Southfarthing

From Tolkien Gateway
Southfarthing
Region
Kay Woollard - Valerie Sutton's It Always Rains on Washing Day.jpg
"It always rains on washing day - Smials in South Farthing" by Kay Woollard
General Information
LocationThe Shire
TypeRegion
RegionsGreen Hill Country
InhabitantsHobbits

The Southfarthing was the southmost and warmest farthing of the Shire.

Geography[edit | edit source]

Its northernmost point was the Three-Farthing Stone, its eastern border was the Brandywine River, and much of its border with the Eastfarthing ran along the River Shirebourn.[1]

Other features include:

History[edit | edit source]

About T.A. 1630 many Stoors from Dunland entered and settled in the Southfarthing,[2] and thereafter Stoorish characteristics and appearance were common among the Hobbits in that region.

Tobold Hornblower of Longbottom first grew pipe-weed in the Southfarthing about the year T.A. 2670.[3]

Saruman, having received reports on Gandalf’s movements and noting his interest in the Shire, began keeping agents in the Southfarthing in T.A. 2953.[2] By T.A. 3018 there were rumors of trouble with the "Big People".[4]

The Southfarthing was where Lotho Sackville-Baggins began his rise to power during the War of the Ring, based on the substantial property in the region that he inherited from his father.[5] Presumably it was he who began exporting pipe-weed to Saruman.

Culture[edit | edit source]

This was the region where most of the Shire's pipe-weed production was concentrated, in warm sheltered places like Longbottom.[6] Another noted product of the Southfarthing was the strong red wine called Old Winyards.[7]

Portrayal in adaptations[edit | edit source]

In The Atlas of Middle-earth (page 71), Hardbottle is shown in the Southfarthing rather than the Northfarthing[8] and Sackville, shown in the Southfarthing, is entirely invented (compare the Sackville Family).

References