For The Love of The Shire
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 พ.ค. 2021
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Skip the Shire is like saying skip the happiest part of your life and jump right into emotional trauma
wow this comment wins the day
Me and my childhood in one comment.
This👆
You have happy parts in your life?
The first half of the Fellowship has the most cozy, homey vibe to it and probably the most vivid memory of any fantasy book I have ever read.
"I feel like i'm explaning it too much but also poorly" so relatable
Frodo's parents were killed in a boating accident so it's not like Hobbits never go on the water, just that it's dangerous as even a good swimmer can easily perish if things go wrong on the water.
Just one of the 3 branches of hobbits usually rides boats. I remember the hobbits from hobbiton would gossip about Frodo's parents death saying it happened for acting weirdly and getting inti the boat.
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road and there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."
I know of people that knew how to swim, were wearing life jackets, and still ended up drowning after falling off of a boat. Crap happens. And yes, it's only the hobbits that live by the river that get in boats, because they grow up near a river and learn to swim, while the people in Hobbiton, don't. It's less about the branches, and more about where those branches settled down.
We wouldn't mind a shift for more Lotr content. These types of videos are full of love and appreciation. I feel a reread coming in my near future.
yes, it's beautiful. leaving is hard, coming back to find it spoiled, harder.
I thought I was the only one who intentionally read things at different paces. I seriously adore this woman.
Some people are crazy! The Scouring of the Shire is one of my favorite parts!
Love it when you make Tolkien videos n.n
@@TheWilyx What do you think about its ommission in the movies? At first I was irritated but I quickly realized that it wouldn't fit in the movies at all. Do you agree?
@@belalaloca
'I quickly realized that it wouldn't fit in the movies at all. Do you agree?' - It would have almost needed another whole movie to do it justice; and after squeezing a *fourth* movie from the trilogy in the first place...?
The Shire is the whole point! You can't fully understand Frodo's journey without it.
See not only that but removing the shire would have brought such a terrible introduction of hobits. Without the shire it would have been "here's small people. It's 4 hobbits you follow for the whole books. No backstory." I feel like it's hard to like characters introduced like that especially a main character.
@@mapledelta147 definitely!
Exactly! Preserving the Shire, and the beautifully peaceful life there, is literally most of Frodo's motivation for carrying & destroying the Ring.
Scouring of the Shire is especially one of my favourite bits in Lord of the Rings! The dramatic irony, the growth of the characters, the fact that nowhere is safe, you can't just return home!!! Great
I think, especially when you get to the scouring, keeping the mind of the context in which books were written is important too! Tolkien lived through the latter end of England's industrialization and fought in WWI and you can see the influence those had on him for sure.
My husband and I have been literally saving up for the last couple of years so that we can hopefully go to New Zealand next year for our anniversary and experience all the Middle Earth locations....ESPECIALLY The Shire. I think it’s going to feel like “coming home” even though I’ve never even been there.
LOTR is my absolute favorite and nobody can convince me otherwise. I’m a hobbit at heart. 🤷🏻♀️
as an NZer myself, you will be very very welcome!! and the Shire will not disappoint (;
THANK YOU FOR THE SHIRE LOVE!!! - I think those chapters are essential to truly show Frodo's love of the Shire, but also how he and Bilbo are unusual amongst their peers.
Also, it makes the scouring of the shire more impact full.
Sometimes, instead of doing a re-read of the whole series, I'll just do a re-read of the beginning section while we're still in The Shire.
There are people who skip the Shire??????????? How?????????? it’s the most beautiful, idyllic, section of any book ever
It's boring
@@bakthihapuarachchi3447 And tedious.
To each their own i guess
People finding the Shire chapters boring must be the ones who hate Frodo? In other words, the ones who miss the whole freaking point of the books? I cannot imagine a true Tolkien fan ever disregarding these parts.
Merphy is a true hobbit, she doesn't rush reading LotR, she reads it calmly and peacefully and indulgently wants to stay in the Shire as long as possible.
you made such a good points which I hadn't noticed even though i have read the lord of the rings for about five times. The water scene that you explained hit me right in the feels bc now it seems so much more impactful for me. I also love how you talk about frodo because I have also heard so many comments of him being useless or weak and I have been there like "he is my favourite character, please stop." bc from when I started entering lotr world, I saw the depth of his character and how he cares about those around him and I could go on and on about him
The people who say Frodo is useless must have only watched the movies, and just for the action scenes.
