The Rules

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The Rules were essential laws that the Shire-hobbits kept of their own free will, recognising their justness and antiquity. They attributed them to the old King of Arthedain.[1]

During the time of the Kings, the Hobbits were obliged to acknowledge their lordship, to speed their messengers, and to maintain the Shire's bridges and roads.[2] Possibly their obligations included allowing the King to visit the land three times a year for hunting, as the woods and moorlands of the Shire had been a royal park.[3]

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