Thank you for all the insightful replies, complete with moving poetry!
H-I, I agree with you but wonder about
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Being totally unimportant and inessential to the main plot
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My feeling is that the Shire is the linchpin for the entire story, and that the Scouring of said Shire is the necessary denouement to the whole story, precisely because it IS essential to the story, including every Gaffer and Proudfoot and Cotton and Bolger and Nobottle, etc.