LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 05 - A Conspiracy Unmasked

[Selmo]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

Rumil I wonder how much - if anything - Fatty gave away after he alarmed Buckland.

There would be no point in Fatty Bolger keeping any secrets once the four companions had left The Shire. Word of the Black Riders asking about Baggins and of the raid on Crickhollow would spread rapidly. It would generally be assumed that Frodo had gone into hiding to avoid the Riders.

The events in Bree were extraordinary enough for messages to be sent to the Master and the Thain so in just a few days after Frodo leaving, the whole Shire would know that he and his friends had escaped the Riders and gone eastward with a Ranger.

In Rivendell, Elrond wanted to send Pippin back home to warn the Hobbits of the threat from Mordor, in a sack if necessary. When that proved to be un-necessary, he could have sent messages to The Shire instead. Some of Cirdan's people were at The Council and would have passed through, or close to, The Shire on their way home.

The families of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin might have had news of them for the first three months of their adventures, whether Fatty kept secrets or not.
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