The Scouring of the Shire has always been one of my favorite parts of the LoTR. The hobbits in the beginning are complete innocents, protected from the outside world in large part by Gandalf, and they're really not aware of a lot going on in the outside world. They're content. I find it fitting that Saruman, in probably the most petty revenge ever, tries to corrupt the thing that Gandalf loves. It's awesome that Frodo and friends don't singlehandedly save the Shire, but they lead the other hobbits. The hobbits in general have that inner strength that made Bilbo and Frodo (and Sam!) such resilient Ringbearers and once they have a little direction they're able to stiffen their spines a little and free themselves. This really completes the arc for all of the hobbits, not just the ones in the Fellowship. They kind of move from blissful, innocent, ignorant childhood into adulthood, valuing what they have because they nearly lost it. The Lord of the Rings would be much less rich without these sections.
Keep in mind that the Tooks and Brandybucks were already resisting
I could never. So much of the point is the change from the cozy, homey, comfort into the tragedies and pain of the rest of the story.
The Shire is necessary for the contrast.
The Shire was a reflection of the Midlands of England, (tradition bound, easy going)
The element of going out and coming back changed was a reflection of WWI
Write what you know right?
This was sincerely touching. Thank you for it! I appreciate the Shire chapters because, as you mention, it shows the consequences of everything that happened. I find it extremely satisfying to know what happened after the big climax: how people's lives were affected, how things moved on after that. The Scourging of the Shire was always one of my favorite chapters because it really does that, it clearly shows the immense growth all of the main hobbit characters have been through, having left the shire brave but timid and afraid, and come back as warriors and leaders; it shows the pathetic end result of Saruman's actions and lust for power; it highlights the resilience and will/stubbornness of the hobbits that is often told about but never before seen except in the main characters.
About Frodo's voyage to the West, I believe that should be a happy ending. After all, those are the blessed lands, that even the elves long to return to. I always end a reading of Lord of the Rings immensely sad to see Frodo and Sam parted, but satisfied that everyone has found their place and their peace.
The Scouring of the Shire is one of my favourite fight scenes in all of fantasy.
It also shows that when you leave something, it will have changed when you return.
The bits that take place in The Shire have always been a source of pure joy to me. Thanks for this video :)
"After all, why not? Why shouldn't I just chill in the Shire? Sod this adventuring lark."
Another reason that I think the scouring of the Shire is important is that it shows the Character progression of our four hobbit friends. After everything they went through on the journey and the war of the ring, dealing with the situation at home was by comparison a minor inconvenience for them, juxtaposed to the other hobbits who were completely overwhelmed by the situation.
The description of Frodo's time after the scouring of the Shire and before he heads into the West - returning home, but being unable to return to how things were - is achingly beautiful.
I'm not the biggest LOTR fan but the Shire in the beginning is one of my favorite parts. I love learning about Hobbits and seeing how out of character Frodo and Sam leaving was. I don't really want to re-read the entirety of LOTR but I would re-read the Shire chapters many times over.
In the theater, at the end of Return, the crowd got ancy and impatient. The film looked like an action-film that should have ended with the last battle and coronation scene, at least to the non-literary members. For Tolkien the object of life isn't to do great things, but to be at home again and live in peace and happiness. His generation went and did great things in the wars and came home broken. The whole point is to save the Shire.
I wouldn't mind too much if this became a LOTR channel lol. I think people expecting the movies and similar pacing get put off. But books allow so much more free rein. I really adored it on my reread, the first since I was young.
When my girlfriend of 3 years broke up with me, I started to read Lord of the Rings. I was emotionally devestated for months, but those opening chapters calmed me down, even though it was for a small moment. It is so peaceful and beautiful to read
Definitely love the Shire & need to check out these Air B&Bs
I’ve seen some super cool hobbit holes on airbnb!
