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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 1h

It’s already dark when Strider and the four hobbits finally stop. They camp beneath alder trees on the banks of a small stream that runs down from the Weather Hills. For the first time on their journey they set a watch.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 10h

Strider and the hobbits reach the eastern edge of the Midgewater Marshes where the land begins rising. The hobbits see the Weather Hills for the first time, standing ahead of them along the horizon.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 15h

With the approach of dawn, the nine Nazgûl end their overnight attack. Gandalf cannot now search for Frodo without leading the Nazgûl themselves to the hobbit, so the wizard rides north, away from the Road. Four Nazgûl ride after him.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 23h

Gandalf takes his stand in the ruined ring of the fortress of Amon Sûl. The nine Nazgûl move forward in the dark and begin their attack. Frodo and Strider, awake in their camp two days’ march to the west, see flashes of distant lightning in the direction of the Weather Hills.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Gandalf and Shadowfax reach Weathertop and climb to the crown of the hill. The nine Nazgûl surround them as the sun starts to set.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

All nine Nazgûl are now gathered at Weathertop. Sensing Gandalf’s anger as he rides towards them, they abandon the hill to the wizard while the sun remains up.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Strider and the four hobbits spend a second day picking their way east through the Midgewater Marshes.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The hobbits and Strider camp, now several miles inside the Midgewater Marshes. They are swarmed by insects as they try to sleep. Sam wonders, ‘What do they live on when they can’t get hobbit?’

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Strider and the hobbits reach the eastern edge of the Chetwood and walk out into the open country. The ground here is lower than in the Bree-land behind them, and is beginning to get boggy.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Strider and the four hobbits begin their second day of hiking through the Chetwood. They have been swerving to avoid pursuit, but now start taking paths that lead more directly east.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Before dawn, a company of at least five Nazgûl fling down the west-gate of Bree, gallop through town, and head east along the Road. Gandalf leaves the Prancing Pony and rides out after them on Shadowfax.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Gandalf reaches Bree. Butterbur confesses that the hobbits are gone—with Strider. ‘He got at them, in spite of all that I could do, and they took up with him.’ ‘Ass! Fool! Thrice worthy and beloved Barliman! May your beer be laid under an enchantment.’ Gandalf spends the night.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Once they are several miles from Bree, Strider leads the hobbits north off the Road. At first they follow a narrow path leading north-east towards Archet, but will soon leave the path and walk directly out east into the wild. They will remain north of the Road for a full week.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Gandalf reaches Crickhollow. The door of Frodo’s new house is smashed open, and one of Frodo’s cloaks lies at the front door. Finding neither Frodo nor the Ring, Gandalf fears the worst and—not waiting to speak to anyone—rides east after the Nazgûl.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Strider and the four hobbits, walking east along the Road, set out from Bree in front of a crowd of onlookers. Bill Ferny—who earlier this morning sold them the scrawny pony who now carries their baggage—openly taunts them. In response, he gets an apple in the nose from Sam.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

When they emerge from the parlour, Strider and the hobbits find the bedding in their rooms slashed. Mr. Butterbur is horrified: ‘Guests unable to sleep in their beds, and good bolsters ruined and all!’ Also, their ponies are missing. A search begins for any ponies for sale.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

An hour before dawn, the Nazgûl attack the two places to which they have traced Frodo—his new house, and the hobbit rooms on the Prancing Pony’s ground floor. In Crickhollow, Fredegar Bolger barely escapes. The horn-call of Buckland sounds for the first time in 100 years.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Merry rushes into the hobbits’ parlour at the Prancing Pony. He had followed a Black Rider to the end of the village, but was overcome by terror. He was found lying in the street with two men over him. The hobbits help Strider board up the door and window, then try to sleep.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

‘All that is gold does not glitter Not all those who wander are lost The old that is strong does not wither Deep roots are not reached by the frost…’ Strider knows the rhyme from Gandalf’s letter! ‘I am Aragorn son of Arathorn and if by life or death I can save you, I will.’

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Just as Strider is trying to earn Frodo’s trust, Barliman enters the parlour and delivers Gandalf’s 3-month-old letter. ‘You may meet a friend of mine on the Road: a Man, lean, dark, tall, by some called Strider. He knows our business and will help you. Make for Rivendell.’

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

As Frodo leaves the common-room to return to his parlour, he’s asked for a talk with both Strider—‘If you please, Mr. *Baggins*, I should like a quiet word with you’—and the landlord Butterbur: ‘I should like a word with you in private, Mr. Underhill.’

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The crowd presses another drink on Frodo and asks him to sing again, but mid-song he falls from the table and vanishes—the Ring has slipped on his finger. The crowd is startled. Frodo removes the Ring in a far corner. The customers leave without offering him a single good-night.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

To interrupt Pippin’s story before the part where Bilbo vanishes, Frodo jumps on a table. They ask for a song. ‘There is an inn, a merry old inn beneath an old grey hill And there they brew a beer so brown That the Man in the Moon himself came down one night to drink his fill…’

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The hobbits have found the common-room, filled with local hobbits and men, foreign dwarves, and outsiders—one of whom has waved Frodo over. He says that he’s called ‘Strider’. They’re both alarmed to see Pippin telling the crowd the story of Bilbo’s disappearance from the Shire.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The hobbits have enjoyed excellent beer and dinner in a private parlour. The Prancing Pony’s innkeeper, Barliman Butterbur, invites them to join the company in the common-room. Merry stays behind, reminding them, ‘Don’t forget that you are supposed to be escaping in secret!’

