Hobbit Lore, Part V: Concerning the History of Hobbits

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Hobbits are a very ancient people, yet much younger than men, elves, or dwarves. They did not enter Middle Earth until the Third Age. Indeed, there is not any mention of them until year 1050, when the Harfoots entered Eriador. What follows is a timeline of important events and persons in the history of hobbits.

1050: The Harfoots enter Eriador
1150: The Fallohides enter Eriador; The Stoors enter Dunland through the Redhorn Pass
1300: The Fallohides migrate westward and come to Bree
1601 (SR 1): The Fallohide brothers Marcho and Blanco are the first to cross the Brandywine River and enter the Shire; Shire Reckoning begins
1630 (SR 30): The Stoors migrate from Dunland to the Shire
1636 (SR 36): The Great Plague devastates the hobbits in the Shire
1979 (SR 379): Bucca of the Marish becomes the first Thain of the Shire
2340 (SR 740): Isumbras I becomes the thirteenth Thain of the Shire and starts the Took line; The Oldbucks populate Buckland
2463 (SR 863): Deagol the Stoor finds the One Ring, but is murdered by Smeagol, who takes it for himself
2470 (SR 870): Smeagol, having become Gollum, resides withing the Misty Mountains
2670 (SR 1070): Tobold Hornblower (Old Toby) of Longbottom in the Southfarthing grows the first pipe-weed
2683 (SR 1083): Isengrim II becomes the tenth Thain of the Shire: The excavation of the Great Smials begins
2747 (SR 1147): Bandobras Took slays Golfimbul and wins the Battle of the Greenfields in the Northfarthing
2758 (SR 1158): The Long Winter oppresses the Shire; Gandalf comes to the Shire for the first time
2790 (SR 1190): Gerontius Took, later known as the Old Took, is born
2890 (SR 1290): Bilbo Baggins is born
2911 (SR 1311): White Wolves from the north cross the frozen Brandywine River during the Fell Winter
2920 (SR 1320): The Old Took dies
2941-42 (SR 1341-42): The events that are recorded in The Hobbit take place
2949 (SR 1349): Bilbo is visited by his friend Gandalf and Balin
2953 (SR 1353): The spies of Saruman enter the Shire
2968 (SR 1368): Frodo Baggins is born
2983 (SR 1383): Samwise Gamgee is born
3001-21 (SR 1401-21): The events that are recorded in The Lord of the Rings take place
3021 (SR 1401): The Third Age Ends; Elanor Gamgee, daughter of Samwise and Rose, is born
SR 1422: The Fourth Age begins
SR 1427:  Will Whitfoot, Mayor of the Shire, resigns; Samwise takes his place; Peregrin Took marries Diamond of Long Cleeve
SR 1430: Faramir Took, son of Peregrin Took, is born
SR 1431: Goldilocks Gamgee, daughter of Samwise Gamgee, is born
SR 1432: Meriadoc Brandybuck (the Magnificent) becomes Master of Buckland
SR 1434: Peregrin Took becomes the Took and the Thain of the Shire; Samwise is re-elected as Mayor
SR 1436: King Elessar visits Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam at the Brandywine Bridge
SR 1441: Samwise becomes Mayor of the Shire for a third time
SR 1442: Master Samwise, his wife Rose, and daughter Elanor visit Gondor; Master Tolman Cotton acts as deputy Mayor
SR 1448: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a fourth time
SR 1451: Elanor the Fair marries Fastred of Greenholm on the Far Downs
SR 1452: The Westmarch is added to the Shire
SR 1454: Elfstan Fairbairn, son of Fastred and Elanor, is born
SR 1455: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a fifth time; The Thain makes Fastred Warden of Westmarch; Fastred and Elanor make their home at Undertowers on the Tower Hills; Their descendents, Fairbairns of the Towers, dwell there many generations
SR 1462: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a sixth time
SR 1463: Faramir Took marries Goldilocks Gamgee
SR 1469: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a seventh and final time
SR 1482: Mistress Rose, wife of Samwise, dies on Mid Year's Day; Samwise goes to the Grey Havens and passes over the Sea
SR 1484: Master Meriadoc visits Eomer in Rohan; Meriadoc and Peregrin visit Gondor and are buried there

Part I
Part II: Concerning Etymology
Part III: Shire Reckoning
Part IV: Concerning Appearance

Sources:
Tolkein, J.R.R. The Hobbit UK: George Allen & Unwin, 1937
Tolkein, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings UK: George Allen & Unwin, 1954-1955

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