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Places in Middle-earth

Westmarch, The

Type: Kingdoms, Realms, Lands

Region: Bree/The Shire

Location: The westernmost region of the Shire, from the Far Downs to the Tower Hills; added during the Fourth Age.

Description: The Shire was divided into four quarters, the Farthings already referred to, North, South, East, and West ... Outside the Farthings were the East and West Marches: the Buckland...; and the Westmarch added to the Shire in S.R. 1462 [1452 per the Tale of Years, below].

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Prologue, Of the Ordering of the Shire


History (all dates in the Shire Reckoning)

1452/31 IV
The Westmarch from the Far Downs to the Tower Hills (Emyn Beraid) is added to the Shire by the gift of the King.

1455
Master Samwise becomes Mayor for the fifth time. At his request the Thain makes Fastred Warden of Westmarch. Fastred and Elanor make their dwelling at Undertowers on the Tower Hills, where their descendants, the Fairbairns of the Towers, dwelt for many generations.

The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix B, The Tale of Years

By the end of the first century of the Fourth Age there were already to be found in the Shire several libraries that contained many historical books and records.

The largest of these collections were probably at Undertowers, at Great Smials, and at Brandy Hall. This account of the end of the Third Age [The Lord of the Rings] is drawn mainly from the Red Book of Westmarch. That most important source for the history of the War of the Ring was so called because it was long preserved at Undertowers, the home of the Fairbairns, Wardens of the Westmarch.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Prologue, Note on the Shire Records

Contributors: Elena Tiriel 16Jun04, 30Oct05

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