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:''"In a hole in the ground there lived a [[Hobbit]]. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a Hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."'' –''[[The Hobbit]]'', Chapter 1, "An Unexpected Party"
{{location
| image=[[Image:J.R.R._Tolkien_-_The_Hall_at_Bag-End%2C_Residence_of_B._Baggins_Esquire.jpg|250px]]
| name=Bag End
| type=[[Smials|Smial]]
| location=[[Hobbiton]]
| inhabitants=[[Baggins Family]], [[Gardner Family]]
| realms=[[the Shire]]
| description=The most luxurious hobbit-hole in the local area
| climate=
| othernames=
| etymology=
| created=Around {{SR|1280}}
| destroyed=
| events=[[An Unexpected Party]]</br>[[Scouring of the Shire]]
}}
{{quote|In a hole in the ground there lived a [[Hobbits|Hobbit]]. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a Hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.|Opening lines of ''[[The Hobbit]]''<ref name="Unexpected">{{H|Party}}</ref>}}


'''Bag End''' or '''Bag-End'''  was a [[Hobbit-holes|smial]] in [[Hobbiton]], the residence of the [[Baggins Family]] and later the [[Gardner Family]].


[[Image:J.R.R._Tolkien_-_The_Hall_at_Bag-End%2C_Residence_of_B._Baggins_Esquire.jpg|right|thumb|200px|''The Hall at Bag-End, the Residence of B. Baggins Esquire'' by [[J.R.R. Tolkien]].]]
==Layout==
In [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s fictional world of [[Middle-earth]], '''Bag End''' was a smial (or [[Hobbit-holes|Hobbit-hole]]) in [[Hobbiton]], at the end of Bagshot Row.
[[File:DaleComte - Once Upon A Time in Hobbiton.jpg|300px|thumb|left|DaleComte - ''Once Upon a Time in Hobbiton'']]
The entrance to Bag End was a perfectly round green door featuring a brass knob in the center.  The entryway was a tube-shaped hall with paneled walls and a tiled floor, furnished with carpeting, polished chairs, and an abundance of pegs for the hats and coats of many visitors. The tunnel continued into the hill with side doors that were also round. All of the rooms were on the same level – bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, multiple pantries, wardrobes, kitchens, and dining rooms. The best rooms were those on the left side of the passage for they had deep-set round windows with a view of the garden and meadows beyond down to [[The Water]].<ref name="Unexpected"/>


[[Bilbo Baggins]] inherited the home from his parents, Bungo and Belladonna Baggins, who built the smial in 2889 [[Third Age]]. The hobbit hole is noted to have a green door with a round brass knob, all but countless rooms with round windows, and a garden. Although hobbits are known to be of small stature, larger visitors are often seen, indicating that the ceilings are certainly taller than expected. The grounds and home were kept by the Gamgee family, most notably Hamfast ("[[The Gaffer]]") and later his son, [[Sam Gamgee|Samwise]]. The beautiful hole is a point of contention between Bilbo and his relatives, the Sackville-Bagginses, who very much desire to own it.
==History==
<center>{{quote|You can say what you like, Gaffer, but Bag End's a queer place, and its folk are queerer.|[[Sandyman]]<ref name="Party">{{FR|Party}}</ref>|center}}</center>
Bag End was built into [[the Hill]] by [[Bungo Baggins]], where he went to live with his new wife, [[Belladonna Took]]. The hole was largely financed by her.<ref name="Unexpected"/> The earth removed was shot over the edge of the sudden fall in the hillside onto the ground; this lane would thenceforth be known as "[[Bagshot Row]]".<ref name="N">{{HM|N}}, p. 763-5</ref> The hole was inherited by Bungo's son [[Bilbo Baggins|Bilbo]], who employed [[Holman Greenhand]], [[Hamfast Gamgee]],<ref>{{UT|Erebor}}</ref> and later [[Samwise Gamgee]] to tend to its gardens.<ref name="Long">{{FR|Party}}</ref>


