A Hobbit Colony in Enedwaith

Post date: Jan 23, 2023 3:39:32 PM

By Idabelle Piemaker.

As a particularly wanting to be a wealthy hobbit, I have made it my business to sell pies.

First, I grow great crops of pipeweed, then I follow around a traveling band giving away the

pipeweed. After a few bowls full, they start getting the munchies, and I have overpriced bilberry

pie to fill that need.

So as I was traveling through Bree following a band of elves playing ethereal music on

the stage and making good money selling strawberry pie, I overheard one of them say there was

a hobbit colony in Enedwaith that had never heard of pipeweed.

Now hobbits are famous for inventing, developing, and cultivating pipeweed. And, while

there are hobbits in Breeland, I had never heard of hobbits outside Eriador. Seeing an excellent

opportunity to open a trade route between The Shire and Enedwaith, I headed out with my

trusted pony, cart, and a wagon load full of pipeweed.

The journey through Eregion was uneventful. I reached the border of Enedwaith with

little difficulty and stopped for my second breakfast. A ranger approached me and asked me what

I was doing far from my hobbit hole. Unsure of what to say, I asked him if he had heard of a

hobbit colony in Enedwaith. He puffed on his pipe. Obviously, the rangers knew about pipeweed

and said that up the road a few more leagues was Maur Talhau, the hobbit colony. He also said

that there was an excellent fishing hole there that hobbits used.

He invited me to stay at his camp, and gratefully I accepted. We spent a glorious night

singing songs of adventure, and though the food was plain, it was most filling. I shared a good

portion of my pipeweed and not a few pies among these hardy folk and curled up under my cart

for a night’s rest.

The light of the fire died down, and the gray-cloaked rangers huddled together, puffing

on their pipes and silently talking. Disturbed by dreams and the fact these hardy men seemed to

be concerned about something, I drifted off into a fitful sleep.

The following day was cold and clear, and I enjoyed a splendid breakfast with these

chaps. They had made hard trail biscuits with scrambled eggs and some over-salted bacon. The

leader took me aside and gave me a map of what roads I was to follow to find the colony. As a

thank you for the excellent hospitality, I gave each ranger a barrel of long bottom leaf and

headed out onto the road.

I wasn’t so generous as to give out Gold-fire or Old Toby, but I did have plenty of

Longbottom leaf I was willing to share. According to the ranger, my pony and cart would make

it to Maur Talhou by the end of the day.

It was a peaceful day. The sun shone warm on my shoulders, and I smoked my pipe as I

clucked Daisy along the track. When I consulted the map, imagine my excitement when I ran

across some hobbits in the field. I hailed them, and to my surprise, they attacked me with their

javelins.

Well, I never. I stormed out of my cart, drew my dagger, and made quick work of these

evil hobbits. Was this what I was to expect in Maur Tulhau, and why hadn’t the rangers warned

me of this devilry. Daisy and I ambled on down the road, but the day’s warmth had turned into

rain, and I pulled my cloak up over my head and kept my eyes open for any more evil hobbits.

I reached what looked like a city gate, and surly looking hobbit stood there manning the

gate. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as I approached the gate with my cart. His eyes swept over

my full cart, and he stated. “What’s your business.”

I replied that I was not used to such treatment but was cold and wet and wanted to go to

the inn. “I’m Idabelle Piemaker, and I have brought some pipeweed. Word has reached us in The

Shire that you have no pipeweed.”

He pulled back the canvas that was covering my cart and looked at the barrels, all neatly

stored. “What is The Shire? What is in these barrels?”

I was shocked. “You have never heard of The Shire? We are a group of hobbits that live

in peace over yonder. And the barrels are full of pipeweed that apparently you have never heard

of.”

“How do I know you are not a Bugan, and this is not a trick?”

“Bugan?”

“Yes, they are out there just beyond our gate. They attack and kidnap us peace-loving

hobbits, and I think this might be a trick to get into the village?”

