white blankets, laid on the floor along one side. Against the opposite wall was a long bench laden with wide earthenware basins, and beside it stood brown ewers filled with water, some cold, some steaming hot. There were soft green slippers set ready beside each bed." ARCHITECTURE; FURNITURE; MATERIALS; GARMENTS; BREE-LAND; BOMBADIL; 3A

"At last Tom and Goldberry rose and cleared the table swiftly. The guests were commanded to sit quiet, and were set in chairs, each with a footstool to his tired feet. There was a fire in the wide hearth before them, and it was burning with a sweet smell, as if it were built of apple-wood. When everything was set in order, all the lights in the room were put out, except one lamp and a pair of candles at each end of the chimney-shelf." ARCHITECTURE; FURNITURE; LIGHTING; ARTIFACTS; BREE-LAND; BOMBADIL; 3A

“Their mattresses and pillows were soft as down, and the blankets were of white wool.” ARTIFACTS; MATERIALS; BOMBADIL; 3A

"He drew back the yellow curtains, and the hobbits saw that these had covered the windows, at either end of the room, one looking east and the other looking west. They leapt up refreshed. Frodo ran to the eastern window, and found himself looking into a kitchen-garden grey with dew. … Actually his view was screened by a tall line of beans on poles… …the red flowers on the beans began to glow against the wet green leaves." ARCHITECTURE; FOOD; BREE-LAND; BOMBADIL; 3A

“They heard of the Great Barrows, and the green mounds, and the stone-rings upon the hills and in the hollows among the hills. Sheep were bleating in flocks. Green walls and white walls rose. There were fortresses on the heights. Kings of little kingdoms fought together, and the young Sun shone like fire on the red metal of their new and greedy swords.” LIVESTOCK; MATERIALS; WEAPONS; ERIADOR; BREE-LAND; BARROW-DOWNS; 2A; 3A This would have to be (at the earliest) TA 861 (death of Eärendur and division of Eriador)? or does it refer to Men of the First Age?

“The boards blazed with candles, white and yellow. …But Tom was all in clean blue, blue as rain-washed forget-me-nots, and he had green stockings.” ARTIFACTS; LIGHTING; GARMENTS; BOMBADIL; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 8: Fog on the Barrow-Downs:

"When [Bombadil] came out he was bearing in his arms a great load of treasure: things of gold, silver, copper, and bronze; many beads and chains and jewelled ornaments." MATERIALS; ERIADOR; ARNOR; BREE-LAND; BARROW-DOWNS; 2A; 3A

"...'Dressed up like this, sir?' said Sam. 'Where are my clothes?' He flung his circlet, belt, and rings on the grass, and looked round helplessly, as if he expected to find his cloak, jacket, and breeches, and other hobbit-garments lying somewhere to hand." JEWELRY; GARMENTS; HOBBITS; 3A

"Merry, Sam, and Pippin now clothed themselves in spare garments from their packs; and they soon felt too hot, for they were obliged to put on some of the thicker and warmer things that they had brought against the oncoming of winter." TRAVEL; GARMENTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A Why do they have winter clothes? Did the conspiracy really plan on going to Rivendell? And how long did they think it would take??

“[Tom] chose for himself from the pile a brooch set with blue stones, many-shaded like flax-flowers or the wings of blue butterflies…” JEWELRY; FLORA; FAUNA; ERIADOR; ARNOR; BREE-LAND; BARROW-DOWNS; 3A Flax is the plant from which linen is made.

"For each of the hobbits he chose a dagger, long, leaf-shaped, and keen, of marvelous workmanship, damasked with serpent-forms in red and gold. They gleamed as he drew them from their black sheaths, wrought of some strange metal, light and strong, and set with many fiery stones. Whether by some virtue in these sheaths or because of the spell that lay on the mound, the blades seemed untouched by time, unrusted, sharp, glittering in the sun." WEAPONS; MATERIALS; ARNOR; BREE-LAND; BARROW-DOWNS; MEN; 3A

"...They made ready, packing their bags and lading their ponies. Their new weapons they hung on their leather belts under their jackets, feeling them very awkward, and wondering if they would be of any use." ARTIFACTS; GARMENTS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“…[the Road] was rutted and bore many signs of the recent heavy rain; there were pools and pot-holes full of water.” TRAVEL; BREE-LAND; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 9: At the Sign of the Prancing Pony:

“Bree was the chief village of the Bree-land, a small inhabited region, like an island in the empty lands round about. … Lying round Bree-hill and the villages was a small country of fields and tamed woodland only a few miles broad.” “In those days no other Men had settled dwellings so far west, or within a hundred leagues of the Shire. But in the wild lands beyond Bree there were mysterious wanderers. The Bree-folk called them Rangers…” CULTURAL; ECON; TRAVEL; ERIADOR; BREE-LAND; MEN; 3A

“There were also many families of hobbits in the Bree-land and they claimed to be the oldest settlement of Hobbits in the world, one that was founded long before even the Brandywine was crossed and the Shire colonized. They lived mostly in Staddle though there were some in Bree itself, especially on the higher slopes of the hill, above the houses of the Men. The Big Folk and the Little Folk (as they called one another) were on friendly terms, minding their own affairs in their own ways, but both rightly regarding themselves as necessary parts of the Bree-folk. Nowhere else in the world was this peculiar (but excellent) arrangement to be found. The Bree-folk, Big and Little, did not themselves travel much; and the affairs of the four villages were their chief concern. Occasionally the Hobbits of Bree went as far as Buckland, or the Eastfarthing; but though their little land was not much further than a day’s riding east of the Brandywine Bridge, the hobbits of the Shire now seldom visited it. An occasional Bucklander or adventurous Took would come out to the Inn for a night or two, but even that was becoming less and less usual. … There were probably many more Outsiders scattered about in the West of the World in those days than the people of the Shire imagined.” CULTURAL; TRAVEL; BREE-LAND; SHIRE; MEN; HOBBITS; 3A Discussions on TheOneRing.Net imagine that these ‘outsiders’ allow for a population of itinerant hobbits outside the Shire!

“The village of Bree had some hundred stone houses of the Big Folk, mostly above the Road, nestling on the hillside with windows looking west. On that side, running in more than half a circle from the hill and back to it, there was a deep dike with a thick hedge on the inner side. Over this the road crossed by a causeway; but where it pierced the hedge it was barred by a great gate. There was another gate in the southern corner where the Road ran out of the village. The gates were closed at nightfall; but just inside them were small lodges for the gatekeepers.” ARCHITECTURE; MATERIALS; CULTURAL; BREE-LAND; MEN; 3A

“The Inn of Bree … was a meeting place for the idle, talkative, and inquisitive among the inhabitants, large and small, of the four villages; and a resort of Rangers and other wanderers, and for such travelers (mostly dwarves) as still journeyed on the East Road, to and from the Mountains.” CULTURAL; TRAVEL; ERIADOR; BREE-LAND; MEN; DWARVES; 3A

“They were washed in the middle of good deep mugs of beer when…the table was laid. There was hot soup, cold meats, a blackberry tart, new loaves, slabs of butter, and half a ripe cheese: good plain food, as good as the Shire could show…” ARTIFACTS; FURNITURE; FOOD; DRINK; BREE-LAND; SHIRE; 3A

“The Men of Bree seemed all to have rather botanical (and to the Shire-folk rather odd) names, like Rushlight, Goatleaf, Heathertoes, Appledore, Thistlewool and Ferny (not to mention Butterbur). Some of the hobbits had similar names. The Mugworts, for instance, seemed numerous. But most of them had natural names, such as Banks, Brockhouse, Longholes, Sandheaver, and Tunnelly, many of which were used in the Shire. There were several Underhills from Saddle…” CULTURAL; MATERIALS; FLORA; LIGHTING; BREE-LAND; MEN; HOBBITS; 3A Rushlights—dried piths of the rush plant soaked in tallow or fat as a cheap ‘candle’—were probably familiar in Bree-land; this helps give us a good idea of their technological level.

“Pippin roused a good deal of laughter with an account of the collapse of the roof of the Town Hole in Michel Delving: Will Whitfoot, the Mayor, and the fattest hobbit in the Westfarthing, had been buried in chalk, and came out like a floured dumpling.” MATERIALS; FOOD; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits.” ARTIFACTS; MATERIALS; GARMENTS; TRAVEL; BREE-LAND; MEN; 3A

“They rolled the Man slowly up the hill/and bundled him into the Moon,/While his horses galloped up in rear,/And the cow came capering like a deer,/and a dish ran up with a spoon.” FAUNA; LIVESTOCK; ERIADOR; SHIRE; 3A So hobbits ARE familiar with deer! And further proof of cows!

