Talk:The Shire

Should we 'copy' the Wikipedia article Regions of the Shire? Or should we place that infor in the rather short article Farthings? But then, we miss out the March and Buckland...

Steve White Map

Ederchil, I noticed you took the map out of this article. Steve White is sort of our house artist, so their weren't any legal problems. Was there something about the map that was greatly inaccurate?--Theoden1 08:52, 3 August 2008 (EDT)

It featured the places "Northway", "Southway", "Westhouse" and "Oakleaf". They don't appear in the fiction. Maybe a better map without fanon towns is better. -- Ederchil 09:04, 3 August 2008 (EDT)

I don't know if it's fanon or not. I think his map is based on the The Atlas of Middle-earth. Fonstad says she included some villages that don't appear on the map, deducting their locations. I don't know if White added some more. Sage 15:23, 3 August 2008 (EDT)

Do the Hobbits have a state religion or express a religious belief in general?

I'd like to know as in part to note the hobbits as it seem seem to be a unique and very difference people compare to the rest of Middle Earth people itself. So I like to have this answered or discussed, so to note it also seem to be a very interesting subject as well too.

Tolkien never actually mentioned Hobbit religion - Sam's "Lor' bless you" is just a figure of speech - but if we would go into the realm of fanwank, I'm not sure.

• Yes/No: There are three religious views known AFAIK, worship of Eru, worship of Melkor/Sauron, and pre-Númenórean (Tal-Elmar). If Hobbits worshipped, they worshipped Eru, but I doubt whether they had actually heard of him; they left little tales so old. It could have been brought in by the Númenóreans, or the Dwarves, if they could find Hobbits willing to listen to them.
• No: Hobbits had little to none government - a happy state of anarchy - so I doubt they had anything of organized religion.

Hope it helps, --- Ederchil ^{(Talk/Contribs/Edits)} 16:47, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

I once read the Professor refer to the hobbits as having a 'natural religion,' meaning that their very way of life put them comfortably into the order of things as God intended, and nothing more was needed from them (prayer, worship, etc.). I'm sorry, but I cant find the source at the moment.TheBoost 18:31, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Structure

I know that the viewing the page depends on screen dimensions and resolution, but I have always found the large thumbnail of the map and the compass rose problemous. I restructured the geography section and moved the graphics as down as possible, hoping they don't conflict with the infobox to the right. But that's just me. Sage 09:47, 4 November 2014 (UTC)

Quote

Should this quote be moved to the top of the page?

"But it is not your own Shire. Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more. The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out."

― Gildor Inglorion in The Fellowship of the Ring, "Three is Company"

It is a bit odd for it to be in the history section only. Also, it is one of the few times where the Shire does not have the “the” at the beginning. Dour1234, 19 March 2022

I don't find it particularly descriptive of the Shire. I'm sure there must be other one more appropiate, in case we include a main quote, which is not imperative. That quote is weird where it is, yes, but I don't know other place. --LorenzoCB 11:05, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

To be honest, I do not see the quote as weird since I do not see what else Gildor could have said? “But it is not your own [The] Shire.” There just so happens to be so much more instances of the before Shire over any other word. Also, the “The” is always lowercase when in front of Shire. This shows that it is not actually part of the name. The page just really should be moved to just simply “Shire,” since “The really was not part of the name. By the way, what do you think of my edits to the Shire page? Anything I should change back? I mainly was focusing on Grammar and punctuation, but could not stop myself from editing quite a few run-on sentences for instance. Dour1234, 20 March 2022

Can I let you know maybe of a real world example of a country using the word “the” before it’s name despite the name not officially having the “the.” The reason why I am asking for permission is because it involves a county currently at war and I do not really wish to mention a real world conflict in here. Dour1234, 20 March 2022

The Gambia? --Mord 05:08, 21 March 2022 (UTC)

I was actually thinking of the Ukraine, but that is another one. Dour1234, 21 March 2022

Your edit of the article was fine. Just leave the "the" alone. --LorenzoCB 08:12, 21 March 2022 (UTC)