I love the Scouring of the Shire. Frodo sets out on his journey to save the Shire, and like you said they return to see that it hasn't been saved. However, because of who he and his friends have become along that journey, they now have the skills to save it themselves. It's incredibly well done. We get to see how confident Merry, Pippen, and Sam have become. True leaders and warriors. Like you said, in the scene with Saruman we also get to see how truly wise Frodo has become, embracing mercy and empathy in the face of cruelty and violence. This chapter displays to the reader just how tired of fighting Frodo truly is, all he wants is peace, which he sadly may never get, in this world at least.
"You can just skip the Shire; it's pointless."
I've never felt my breath stop this much. 👀 😆
Anyway, loving these LOTR vids~ I'm quiiiiite tempted to start rereading LOTR so that I can read along, especially while you're still in the Shire -'cause I'm a slow reader. lol- .
The thing about Hobbits and water also adds more significance to the fact that Frodo ultimately leaves the Shire on a boat. He becomes one of the Hobbits that doesn't return from the water.
I think that Tolkien’s own experiences with World War I shine through in his writing, whether or not that was his intention. He doesn’t glorify war because his experiences with war were ugly. Men came back from World War I changed, often for the worst, due to what they experienced and saw. And when the British came back home, they came back to a home that was itself wounded and traumatized by the bombings in London and families separated.
Tolkien could write a human and real war with a human and real aftermath because he had been through it. He knew what it was like and that it wasn’t pretty. He took the horrors he saw and experienced and wrote them into Middle Earth.
The movies miss how real Middle Earth is when they leave out the Scouring of the Shire.
Anyway, I’m done blathering. Thanks for these LOTR videos. I look forward to more of them!
My favorite part in the series is when they return to the shire. There is just something about how they clean up shop, so to speak, that brings hope to me. I’ve read through the books twice now, but have listened to return to the shire about 6.
So much agree!! The little doings around the Shire are one of my favorite parts of the entire series! It makes everything else so much more meaningful.
I really like how the first like third or so of Fellowship starts in the same vein and tone of the Hobbit and kind of eases you out of it slowly. It makes it less jarring for people who read the Hobbit first.
My favourite part of the book is the journey through the shire. Camping under the stars, the Fox wondering why hobbits were sleeping outdoors, encountering the Elves travelling to The Grey Havens ,& being stalked by The Nazgul. This whole section of the story was so much like my experiences of camping as a kid.
Listening to you fangirl over LOTR, and specific details (like about Hobbits no liking water and what it means for the characters of Frodo and Sam) is the best way to start the morning!! Videos like this is why I subscribed to your channel in the first place. I love it!
Howard Shore's score for the films is so good that the moment I hear Concerning Hobbits, I am immediately brought to the chillest vibe of relaxing and comfort when I first read it years ago. And Bilbo's poetry spits pure fire.
About the fact that hobbits don't swim, if I recall correctly Frodo's own parents drowned when he was young. That is why he was adopted by his uncle Bilbo.
This is a wonderful video. I love the enthusiasm and passion for the Shire and the Hobbits.
I think a similar thing is happening story arc-wise in the scouring of the Shire to when people speak about Umbridge being a more sinister villain to Voldemort. Umbridge is the villain closer to home that we all have experiences of. The shire is the home that we all feel safe in, so to see the familiar destroyed makes it higher stakes than the epic world saving quest that preceded it.
"I feel like im explaining it too much but also poorly" I relate to this way more than I should
I would love to spend my time and live my life in The House from Piranesi. Absolutely loved that house and the atmosphere Susanna Clark managed to create!
For me it also showed that staying neutral when evil is about does not mean you don't fall victim to it. The people in the Shire were not interested in the affairs of the greatfolk. A survival strategy that worked for a while but failed in the end.
I absolutely loved the scouring of the shire!! I thought it was the ultimate way to end the story. It was like everything happened so that they were now capable to handle their own adventure and we’re even able to overcome the bully.
I like the Shire episodes as well. Another thing that I think they do is illustrate that the hobbits who go on the journey are unusual...but maybe not THAT unusual. Farmer Maggot stands up to a ringwraith. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins gets thrown in jail after going after one of Saruman's goons with her umbrella. Gandalf is right - hobbits seem really soft and slow and comfortable (and that is indeed what they LIKE) but they are much tougher than they look!
