Law and Institutions
in the Shire
 

Contents & Abstract

1. Abstract
2. Real Texts, Real History
3. Population & Political Geography
4. Chiefdom
5. Birthdays, Gifts, Ring-Givers
6. Bounds of a Minimal State
7. Sam and Customary Law
8. Chesterton & Belloc
9. Iceland & the Shire
10. References

As a fantasy writer, J.R.R. Tolkien is distinguished by, among other traits, a peculiarly high degree of realism in his imaginary worlds. One aspect of this realism is a vivid sense of how societies work, derived from the same source as the more scientifically intended studies of classical sociologists such as Weber: a lifelong immersion in actual texts from past societies. This sense is reflected by, among other elements in his writing, his portrayal of the Shire.

In anthropological terms, the Shire is in transition between two forms of organization: the chiefdom and the state.

The chiefdom level of organization is reflected in the system of folklands such as the Buckland and Tookland, and in such customs as the giving away of birthday presents on one's own birthday — reminiscent of the potlatch of the Pacific Northwest and of similar societies worldwide, which typically have redistributive economies.

The state level of organization is reflected in the presence of a Shirewide civil government, which maintains safeguards for property boundaries (the Shirriffs) and communications (the mail carriers); in the widespread literacy of hobbits; and in the obvious presence of a thriving market economy.

The Shire is unusual for this level of organization in being clearly a republican enclave; perhaps one might speculate that Tolkien was influenced by the "distributivist" theories of Hilaire Belloc and G.K. Chesterton, English Catholic writers of an earlier generation with whom he was certainly familiar, and also by his knowledge of the literature and history of ancient Iceland.