Lord of the Rings : The Animated Musical | Places: North Moors in Northfarthing

While talking with his friends at the Green Dragon, Sam mentioned his cousin Halfast Gamgee had seen a giant tree walking through the North Moors of the Northfarthing while serving his master, Mr. Boffin, who was out hunting. This brief aside, and the exchange that followed, gives the reader an enormous amount of information about hunting practices, social hierarchy, and folk belief in the Shire, which I will unpack in this essay.

Hunting: Medieval, Victorian, and Today

I had previously discussed hunting when reviewing the apparent rules of the Shire. There, I told how an early draft of the Prologue described the ancient Shire as “a royal park and hunting grounds” for the king of Arthedain, the ancestors of Aragorn (The Peoples of Middle-earth, 8). During this time, the king allowed his Little Folk to live in the park as loyal subjects or cute living decorations. In the Real World, the aristocracy of the Middle Ages in England kept parks for hunting a wide range of creatures, along with tending trees for lumber and fuel, and growing fodder for livestock.

The sport of hunting evolved in the Real World and likely did the same in Middle-earth. The concept of venery, or chasing game animals to their deaths, came to England from France around 1300, but the word was disused by 1822 and took on new meaning: chasing the ladies instead of the animals. This was not to say that wealthy early 19^th century Brits did not enjoy their fill of hunting. They shot plenty, but their targets were different from those of their ancestors.

In the Middle Ages, the nobility hunted hart most of all, also known as stag or male red deer. The word is Proto-Germanic, showing the great age of the tradition throughout Germanic Europe. The Booke of Hunting, written by George Tuberville and published in 1576, shows how hunters studied their prey much like students studying for tests. Outside of explaining how to chase down and slay the animal, the book is similar to modern biology textbooks, describing hart habitats, life span, mating habits, sounds, and differences in appearance based on season and location. Extra attention is paid to antlers, especially showing how nice these look near other decorations in a noble house.

The three other most popular game animals were bears, wolves, and wild boar, with horrific results for the populations. Men hunted Eurasian brown bears strategically beginning with the reign of Charlemagne around 800 and drove these animals to extinction in most areas of mainland Europe, including Germany, by the 18^th century. Fortunately, bears have been on the rebound since the introduction of conservation in the mid-20th century.

The Eurasian wolf had a similar trajectory. A hunter killed the last wolf of the British Isles in Ireland during 1786, while the population on the mainland shrank dramatically until the early 20^th century. Modern Eurasian wolves in some areas risk a lack of genetic diversity, also known as a population bottleneck. Their migratory lifestyle allows them to move to and from areas with lower human populations and therefore fewer hunters, including parts of Finland and Russia. This has prevented a complete bottleneck. Wolves from as far south as Greece share mitochondrial DNA, or a common female ancestor, with wolves from Russia.

Wild boar have taken a different route: despite being savagely hunted since antiquity, their population continually explodes, causing problems both in their native habitats in the Eastern Hemisphere and as invasive species in the Western Hemisphere. These animals were historically killed in the sport of pig-sticking, which is just as it appears on the label. Hunters stuck pigs with pointed sticks until they died. While invented during the Middle Ages, the sport remained popular through the late 19^th century, evidenced by a bloodthirsty report given by Lord Robert Baden-Powell of Gilwell. When he was not stabbing pigs, Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts Association, while his sister Agnes Baden-Powell founded the Girl Guides. His kindly love and support of children starkly contrasted with what he did to those poor pigs.

By the 19^th century, with most of the larger game gone, foxes became the primary target of hunters. Those who trained large packs of dogs to sniff out foxes became known as “masters of hounds” and were a crucial part of each hunting trip. Others were known as great horsemen, steering their steeds beside a scrambling fox to get a good shot at it. Since the animal was smaller and less likely to attack humans than previously hunted species, ladies rode side-saddle on hunts and were frequently as skilled as the gentlemen. Fox hunting was not just a quest to kill; it was a sporting event, fashion show, and lively party rolled into one.

Today, foxhunting is still a pursuit of the wealthy, although they tend to pursue a faux scent laid in advance instead of a live fox. The Masters of Foxhunting Association of North America creates standards that clubs in the United States and Canada must follow. These standards included safely riding horses and training dogs, entering puppies into the foxhound stud book, and recording when hunts take place. Of course, fashion is still a major part of the day, with experienced riders wearing bright red coats, and novices wearing black coats. Back in Middle-earth, if Hobbits were fox hunters, their methods would have varied from those of Men. Due to their keen sense of smell, they likely would not need hounds to track the animal. Hobbits loved ponies and would have ridden these shaggy beasts instead of stately horses. Both groups may have used servants to carry supplies and pick up freshly killed game, not only convenient but adding a sense of status befitting a fox hunter.

Giants and Walking Trees in Folklore

Hal could barely believe his hobbit-eyes when he saw a Tree-man bigger than an elm walking on the North Moors. While his cousin Sam immediately believed him, other hobbits like Ted Sandyman were not so sure. Giants and moving trees are no surprise to folklorists, as these creatures appear in mythologies around the world. In Thompson’s Motif-Index, about 620 motifs are about giants. The sizes of these giants (F.531.2) vary greatly, from exact measurements like fifteen feet tall in Iceland (F531.2.1.1) or fifty feet tall in China (F431.2.1.2) to extending across an island in Ireland (F531.2.1.4) or reaching the sky in India (F531.2.1.5). Giants are known for their long strides (F531.3.5) and love of carrying people (F531.5.1.1.2). They might give generous gifts (F531.5.6) or impart wisdom (F531.6.17.7). Mortals might journey to the land of giants (F122), as they sometimes live in the utmost northwest (F531.6.2.4) and in wild forests (F531.6.2.7). Giants live to be very old (F531.6.4.1) and might even be immortal (F531.6.4.3). Giant men fall in love with giant women (F531.6.8.1) and have giant children (F531.6.8.6).

Tree-men are also common in European folklore. I have already mentioned the Green Man when describing the Vala Yavanna, who worked with Eru Ilúvatar to create the Ents as “Shepherds of the Trees” (Silmarillion, 46). Her fellow Vala, Oromë the hunter, also fit the Green Man motif. Moving further along the man-to-tree continuum, the concept of walking trees is common in tree cults. For people in Oceania, rivers and fish came not from a creator god but from the fruit of a walking tree. In Mongolia, sacred trees called Bökh Mod or wrestler-tree can move or lean. The name is derived from the great strength of these trees, much like traditional Mongolian wrestlers; in fact, the tree’s lean can predict when a great wrestler is born.

As for what Hal saw in Northfarthing, this is never confirmed. He probably did not see an Ent, as Hobbits did not appear on the original “Long List of Ents” (Book III, “Chapter 4, Treebeard”) until Pippin inspired Treebeard to add a verse to the ancient song (Book III, “Chapter 10, The Voice of Saruman”). An active Huorn, more tree-like than an Ent but less tree-like than a true tree, is another option. The Huorn Old Man Willow lived not so far away in the Old Forest (Book I, “Chapter 6, The Old Forest”), and his relative might have been separated from him centuries before when the old growth forests of Middle-earth were cut down. However, I would like to think one of the Entwives lived in the peaceful Shire, tending her own garden and unafraid of the little people who occasionally saw her.