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It’s dark as the hobbits reach Bree. The gatekeeper lets them in, but is suspicious. He doesn’t mention that Black Riders have been asking about a party of four hobbits from the Shire. The hobbits head for the Prancing Pony. Strider quietly climbs the gate and follows them.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The hobbits reach the Road again—six days after Frodo, Sam, and Pippin crossed it west of Hobbiton on their first night of walking. Tom Bombadil recommends the inn in Bree, then rides away south. Strider, a Ranger hidden beside the road, overhears their parting.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Gandalf reaches Hobbiton. The Gaffer laments his new Sackville-Baggins neighbours: ‘I can’t abide changes, not at my time of life…least of all changes for the worst.’ Eventually, the Gaffer does happen to mention that a rider dressed in black arrived the night Frodo left.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Tom Bombadil has collected the hobbits’ ponies. After dressing in spare clothes and having a small lunch, they ride north toward the Road with Tom trotting alongside on Fatty Lumpkin. The hobbits now carry ancient daggers from the barrow-hoard as swords.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

‘Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow, Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow. None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the master: His songs are stronger songs and his feet are faster.’ Tom opens the barrow, sings away its spell, and awakens Frodo’s companions.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Frodo hews at the arm, cutting the hand away, but shattering the sword. Then he remembers the rhyme: ‘Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo! By water, wood and hill, by the reed and willow, By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us! Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us!’

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Frodo wakes in a barrow. The three other hobbits lie on stone slabs, dressed in white rags and gold treasure. He hears a song. ‘Cold be hand and heart and bone, and cold be sleep under stone…’ An arm walking on its fingers approaches from behind. It moves towards Sam.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The four hobbits become separated in the fog and stray ever nearer the standing stones. Frodo reaches a hilltop beneath the stars. A cold wind blows from the east, a dark figure towers over him, and he is taken by a Barrow-wight.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The hobbits wake. They are still on the hilltop where they had lunch, but now the sun is setting into a heavy fog. They ride north for the Road, putting on their cloaks and hoods against the wet and cold.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The four hobbits reach a hilltop and rest. To the north they see the hills ending, and might even see the trees along the Road. To the east are the Barrow-downs, topped by ancient burial mounds. After having lunch against the cool east side of a standing-stone, they fall asleep.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Tom Bombadil waves his old battered hat as Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin ride away up the slope behind his house. They say farewell to Goldberry when they reach the ridge, then ride their ponies north into the hills and hollows between the Barrow-downs and the Forest.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

In the small hours of his fifth day of riding, Gandalf reaches Sarn Ford on the southern border of the Shire. He will soon learn from Rangers about the Nazgûl that are searching the Shire—but first rests with Shadowfax before tackling the hundred remaining miles to Hobbiton.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

After supper, Tom Bombadil asks to see the Ring. Frodo is startled that Tom can wear it without becoming invisible. Tom advises the hobbits to travel north tomorrow so as to pass the Barrow-downs and reach the Road. They sleep for a second night safe under his roof.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

It’s pouring rain. Tom says this is Goldberry’s washing day, so the hobbits stay indoors while Tom talks. His lore seems not only to embrace every beast and bird and tree, but to reach back into the ancient starlight—‘Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn.’

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

In the still hour after midnight and under the cover of darkness, Gandalf and Shadowfax cross the river Greyflood at the ford of Tharbad. They are now only two days south of Hobbiton.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

After song, drink, dinner, and talk, the hobbits are given soft bedding. ‘Sleep till the morning-light, rest on the pillow! Heed no nightly noise! Fear no grey willow!’ Frodo dreams of a great eagle carrying Gandalf away from a high tower: his rescue by Gwaihir eight days ago.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

After rescuing the hobbits from Old Man Willow, Tom Bombadill dances away upstream. Hurrying along behind, the hobbits reach his house. Goldberry welcomes them: ‘Now let the song begin! Let us sing together Of sun, stars, moon and mist, rain and cloudy weather.’

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Sam and Frodo threaten the willow with fire, but Merry and Pippin scream; it has started to crush them. Then—a song? Downstream, behind them, they hear: ‘Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!’

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The hobbits have struck a path along the river. It brings them to a willow-grove. They are suddenly sleepy. An ancient willow traps Merry and Pippin in its trunk and nearly drowns Frodo, but Sam—who’s still awake—pulls Frodo out from under the root that holds him under water.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

For several hours the hobbits have been trying to force their way north to the Road, but the Old Forest’s deep ruts and thick brambles keep turning them south. Now they find that they’ve reached the bank of the River Withywindle. They follow its valley upstream, to the east.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

After several hours’ travel through the dark forest, the hobbits find a bare hilltop on which to have lunch. In the haze they can see no end to the forest, but to the south they do glimpse a landmark: the valley of the Withywindle.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

‘O! Wanderers in the shadowed land despair not! For though dark they stand all woods there be must end at last and see the open sun go past: the setting sun, the rising sun, the day’s end, or the day begun. For east or west all woods must fail—’ A branch crashes behind them.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

After an hour’s ride from Crickhollow, the five hobbits reach the gate in the Hedge. Fredegar says goodbye and returns to the house, where he will keep up the appearance that Frodo is living there. Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, and their ponies enter the Old Forest.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

More than an hour before dawn, Frodo’s new house at Crickhollow is already busy. Sam is making breakfast. Pippin is packing. And Merry is waking Frodo—from a dream about an elven-tower near the Sea. Merry goes to the stable to saddle the ponies.

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The Shire-Reckoning @shire-reckoning.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

‘Farewell we call to hearth and hall! Though wind may blow and rain may fall We must away ere break of day Far over wood and mountain tall. To Rivendell, where Elves yet dwell In glades beneath the misty fell…’ They finish packing and enjoy a final night of sleep in the Shire.

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