Those are the ones, Alak... odd that you don't see much yellow in the movies...

Sophia

How right you are Sophia...

What is a Shire-muster and who can call one?

A shire-muster is the mobilization of the
Hobbitry-in-arms, militia in the shire. Only the Thain could call one.(the authority in the shire when the King is absent)

Correct! Once again I say...Mariska the board is yours.

why thank you [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Explain what the Shirriffs were and how you could recognize them?

A shirrif = a sherrif; they were policers of the Shire, patrolling it and keeping it in order. Apparently recognisable by a feather in the hat, they were misused by Sharkey's lackeys to swell in number and become tools to subdue the Hobbit population.

good!
It was that easy eh? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
your turn [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Gwaihir, your turn.

Right...

What were Hobbits 'inclined to be'?

They are inclined to be fat. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Taken from the prologue.

Not detailed enough, Beren. More specifically?

Yeah, Beren, that's like all hobbits in general!
More specific please!

Ah, I thought you meant exactly what's said, but I'll go on.

Well, inclined to be fat, quick of hearing and sharp-eyed, and do not move quickly except in need. They are a little people, who shy away from mechanical things, and they love peace and good tilled earth.

Hmmm actually I was looking for

'Inclined to be fat in the stomach...'

which is what it says the Hobbit [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]. Probably the full statement from which the LotR introduction one was taken. Anyway.
Go ahead, Beren.

Ah, it probably was. Oh well.

What was Hobbitish a dialect of?

Westron, wasn't it?

That would be it, good Windlord.

Right then, sorry about the incredibly lengthy elapsation of time between this post and the last.....

Which part of the world is the Shire taken to be (more or less) based upon?

The Shire is based on "Merry Olde" England. A sort of pre-industrial revolution, rural idyll. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Merry Olde, eh? If you like, I suppose... but tell me which part of England and I'll give you it.

I believe that he based the Shire on the county of Oxfordshire. As a young boy he lived in the countryside outside Birmingham and then as an adult he enjoyed exploring around his Oxford home. He did not approve of the growing industrialisation of the area, disliking the factories and the increased traffic on the roads. his descriptions of the Shire harkened back to the days before the industrial Revolution.

Industrial Revolution, hmmm... well he isn't that old, you know. We are talking about the twentieth century. The countryside he grew up in was industrialised to a significant extent after his childhood there, this was not in the Industrial Revolution of 1800 but the early decades of the 1900's. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Oxfordshire is not it, and he in fact made it quite clear what the Shire was modelled on. (Hint: type 'Tolkien's childhood county' or something into Google, you'll probably get an answer. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img])

Following your advice, it should be Birmingham.

Birmingham is in the county of Warwickshire...(although the government keep changing the borders and the names)
Tolkien was actually born in South Africa, I think he was 7 or 8 maybe when they moved to England.
I know he wasn't around before the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (1750 - 1900) [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] I think he was born in 1892 (don't have my books with me)he loved nature, especially trees, and saw factories and such like as a blot on the landscape. Hence Sam's nightmare vision of the Shire in Galadriel's mirror.
Therefore I will change my answer to Warwickshire [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Yeah, Warwickshire is supposedly it. Not sure whether I should give it to you or to Mariska, though, as she said 'Birmingham' before which wasn't exactly what I was looking for... either of you may as well take it then, I suppose.

Eruanna, since your answer was far more complete, it is no more than logical that you come up with a new question! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

That's very gracious of you, Mariska. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
However, I'm just popping in and don't have a question ready.....so, the thread is yours. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Okay then, if you insist... [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Who were the founders of the Shire?

this question has been up here allready, so I don't know if it counts. But I'll try nonetheless:it were Marcho and Blancho

Yeah, that's right.
I'm sorry to have asked a question that already was up here...
Proceed!

ok then, here it comes;

what was one of bilbo's greatest hobbies in 'The hobbit', one which he shared with Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield,and that is mentioned at the first visit of the dwarves at Bilbo's.

(whew, that sounds way more difficult than it is, mostly because i can't explain this all very well)

edit: I almost forgot, In the movie-version of the fellowship it is also mentioned.

[ September 08, 2003: Message edited by: Firnantoonion ]

the smoking of pipe-weed?

very close, but not exact what I was looking for...

to give you another hint, he was doing this when he first met Gandalf in 'the Hobbit'

Well then, it must be blowing smoke rings with the airborne product of the combustion of the aforementioned pipeweed. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

*applauds* the answer was indeed blowing smokerings... the forum is your's saucepan man. *bows as he hands over the keys [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]*

Well I already have a set of keys, Firnantoonion. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] But thank you all the same. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Who first tended Bilbo's garden at Bag End?

The Gaffer

No, I'm afraid that's not the fellow. [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]

I believe it was the old Holman, who used to tend Bilbo's garden, helped by the Gaffer who later continued to tend Bilbo's garden on his own.

Holman Greenhand it was, Firnantoonion. Your turn. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]