A Part of the Shire

A Part of the Shire map by J.R.R. Tolkien

"A Part of the Shire" is the title of the map that immediately follows the Prologue in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Of all the maps in the published works of J.R.R. Tolkien, only Thrór's Map was made using a smaller scale, so the "Part of the Shire" map provides a wealth of geographic detail for the Shire not found anywhere else.

Creation

J.R.R. Tolkien had drawn four extant maps of the Shire. Eventually Christopher Tolkien drew a large-scale map in 1943, in which he had some freedom to develop the details north of the Water. Many village names are actual English place-names (cf. Nobottle, Rushock, Newbury, Needlehole), or emulate english toponymy. Christopher believes that he consulted the large collection of his father's books on English place-names from which he made his proposals, such as "Nobottle". To that map J.R.R. Tolkien also made his own additions, adding Budgeford, Bridgefields, and the road between Whitfurrows and Scary. There were also more names, such as "Chivery", "Goatacre", "Ravenbeams" and "Long Cleeve" that don't appear in the published map.^{:p. lvi}

For the final version of the map, J.R.R. Tolkien didn't allow those names that "he thought poorly of". The final map was drawn again by Christopher in March 1954.^:lv

In his copy of the Fellowship Tolkien added the Yale, which was added since the second edition (1966) and afterwards. Tolkien also changed the position of Brandy Hall for the second edition, to be before the Buckland road, consistent to the narrative.

Waymoot/Waymeet

On the "Part of the Shire" map, on the East Road west of the Three-Farthing Stone is the town of Waymoot. In the chapter "The Scouring of the Shire", this town (where the ruffians kept sheds) was named Waymeet. "Waymeet" is a more modern spelling of the older form, "Waymoot", which was Tolkien's preference in early drafts of The Return of the King. Though he ultimately modernised the name within the book itself, this map was never corrected, and still carries the older spelling.^{:p. 660}

Bindbole/Bindbale Wood

In the 1954 edition of The Fellowship of the Ring the letter 'o' in Bindbole was unclear and appeared to be the letter 'a'. The name was rendered at Bindbale in maps by Barbara Strachey and Karen Wynn Fonstad, in Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, and even by Tolkien himself in a manuscript note when he prepared the document later known as Nomenclature.^{:p. lvii}

Hobbiton Road and Stock Road

These roads are mentioned in the narrative but no such names are marked on the map. Only an unnamed road is marked, which joins Tuckborough with Stock through Green Hill Country and Woody End — Fonstad identified this road as the Stock Road.

Concerning the road from Hobbiton to Overhill (possibly the Hobbiton Road), it seems to run east of the Hill, which however is inconsistent to the illustration The Hill: Hobbiton-across-the Water, showing that road running west. The discrepancy has been noted by Barbara Strachey.^{:p. lx}