Here, Bilbo lived a quiet existence until the wizard [[Gandalf]] appeared with 13 [[Dwarves]] at the beginning of ''The Hobbit''. Upon his return, he discovered the contents of the smial being auctioned off, due to his suspected death. The Sackville-Bagginses are disappointed at his return and their loss of Bag End.
Bag End in turn was left to Bilbo's adopted heir, [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]], in {{SR|1401}}.<ref name="Long"/> When he too left [[the Shire]], he sold it to his cousin [[Lobelia Sackville-Baggins]], who had coveted it for years.<ref>{{FR|Shadow}}</ref> It was used by her son [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins|Lotho]] as he declared himself [[Chief Shirriff]]. [[Saruman|Sharkey]] also adopted the hole as his base, digging up Bagshot Row and erecting many houses in its stead. After the [[Battle of Bywater]], it was largely restored to normal, and Frodo took up residence in the hole again.<ref>{{RK|Scouring}}</ref>


By the beginning of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Bilbo adopts his cousin (and nephew) [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] as his heir. Frodo becomes the Master of Bag End on their mutual birthday, at the age of 33, while Bilbo, now 111 years old, leaves to live with the elves at [[Rivendell]]. Frodo remains content at Bag End until Gandalf returns and confirms that Bilbo's ring is actually the [[One Ring]]. Preperations for departure ensue, with Frodo selling Bag End to the Sackville-Bagginses and removing to Crickhollow, before beginning the quest to destroy the ring.
After [[Frodo Baggins]] left [[Middle-earth]], he gave Bag End to [[Samwise Gamgee]], whose family, the Gardners, would live in it for many years.<ref>{{RK|Havens}}</ref>


Upon their return during the [[Scouring of the Shire]], Frodo and company discover that [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]] had made Bag End his power base as he became Chief of [[the Shire]]. He succeeded, if only too well, and lost control of the entire enterprise. After [[Saruman]] arrived, [[Gr&iacute;ma Wormtongue]] killed Lotho in his sleep.
==Etymology==
[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s aunt [[Jane Neave]]'s farm was called Bag End by the locals in Dormston, Worcestershire.
{{quote|It [Bag End] was the local name for my aunt's [Jane Neave] farm in Worcestershire, which was at the end of a lane leading to it and no further...|[[Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings|''Nomenclature'']]<ref name="N"/>}}


Frodo resumes living in Bag End and is joined by [[Samwise Gamgee|Sam]], upon his marriage to [[Rose Cotton]]. However, with wounds too deep to heal, in 3021 he names Sam his heir, and leaves across the sea. Bag End remains in the Gamgee family (later known as the Gardners) for at least three generations following Sam.
The name can also be seen as a pun on "cul-de-sac" (literally "bottom of the bag").<ref name="N"/>


The name comes from the farmhouse in the tiny Worcestershire village of Dormston, in which Tolkien's aunt lived. It can also be seen as a pun on "cul-de-sac" (literally, "bottom of the bag"). In the books, it is supposedly a translation of the [[Westron]] ''Labin-nec'', which has much the same meaning, and the same relationship to the Westron form of Baggins: ''Labingi''.
In the books, it is supposedly a translation of the [[Westron]] ''[[Laban-neg]], [[Labin-nec]]'', which has much the same meaning, and the same relationship to the Westron form of Baggins: ''[[Labingi]]''.<ref name="PM">{{PM|Languages}}</ref>


In [[Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings]], a life-sized exterior of Bag End was constructed as part of the Hobbiton set near Matamata, New Zealand. The interior sets of Bag End were built on two different scales, and their design was based on artwork by [[John Howe]].
==Portrayal in Adaptations==
'''2001-03: [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]'''
:A life-sized exterior of Bag End was constructed as part of the Hobbiton set near Matamata, New Zealand. The interior sets of Bag End were built on two different scales.


==External link==
'''2002: [[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game)|''The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' (video game)]]:'''
* [http://www.jrrtolkien.org.uk/Images/bagendmap.jpg A floorplan of Bag End]
:Bag End is the starting point. Prior to leaving, the deed and key have to be found.
* [http://www.ourhobbithole.com Fans who are building a Hobbit Hole]


'''2003: [[The Hobbit (2003 video game)|''The Hobbit'' (2003 video game)]]:'''
:Bag End is the starting point.


[[Category:Locations]]
'''2006: ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II]]'':'''
:Two different maps of the Shire are used: in the evil campaign, and a map is available for skirmishes. In the former, Bag End and the Hill are located in the top left; in the latter, it does not appear.
 
