Tolkien, the Shire and South Lake

If you’re a fan of The Lord of the Rings, or perhaps The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien you would have come across a land called The Shire.

In Tolkien's fiction, the Shire is described as a small but beautiful, idyllic and fruitful land, beloved by its hobbit inhabitants. They had agriculture but were not industrialized. The landscape included downland and woods like the English countryside.   Families lived in a close community of friends and neighbors, often celebrating and having meals together.  He envisioned The Shire as a place of refuge in an otherwise chaotic and often dangerous world.  Sometimes I view The Shire a bit like living on South Lake within Sun City Center proper.

Tolkien himself experienced chaos and extreme danger as a soldier in the first World War.  Barely surviving the Battle of the  Somme, spending months in recovery from Trench Fever.  The battle was one of the world's bloodiest battles, with one million casualties.  

Within The Lord of the Rings he vividly creates a number of communities each having serious difficulties.  Yet the Shire was always depicted as a safe haven.  I’m thinking with all the troubles and traumas he lived through, a place like the Shire helped set his mind at ease.  

Hopefully you have not experienced the depth of despair  like the Battle of the Somme.  Yet no one gets through life without more troubles than they would prefer.  My hope is that what the fictional Shire did for Tolkien, the real South Lake will do for you.

Godspeed

Paul