![\"Three](\"https:\/\/platform.polygon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/tales-of-the-shire-tragedy-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\nImage: W\u0113t\u0101 Workshop via Polygon<\/p>\n
For a short while, I found comfort in the thought that the Scouring of the Shire may be far off yet, but then I overheard fellow Hobbits talking about Bilbo, Frodo, and even worse, a young Samwise Gamgee, who was only 38 at the start of The Lord of the Rings. If the junior gardener is in his early twenties during Tales of the Shire (given that he\u2019s already caught Rosie\u2019s eye), that suggests the Scouring of the Shire may be less than 20 years away.<\/p>\n
Ever since that horrible realization, my formerly cozy Hobbit life has become bittersweet. I mean, I\u2019ll still care for my ill-fated home, and I still enjoy the hustle and bustle of the Bywater village square, but the situation has given me a major Cassandra-complex. Every time Old Noakes gifts me a fishing rod, I want to request a rifle instead. Every time Farmer Cotton whines about turning Bywater into a village, I want to suggest turning it into a fortress.<\/p>\n
Given the fact that 19 local Hobbits are about to fall in the Battle of Bywater, and over 30 will end up wounded, I put more effort in the Second Breakfasts I serve my neighbors (you don\u2019t know how long they\u2019ve got), but make no mistake; I no longer look upon all my neighbors with kindly eyes.<\/p>\n
After all, Lotho Sackville-Baggins wasn\u2019t the only Hobbit to join the wrong side; Ted Sandyman also turned traitor. Of course, I can\u2019t blame Tales of the Shire\u2019s old Sandyman for his son\u2019s future mistakes (although I wish I could pressure him to step up his parenting game), but besides making our shared meals a bit more awkward, it makes me wonder who else among our friendly neighborhood Hobbits might be secretly evil.<\/p>\n