Talk:Buckland

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Latest comment: 12 July 2012 by Sage in topic Eastmarch

Eastmarch[edit source]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far I can know Buckland never became part of the Shire. The Westmarch was added to the Shire in S.R. 1452, but it doesn't say anything about Buckland. Furthermore I can't find the word "Eastmarch" in any published text (and certainly nothing says that Buckland was renamed Eastmarch). As far as I can tell, Buckland remained independent (indeed Elessar, having banned men from entering the Shire, met Sam at the Brandywine Bridge) and no where does it say that it was renamed "Eastmarch".-- KingAragorn  talk  contribs  edits  email  13:28, 3 July 2012 (UTC)Reply[reply]

In the Prologue to The Fellowship of the Ring in the section titled "Of the Ordering of the Shire" in the first paragraph is this sentence: "Outside the Farthings were the East and West Marches: the Buckland and the Westmarch added to the Shire in S.R. 1462". I know of no reference to "Eastmarch" as one word but here is the only mention of "the East March" that I know. Also, there is a bit of a contradiction here. In Appendix B under "Later Events Concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring" it is stated that the Westmarch was added to the Shire in S.R. 1452, not 1462 as stated in the Prologue. No East March is mentioned and there is no entry for S.R. 1462. --Gamling 22:00, 3 July 2012 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Ah, I knew it had to come from somewhere. It seems that S.R. 1462 in the Prologue was corrected to S.R. 1452 in the 50th Anniversary edition. I don't know if this comes from the addition that you are using, but I think the grammar of the sentence that you quoted is very important. In the 50th Anniversary edition it's:

Outside the Farthings were the East and West Marches: the Buckland; and the Westmarch added to the Shire in S.R. 1452

So, as you can see, the semi-colon means that the "added to the Shire in S.R. 1452" extract does not apply to Buckland. It's interesting that many secondary sources, including the Encyclopedia of Arda, use the term "Eastmarch" instead of "East March".-- KingAragorn  talk  contribs  edits  email  22:35, 3 July 2012 (UTC)Reply[reply]
That's very interesting! I am adding a reference to this misconception in Buckland, Misconceptions and The Complete Guide to Middle-earth. Sage 19:28, 12 July 2012 (UTC)Reply[reply]