Q: What Are Dwarves Trading With The Shire?
ANSWER: We know that Dwarves travel to and through the Shire because both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings bring Dwarves to the Shire. Thorin and his twelve companions visit the Shire at Gandalf’s suggestion in The Hobbit for the purpose of recruiting Bilbo Baggins to join their quest for Erebor. In The Lord of the Rings Bilbo leaves the Shire in the company of four Dwarves and years later Dwarves pass through the Shire on their way to the Ered Luin in greater numbers.
Readers often ask about the relationship of the Dwarves with the Shire. In truth, Tolkien never provided much detail. In “The Quest for Erebor” in Unfinished Tales Gandalf notes that Thorin dismisses the Shire-folk as “food-growers” who live on either side of the Dwarves’ ancient road.
In another passage he admonishes Gloin not to mistake the hobbits’ generosity (in their dealings with Dwarves) for simple-mindedness or gullibility. In the essay “Dwarves and Men”, published in The Peoples of Middle-earth, Tolkien noted that the Dwarves preferred to trade for their foodstuffs with neighboring peoples.
The Shire-folk did not buy weapons from Thorin’s folk in the Ered Luin, but it would seem fair to conclude that the Dwarves would have purchased food from the Shire and perhaps stayed in the occasional Shire inn during their travels. We know that Dwarves stayed at the Prancing Pony in Bree, for example.
The Dwarves may also have sold their services to the Shire-folk for the maintenance of bridges. The Dwarves may also have provided iron and copper to the Shire-folk for the making of everyday tools and utensils.
How much trading the Dwarves would conduct with the Shire is left to the readers’ imaginations. The idea of Dwarves trading with the hobbits of the Shire or the people of Bree receives virtually no attention from Tolkien but he does seem to imply that there was still some trade occurring in Middle-earth.
See Also:
What Do We Know about Thorin’s Halls in the Blue Mountains?
The Merchants of Middle-earth.
“Them Dwarves, Them Dwarves, Part One”
“Them Dwarves, Them Dwarves, Part Two”
# # #
Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?
