 | |
| Farm | |
| Bamfurlong | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Location | Marish |
| Type | Farm |
| Description | Home of the Maggot Family, notable for mushrooms |
| People and History | |
| Inhabitants | Hobbits |
| Gallery | Images of Bamfurlong |
Bamfurlong was a farm in the boggy region of the Marish in the eastern Shire. It was the home of Farmer Maggot,[1] who (like the other Hobbits in this inhospitable area) lived above ground rather than in a traditional Hobbit-hole. Farmer Maggot's farm was well-known in the area for his mushrooms, which he protected fiercely against trespassers with his three fearsome dogs.
The center of the farm consisted of a large farm house made of brick with thatched roof and associated farm-buildings. They were all enclosed within a high wall with a wooden gate to the outside Maggot's Lane. The lane led out of the farm and, after one to two miles, crossed a deep dike and climbed onto the high bank of the causeway between Rushey and Stock; five miles north was the Bucklebury Ferry.
History
When Frodo Baggins was young and lived at Brandy Hall, he occasionally sneaked onto the farm to poach some mushrooms. On the last visit, Maggot had caught Frodo and gave him a beating for his thievery. Frodo avoided the place and him ever after.
On 25 September T.A. 3018, Frodo, Sam, and Pippin came to Bamfurlong in the afternoon. There they met Farmer Maggot and learned that earlier a Black Rider had visited the farm and enquired about Baggins. The travelling hobbits gratefully accepted a hearty supper before the farmer drove them to Bucklebury Ferry in his wagon.[2]
Etymology
Bamfurlong is probably a combination of "bean" and "furlong" (a division of a common field). It is the name for a land that is usually used to plant beans.[3]
David Salo suggests that the name Bamfurlong represents Old English Beanfurlang, "a furlong of beans" or simply "bean-field".[4]
Bamfurlong is a real-life English place-name.[5]
Other versions of the legendarium
In the first edition of The Lord of the Rings, Farmer Maggot's land did not have a name. The name Bamfurlong first appeared as the name of Farmer Maggot's land in 1962 in the poem Bombadil Goes Boating and was inserted in the 1967 second edition of The Lord of the Rings.[6] In the first edition of The Lord of the Rings, Bamfurlong was the name of a place from which one of the special runners came with a "secret message" in the chapter "The Scouring of the Shire". In the second edition of The Lord of the Rings, this place was called Whitfurrows instead of Bamfurlong.[7]
Portrayal in adaptations
2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:
- The Bamfurlong is a prominent landmark in the Marish.
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Bombadil Goes Boating"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Short Cut to Mushrooms", p. 91
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings" in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, entry Bamfurlong, p. 765
- ↑ David Salo, "Hobbitish Place-names (1.21)" 23 November 1998, Elfling, accessed 23 September 2022
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond (eds), The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Introduction"
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 113
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 657