The early Shire chapters are like one of the longest payoffs in literature, as it all comes together at the end.
I love this video so much. (And you being a LOTR fan is one of the main reasons I have subscribed.) The Shire is my happy place, I would move there in a heartbeat. The Shire is essential to the story, without it we wouldn't have understood the hobbits and the dimensions of their sacrifice.
I also think the ending is perfect in the historical context when the book was written. The allies returned from WWII to destroyed homes and had to rebuild their lives. They won the war, but their homes were not there anymore as they left them, Europe was in ruins and new regimes were raising. I think the parallel is just fitting. (And yeah, I know, Tolkien said it wasn't a WWII metaphor, but it reads like one).
I like the beginning Shire chapters because it provides a transition from the carefree tone of The Hobbit, to the lightly darker tone of LoTR. There is humor and fun and then when the ring wraiths show up you realize that it's scarier than the Hobbit ever was.
Exactly the video I needed today ! I want to reread the LOTR SO MUCH ! But I keep telling myself it’s too soon ! (Also I LOVE the Shire too) I appreciate your channel so much ! Sending love from France !
I think you’re doing a great job explaining the importance of the Shire, especially as someone who is trying to encompass themselves in the world and for someone who has read the hobbit first the whole transitioning of the heroes is a good point I never thought of before. I wonder if the person’s comments were from someone who watched the movies and now wants to read the books and doesn’t care for the setup since they already get the gist and just want to get to the action
I will happily watch any LOTR videos you make. Also, completely random, but I really like your shirt! And the Shire is the best place on earth. Why would anyone say it was pointless???!!! It’s so important to the central story and characters. And The Souring of the Shire is a favorite. Like you, I’ve heard people say that it’s anticlimactic, but I think it’s important to see that nothing remains unchanged or untouched by war. Even the places that seem to be the safest can get the fallout.
The scouring of the Shire also gives the hobbits the opportunity to save their own homes, without the "big folk". They all use the growth they had on their adventures to repair their damaged home and so it really closes out their journey full circle.
I’m gonna be honest, I struggled with the first 70 pages or so when I first read the book as an 11 year old. But then the story picked up and with even the first reread I appreciated every detail of the journey. Small detail. It’s not that the Hobbits can’t swim, but they don’t like to. With the exception of Brandybuck, Merrys’s family, who live on the shores of the Brandywine River. When the fellowship leaves Lorien, Merry even speaks up and says that he has some boating experience as well, when they decided how to split them up into boats. Frodo probably learned how to swim, because he grew up in Buckland, before he was adopted by Bilbo, after losing his parents in a boating accident. His mother was a Brandybuck, his father was a Baggins.
Pippin probably also knew how to swim because he is of the more adventurous Took family and Merry was his cousin, so he likely also spent some time in the Brandywine.
Sam on the other hand, is from the central part of the Shire, from Hobbiton and the most averse to swimming and boating, so he is a most typical Hobbit from his region in this case. While Hobbits generally are really pleasant and live in a harmonious society they have a certain degree of pettiness, disdain and xenophobia due to their isolated and rooted live style, that even extends to the other Hobbits of other parts Shire. Hence, their disparaging comments about the death of Frodo’s parents and being half Brandybuck and their disdain for Bilbo, his travels and his Tookish side in general. Nevertheless, Sam couldn’t swim and didn’t like boating, so it was brave for him specifically to travel the Anduin and jump into the water after Frodo. And I like your videos, so please don't mind my rambling.
Born and breed Kiwi here and if you love LoTRs and the Shire, then I HIGHLY recommend a trip to Hobbiton (when boarders open again) I love the Shire, I cried when I visited Hobbiton.
I just finished reading LotR (for the first time) and it's great that Merphy is currently rereading it because I crave LotR content
Just started my first read through Lord of the Rings! I'm really enjoying it (including the shire)
"I feel like I'm explaining it too much, but also poorly" story of my life in one sentence
Your take on Bilbo and frodo is so right u also can say that Bilbo came back to the shire and found that he had to leave to find a new kind of peace and frodo had to leave the shire cause it didn’t feel like home it shows the difference in the effects of the ring on two of its bearers
What perfect timing! Me and my reading buddy are both rereading LotR right now!