“Oh,” I said. “That is what that was. It attacked me on the road. I thought it was a hobbit,

and it tried to kill me with his javelin, but I finished him off with my dagger.”

The gatekeeper pursed his lips a bit, then nodded, “I can’t promise anything, but I am

Rhus Cornchuthur, and I suggested you make straight away to Iolo Brochtû. He is our mayor just

over the bridge and up the hill. I mean, no offense. It is just we are raided often. Perhaps the

mayor will be interested in your pipeweed.”

He opened the gate, and I clucked Daisy through the gate and over the bridge up to the

mayor. From various hobbit holes, hobbits peered, eyes narrowed in suspicion. One woman

called her child away from me.

I made my way slowly, smiling at everyone. It seemed so odd to me that the rangers

knew of their existence but had never bothered to ask them for pipeweed or tell them what it

was.

The mayor was sitting out in front of his hole at the top of the hill commanding a

splendid view of the village and the landscape.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Who are you? I don’t recognize you.”

I was tired, wet, and hungry. I had missed afternoon tea and was already late for dinner,

and these hobbits didn’t seem inclined to welcome visitors. “I am Idabelle Piemaker. I have

come from the shire to share our pipeweed. It has been a long hard journey, and I am tired.”

The mayor, Iolo Brochtû narrowed his eyes for a moment, then hobbit curiosity overcame

him. “Well, come on in, Miss Idabelle. The least I can do is give you a warm fire and some

food.”

I got off my cart and followed him into his neat, tidy hobbit hole. The smells of fresh

wood fires, tea, and cooking filled the air. Around the hole bustled a hobbit wife making a big

dinner for three hobbit children. She looked up, startled when she saw me. “We have visitors,

Iolo? Why didn’t you tell me?”

She just came in from a place called the shire and brought with her some of her wares.

She seems to think that pipeweed would grow here. I have never heard of it, but I felt we should

offer her some food at the very least. Rhus at the gate thought her harmless enough.

Dinner was sumptuous: bubble and squeak, steak and kidney pie, fresh strawberry tart

(almost as good as mine), and big wheels of sharp yellow cheese. While we ate, the mayor and

his wife pelted me with questions about The Shire and my adventures.

“Do they normally let Hobbit lasses out of The Shire? Isn’t the open road dangerous?”

“I normally go no further than Bree, where the big folk live, along with some hobbits.

But I have been to Thorin’s Halls to deliver my best pipeweed to the dwarves. After a few

bowlfuls, they get the munchies; that is when I take out my pies and make more than enough

money for the whole trip. My most exotic strains are kept for Dane and the other dwarf lords.

They must pay for it.”

“Can I have a sample of this pipeweed?” The mayor asked.

I went out and brought in a barrel of Old Toby. I had taken with me a score or so pipes

and shared them with the mayor and his wife.

From the first puff, their eyes twinkled. “I understand why you grow it. It is splendid,”

Iolo said. I gifted him the rest of the barrel. Though not my finest weed, it was better than

average.

“I can teach you how to grow it, and you can grow your own. I want some financial

compensation for the seed and several barrels of pipeweed.”

The mayor nodded delightedly. “You will stay here, of course, Miss Idabelle. We have

plenty of room. When you are finished teaching our farmers and leaving some seed, we will

ensure you are well-supplied for your journey back.”

I spent two moons there. I was free with my Longbottom leaf, but I did charge for my

more exotic blends. I gave explicit instructions on how to grow them. It was a delightful time,

and I returned to Bree. As I left the village, a ranger greeted me at the gate. He said he would

escort me to the Bree as the lands had become more dangerous. Orc and goblins were coming out

of the hills, and the Dundlingians were harassing merchants.

The journey home was swift as Daisy wasn’t pulling a cart full of weed, and I made my

way back to my hole in The Shire, wondering when I would see my friends at Maur Tulhau

again. I noted it in my journal, penned this article for the Bramblebury Gazette, hoping a farmer

would send supplies to the colony and climbed into my warm feather bed.