However, in the aborted 1960 rewrite of The Hobbit, Tolkien tells us that Dwarves often did transient or contract- work in the Shire, especially in roadbuilding and the like; and that there was an inn on the East Road which specially catered to Dwarves.*
There is also Gandalf's comment in the Quest of Erebor to the effect of "you may think the Shire-folk simple, because they are generous and do not haggle....," which implies that commerce went on between them.
(Query: who made Bilbo's clock?)
EDIT: * Did it serve rat with ketchup?
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The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.
Last edited by William Cloud Hicklin; 01-04-2008 at 09:10 PM.
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