The Shire I always found quite peaceful and beautiful. It's a really calm environment.
The nine downvoters must be the Nazgul. "The Shire? Went there to pick up somebody for work, couldn't find them. Can't recommend the experience. Hate it."
for most of my life, The Shire has been my go-to mental image for a paradise/heaven. i've read and studied every written account i could find of such a place throughout my academic and professional careers. i've spoken to others who have a similar view. Tolkien's impact is greater than a lot of people know.
Frodo is still a hero even if he could not cross the finish line alone,
He still played his part in destroying the ring, so did Gollum, in the larger sense of fate,
You don't see the part they play in the larger scheme of things,
Frodo did 99% of the journey, and Gollum did his part when Frodo failed,
Each had their own motivation at the time, but each also served fate in the larger picture,
The Ring was destroyed, that was the aim, and like water running down a mountainside fate found the way,
They played their part
I think the Shire is essential! First, it is beautiful. Second, it is central to understanding the weight of the journey. Finally, going back to the the Shire in the ending allow me to breathe and to reflect. I needed it to be able to say goodbye to the world.
To truly appreciate the references in the songs and history, his tragedy The Children of Húrin is essential! Lineages, his linguistics, and discovering what Aragorn, Tom Bombadil, Rivendell, and Bilbo harken back to! It helped me out with context in comprehension so much! Check it out if you haven't yet.
Hi Merphy. I'm glad you're seeing the incredible depth to this book. The Shire is pretty much rural England if you rewind the clock a couple of hundred years. I heard Tolkien was a more than a little inspired by the Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Greene for the look and the feel of it. Its pretty much is what Tolkien believed his home to be. Although he was living in the outskirts of a major city in those days you were never far away from pastoral beauty and it's local inhabitants where nothing more serious than a bit of local gossip occurred. That kind of existence was seriously under threat by industrial expansion and the power politics of Britain and other European countries at the time he was growing up. I think a lot of modern fantasy readers sometimes regard LOR as a little superficial and 1 dimensional compared with today's preferences who think applying modern psychology to every character is the way to go. Tolkien just wanted to show how valuable kindness and common decency between everyone as the Shire model when confronted with cruelty and domination of the powerful. Thanks very much for your own valuable thoughts on this Merphy. Hope you can share some more with us ☺
I physically are not able to skip the shire I just can’t it’s like skipping waking up before you get up NOT POSSIBLE
I can definitely relate to your points about the Shire :-) It reminds me of home in a way; not my own maybe, but an ideal sense of what a home should be or could be. When I come across other places in other pieces of fiction that reminds me of "home" in this particular sense (Jordan's Two Rivers comes to mind), I'm always reminded of Tolkien's Shire :-)
One of the reasons that Tolkien's worldbuilding works so well is that we spend enough time in the Shire that we care for it like the characters do. We miss it when they do. We grieve for it when they do. It is a dynamite way to loop in your reader's empathy. There is a strong homeliness to it. If I feel sad, I pick up Fellowship and go back to the Shire. I still feel, if there is a heaven, it must be the Shire.
Seeing your opinions on this story evolve has been great to see. Love this video!
The Shire parts were my favourite of the book. And I remember the first chapter from the Hobbit being the coziest thing I've ever read.
Love the shirt. It reminds me of one of the wrap-carriers that I have for my little ones.
I love the Shire and definitely do not recommend ever skipping it (though honestly I could do with skipping the forest scenes where we're just trying to travel out of it), I think it is possible to have some really good stories that don't begin with the norm... NK Jemisin starts an entire series with what is basically the end of the world and the end of a "normal" family... But we're not all NK Jemisin
The Shire is one of my absolute favourite places in all of fantasy. It feels like home
Loved this analysis !!!
I am loving these LOTR videos. Even if there have only been two so far. Thanks
Wonderful commentary, Merphy!
LOTR geek here.
I love this series, I re-read it every year.
A few things, Hobbits don't like learning. In the little section, it will mention history books, and the reading thereof, and it mentions that they only like reading about history that they already know. It is like a little peace away from peace, as Tolkien was very much against industrialization himself. Rereading it so much, I still find something new to add to the conversation. I'm thrilled you're re-reading it!!!
