Scouring of the Shire

This article is an event in The Shire. For the second to last chapter in The Lord of the Rings see: The Scouring of the Shire.

The Scouring of the Shire was an event that took place in the Shire during the end War of the Ring, and was the only time the Shire was attacked during the Great Years.

History

Background

While Frodo Baggins and company were away, Lotho Sackville-Baggins began a massive land grab with the money he had made from Pipe-weed sales to Saruman at Isengard. This gave him great power. Lotho, now calling himself the Chief, began to stretch forth his authority and sought to control the Shire for himself. With help from Dunlendings and Goblin-men

The outcome if the Scouring of the Shire had been successful - as shown in the Mirror of Galadriel

sent from Saruman, Lotho took over control of the Shire, imprisoning many, including important folk. He then began industrializing the once green and agrarian Shire, causing much damage. Soon the deposed Saruman arrived and took full control and Lotho was deposed, imprisoned, and later killed by Wormtongue, and/or possibly eaten.

Before returning to the Shire, the five travellers stayed overnight at The Prancing Pony in Bree where they caught up on the last year's local events with the proprietor Barliman Butterbur. They learn that strangers from the South have come to settle in and around Bree much to the discomfort of the peace-loving Men and Hobbits indigenous to the region. Barliman is impressed to discover that Strider has been crowned King of Gondor. There was also a fight in Bree between Bill Ferny's friends and some Bree-men such as Mat Heathertoes.

Gandalf takes the four Hobbits - Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took - part way to the Shire but detours to have a long talk with Tom Bombadil. He assures the four that their training in the War of the Ring will be sufficient to settle the troubles.

The Battle of Bywater

When they discover that the evil they had fought in Mordor had come home to roost, they rouse the Shire and are able to kill or drive off the evil-doers that infested it. With the assistance of Farmer Cotton, Merry and Pippin lead the Battle of Bywater, the last battle in the War of the Ring, in which 19 hobbits died, and which in this battle, 100 (Half of the Isengarder force) were killed, the remaining Orcs and Ruffians retreated away from Hobbiton.

Saruman and Worm (Wormtongue's new nickname) come to their ends shortly thereafter, when Worm avenges a kick from his master by cutting his throat and is there after shot to death by arrows from Hobbits. An eerie column of mist arises from Saruman's corpse and is blown away in the wind, a scene reminiscent of Sauron's demise. Frodo covers the suddenly shriveled skull of Saruman and turns away.

Commentary

Despite Tolkien's much-publicised dislike of allegory, this chapter can be viewed as the most directly allegorical component of the book. The transformation of the Shire from rural idyll to industrial wasteland heavily parallels Tolkien's own views of the destruction of the English countryside by the steady creep of industrialisation. In particular, the loss of the old Mill in Bywater, only to be replaced by a much larger, grimier version, mimics an event from Tolkien's childhood. Tolkien himself commented that the symbolism lay in the feeling of loss he felt after returning from the First World War, to discover that many of his close friends had died, and the world he remembered from his youth had largely disappeared.^{[citation needed]}

Book vs. Movie

"I know what it is you saw... for it is also in my mind. It is what will come to pass if you should fail."

—Galadriel to Frodo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring

The Scouring of the Shire is among the most prominent scenes not featured in the theatrical release of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, except for one part of it which is shown in the Mirror of Galadriel in The Fellowship of the Ring. However, later scenes of Frodo's return to the Shire in The Return of the King show the Shire as completely unchanged, so within the film adaptation it is intended as an alternate future that was avoided. But in the Fellowship of the Ring film, the Scouring of the Shire is shown in the Mirror, but instead of Ruffians, there are Orcs that serve Sharkey in battle armor with whips, torches, and axes; and they send the hobbits to workhouses. Samwise is shown in a chained line of Hobbits.

While the Scouring itself does not occur in the canon of Peter Jackson's trilogy, the extended edition of The Return of the King references the original Scouring of the Shire. In a scene exclusive to the extended edition, the party from Helm's Deep arrives to interrogate Saruman at flooded Isengard for information on Sauron's plans. During the interrogation, Théoden attempts to reach out to Grima, but Saruman strikes Wormtongue. In anger and retaliation, Grima stabs Saruman in the back (as opposed to slitting his throat from behind, as in the book), and Legolas quickly shoots him (referencing Wormtongue being shot by hobbit archers).

Translations around the world

Foreign Language	Translated name
Afrikaans	Skuur van die Shire
Albanian	Pastrim i Shire
Amharic	ሽሬ መንጻት
Arabic	شاير تجوب
Armenian	սծոուրինգ ոֆ տհե սհիրե
Basque	Shire du Marruskatzen
Belarusian Cyrillic	Які чысціць Шыра
Bengali	শিরে এর মাজন
Bosnian	Ribanje Okrug
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Почистването на Графството
Catalan	Purga del Comarca
Chinese (Hong Kong)	收復夏爾
Croatian	Ribanje shirea
Czech	Vymetení Kraje
Danish	Udrensningen af Herredet
Dutch	Schuren van de Gouw
Esperanto	Traserĉante la Graflando
Estonian	Šairi puhastamine
Finnish	Konnun puhdistus
French	Purge du Comté
Galician	Expurgo do Condado
German	Säuberung des Auenlandes (first translation) Befreiung des Auenlandes (second translation)
Greek	Καθαρισμός του Σάιρ
Gujarati	સોર્સિંગ પર્ગિંગ
Hebrew	הגעלה של הפלך
Hungarian	Súroló a Megye
Icelandic	Þrifið á Skíri
Italian	Percorrendo la Contea
Irish Gaelic	Sciúradh an Shire
Japanese	ホビット荘の掃討
Kannada	ಷೈರ್ ಉಜ್ಜುವಿಕೆ
Latvian	Mazgāšanu no Širė
Lithuanian	Šveitimo iš Širės
Macedonian Cyrillic	Чистење на Шире
Maltese	Għorik tal-Shire
Mongolian Cyrillic	Мужийг цэвэрлэх
Norwegian	Rensing av Hobsyssel
Polish	Czyszczenie z Shire
Portuguese	Expurgo do Condado
Persian	تمیز کاری شایر
Romanian	Curăţat de Comitatul
Russian	Чистящий Шира
Scottish Gaelic	Sgùraidh na t-Sìorrachd
Serbian	Чишћење грофовија (Cyrillic) Čišćenje grofovija (Latin)
Sinhalese	මෙම ෂයර්හි ක ෙශෝධක
Slovak	Grófstvo drhnutie
Slovenian	Čiščenje šajerska
Spanish	Saneamiento de la Comarca
Swedish	Skur av Fylke
Telugu	షైర్ యొక్క నమోదుచేసి
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Очищуючий Шира
Welsh	Sgwrio y Sir
Yiddish	סקאָורינג פון די תהירע
Yucatec Maya	Limpieza le Comarca