Herblore of the Shire
After his return from the War of the Ring, Merry Brandybuck became well known among the Shire-hobbits for his writing. Among his works were discussions of calendars and place-names, but perhaps most important was his Herblore of the Shire.[1] In this book, he discussed the origins and history of the Hobbits' 'art' of smoking Pipe-weed, tracing it back through Tobold Hornblower (who introduced it to the Shire) to its ultimate origins in Middle-earth, in the lands along the southern banks of the Anduin.[2] In the Shire, in fact, Merry's reputation rested more on books like Herblore of the Shire than on his adventures in the distant War of the Ring.