My first love: The Fellowship of the Ring.
It was excellent to hear this perspective!
I read the first few chapters of LOTR when I’m sad. It’s comforting. It’s happy.
The beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring is one of my favorite parts lol
How you feel about The Shire is how I feel about Mossflower in the Redwall books. Although I realise the *reality* of both wouldn't be as nice as the fantasy lol
The Shire is also important because especially for mid-20th Century English readers (the first audience) it is the place that is relatable to our own lives. Postal system, small towns, fireworks, taverns, agrarian life. We can all understand that. We have lived that. Every other place (with the exception of Bree) is either out of our relatable time, or contains fantastic elements. The Shire connects us to Middle Earth. It is the place that could exist in both worlds (but for the stature of its inhabitants.)
Well that means. . . "Ho Tom Bombadil is a Merry fellow! Bright Blue his Jacket is and his Boots are Yellow!"
Middle Earth may be a grim place during the main action of Lord of the Rings, but there are definitely places I would like to visit there - Rivendell certainly, Lothlorien too, and even Hobbiton for a short visit in the good times.
8:10 From how I understand it, most hobbits are wary of water, but the hobbits of Buckland do like sailing boats on the Brandywine river. This kinda freaks out the other hobbits lol.
Frodo has a personal reason to hate water because both his parents drowned.
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door"
Such a great video!! Please do all the LOTR content you can! I would even love content on the movies if you want to.
I agree that the start of the book taking place in The Shire is important, for pretty much the same reasons you give. There's this nice tranquil area that the inhabitants think is the way the world is (and by-and-large, I don't disagree 😊), then they go out into the wider world, and the further they go, the less welcoming it becomes. I also like the Scouring of The Shire because shows that this old order has gone, and though the Hobbits say they've gone back to business as usual, they haven't really. On the other hand, It's at least second or third point at which the story could have ended with a '...and they lived happily ever after.' so there is a case of 'whatever, just stop writing...' by that point.
I just love these passionate videos
It's interesting to see the parallels between the difficulties and emotional trauma that Bilbo went through compared to those soldiers who returned from world war I, such as JRR Tolkien, and the parallels of what Frodo came home to compared to those soldiers who returned home from world war II.
Returning home from the Great war must have been completely different from returning home from world war II. In America, for example, it was during world war II that industrialization became such a massive thing and changed so much of American life and culture. Imagine being gone to war for 2 years or more and coming home to your town now being full of factories, just like the scouring of the Shire. The home town you knew completely changed while you were gone and now you need to find a new normal.
I can't believe I never realized the depth of the water thing before (ha, pun). Frodo's parents died on a boat, so Sam almost drowning for him is just ... ouch.
Also, I really love the Scouring of the Shire. I think the last few chapters of ROTK (including Eowyn and Faramir) was Tolkien doing his best to articulate PTSD (and to a certain extent reverse culture shock) at a time when society didn't really understand the "shell shock " of veterans.
Hard to ever argue with your opinions on LOTR in general, but I have to doubly agree with your points here. The Shire is such a major part of the hobbits' (and readers') set-up and their motivations throughout the book! You can hardly skip its slowness and coziness without losing your understanding of the characters and their world.
Skip the Shire… As in, the part of the book that sets up the main characters and principle conflict we will deal with for the rest of the story. That is an interesting sentiment.
Just as a minor correction, some hobbits, especially Brandybucks, swim, and Frodo grew up among the Brandybucks. However, his parents did both die in a boating accident, which does, I think, say something of Frodo willingly getting into a boat.
You have the same copy of Lord of the Rings as me, haha. Currently doing a re-read of them, and you start making videos about them. The Shire is probably my absolute favorite fantasy world within a world. It really makes me want to just.. go and live there forever.
Absolutely great book. I have read it 5 times. After time Tom Bombadil has became my favorite because he is an anomaly.
You should read Terry Brooks Shannara series if you like LOR.
Do not skip anything in LOR.
Fabulously put.
There's this Airbnb place to rent about an hour away from where I live called Second Breakfast Hideaway (type in Okanagan
if you can't find it) which looks awesome. I was supposed to stay there last year but well... yeah. Maybe this year.