“Much too vigorously; for [Frodo] came down, bang, into a tray full of mugs... Butterbur, picking up the tray and gathering up the broken crockery…” ARTIFACTS; MATERIALS; BREE-LAND; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book I The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 10: Strider:

“…Mr. Butterbur had arrived with candles, and behind him was Nob with cans of hot water.” LIGHTING; ARTIFACTS, BREE-LAND; 3A Nob's 'cans' were likely made of copper or tin?

“…Mr. Butterbur, producing a letter from his pocket, and reading out the address slowly and proudly (he valued his reputation as a lettered man).” CULTURAL; BREE-LAND; MEN; 3A

“‘It was on Monday, and all the dogs were yammering and the geese screaming.’” FAUNA; BREE-LAND; 3A

“Throwing back his cloak, he laid his hand on the hilt of a sword that had hung concealed by his side” GARMENTS; WEAPONS; MEN; 3A

The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 11: A Knife in the Dark:

“Ferny’s price was twelve silver pennies; and that was indeed at least three times the pony’s value in those parts*. … Butterbur…offered Merry another eighteen pence as some compensation for the lost animals. He was an honest man, and well-off as things were reckoned in Bree; but thirty silver pennies was a sore blow to him…” ECON; CULTURAL; LIVESTOCK; BREE-LAND; 3A four silver pennies for a worn-out pony?

“After their breakfast the hobbits had to re-pack, and get together further supplies for the longer journey they were now expecting.” TRAVEL; ECON; 3A When heading east, Bree is the last ‘civilized’ outpost before Rivendell—ergo also the last opportunity a traveler would have to stock up on supplies.

“Sam was chewing an apple thoughtfully. He had a pocket full of them: a parting present from Nob and Bob.” FOOD; GARMENTS; BREE-LAND; HOBBITS; 3A

“At the day's end they came to a stream that wandered down from the hills to lose itself in the stagnant marshland, and they went up along its banks while the light lasted. It was already night when at last they halted and made their camp under some stunted alder-trees by the shores of the stream.” TREES; ERIADOR; 3A Between Midgewater & Weathertop

“The lands ahead were empty of all save birds and beasts, unfriendly places deserted by all the races of the world. Rangers passed at times beyond the hills, but they were few and did not stay. Other wanderers were rare, and of evil sort: trolls might stray down at times out of the northern valleys of the Misty Mountains. Only on the Road would travellers be found, most often dwarves, hurrying along on business of their own, and with no help and few words to spare for strangers.” CULTURAL; TRAVEL; ERIADOR; MEN; DWARVES; 3A

“Night was cold up on the high ridge. They lit a small fire down under the gnarled roots of an old pine, that hung over a shallow pit: it looked as if stone had once been quarried there.” ECON; TREES; ERIADOR; TROLLSHAWS; 3A east of Last Bridge

The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 12: Flight to the Ford:

“…then [Strider] ordered Pippin and Merry to heat as much water as they could in their small kettles…” ARTIFACTS; BREE-LAND; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A

“from the pouch at his belt [Strider] drew out the long leaves of a plant.” ARTIFACTS; MEN; 3A

“Up came Tom with his big boots on./ Said he to Troll: 'Pray, what is yon?/ For it looks like the shin o' my nuncle Tim,/ As should be a-lyin' in graveyard… 'My lad,' said Troll, 'this bone I stole./ But what be bones that lie in a hole?/ Thy nuncle was dead as a lump o' lead,/ Afore I found his shinbone…” CULTURAL; MATERIALS; SHIRE; HOBBITS; 3A If Samwise Gamgee has enough knowledge of lead to use it in one of his songs, surely other hobbits are familiar with it as well? Also, hobbits have graveyards?

“‘Drink this!’ said Glorfindel to them, pouring for each in turn a little liquor from his silver-studded flask of leather. … Eaten after that draught the stale bread and dried fruit (which was now all that they had left)…” FOOD; DRINK; ARTIFACTS; MATERIALS; ELVES; 3A

“The hills now began to shut them in. The Road behind held on its way to the River Bruinen, but both were now hidden from view. The travellers came into a long valley; narrow, deeply cloven, dark and silent. Trees with old and twisted roots hung over cliffs, and piled up behind into mounting slopes of pine-wood.” TREES; ERIADOR; TROLLSHAWS; 3A

“As quickly as they could they scrambled off the beaten way and up into the deep heather and bilberry brushwood on the slopes above, until they came to a small patch of thick-growing hazels.” FLORA; TREES; ERIADOR; TROLLSHAWS; 3A (West of Ford of Bruinen)