'''2007: ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online]]'':'''
:Bag End, including surrounding environs The Hill and [[The Party Tree]], are featured in the Shire region. In autumn, during the [[Harvestmath]] festival, the basement of Bag End becomes the "Haunted Burrow," a hobbit-style haunted house.
 
==See also==
* [[:Category:Images of Bag End|Images of Bag End]]
*''[[Tolkien's Bag End]]''
 
{{references}}
[[Category:Buildings]]
__NOTOC__
[[Category:The Shire]]
 
[[de:Beutelsend]]
[[fi:Repunpää]]
[[fr:encyclo:geographie:villes_tours_et_forteresses:comte:cul-de-sac]]

Revision as of 04:05, 24 September 2014

Bag End
Smial
File:J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hall at Bag-End, Residence of B. Baggins Esquire.jpg
General Information
LocationHobbiton
TypeSmial
DescriptionThe most luxurious hobbit-hole in the local area
Regionsthe Shire
People and History
InhabitantsBaggins Family, Gardner Family
CreatedAround S.R. 1280
EventsAn Unexpected Party
Scouring of the Shire
GalleryImages of Bag End
"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a Hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."
― Opening lines of The Hobbit[1]

Bag End or Bag-End was a smial in Hobbiton, the residence of the Baggins Family and later the Gardner Family.

Layout

DaleComte - Once Upon a Time in Hobbiton

The entrance to Bag End was a perfectly round green door featuring a brass knob in the center. The entryway was a tube-shaped hall with paneled walls and a tiled floor, furnished with carpeting, polished chairs, and an abundance of pegs for the hats and coats of many visitors. The tunnel continued into the hill with side doors that were also round. All of the rooms were on the same level – bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, multiple pantries, wardrobes, kitchens, and dining rooms. The best rooms were those on the left side of the passage for they had deep-set round windows with a view of the garden and meadows beyond down to The Water.[1]

History

"You can say what you like, Gaffer, but Bag End's a queer place, and its folk are queerer."
Sandyman[2]

Bag End was built into the Hill by Bungo Baggins, where he went to live with his new wife, Belladonna Took. The hole was largely financed by her.[1] The earth removed was shot over the edge of the sudden fall in the hillside onto the ground; this lane would thenceforth be known as "Bagshot Row".[3] The hole was inherited by Bungo's son Bilbo, who employed Holman Greenhand, Hamfast Gamgee,[4] and later Samwise Gamgee to tend to its gardens.[5]

Bag End in turn was left to Bilbo's adopted heir, Frodo, in S.R. 1401.[5] When he too left the Shire, he sold it to his cousin Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, who had coveted it for years.[6] It was used by her son Lotho as he declared himself Chief Shirriff. Sharkey also adopted the hole as his base, digging up Bagshot Row and erecting many houses in its stead. After the Battle of Bywater, it was largely restored to normal, and Frodo took up residence in the hole again.[7]

After Frodo Baggins left Middle-earth, he gave Bag End to Samwise Gamgee, whose family, the Gardners, would live in it for many years.[8]

Etymology

J.R.R. Tolkien's aunt Jane Neave's farm was called Bag End by the locals in Dormston, Worcestershire.

"It [Bag End] was the local name for my aunt's [Jane Neave] farm in Worcestershire, which was at the end of a lane leading to it and no further..."
Nomenclature[3]

The name can also be seen as a pun on "cul-de-sac" (literally "bottom of the bag").[3]

In the books, it is supposedly a translation of the Westron Laban-neg, Labin-nec, which has much the same meaning, and the same relationship to the Westron form of Baggins: Labingi.[9]

Portrayal in Adaptations

2001-03: The Lord of the Rings (film series)

A life-sized exterior of Bag End was constructed as part of the Hobbiton set near Matamata, New Zealand. The interior sets of Bag End were built on two different scales.

2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game):

Bag End is the starting point. Prior to leaving, the deed and key have to be found.

2003: The Hobbit (2003 video game):

Bag End is the starting point.

2006: The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II:

Two different maps of the Shire are used: in the evil campaign, and a map is available for skirmishes. In the former, Bag End and the Hill are located in the top left; in the latter, it does not appear.

2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:

Bag End, including surrounding environs The Hill and The Party Tree, are featured in the Shire region. In autumn, during the Harvestmath festival, the basement of Bag End becomes the "Haunted Burrow," a hobbit-style haunted house.

See also

References