Gedling 'likely' helped inspire Tolkien's Shire

BBC News

4 days ago

Residents in a Nottinghamshire suburb say they are convinced JRR Tolkien's vision of Hobbiton was partly based on their area.Francis Rodrigues, from Gedling, paused his TV while watching a piece on the news about the sale of a first edition of The Hobbit.He called his wife through and she confirmed she was seeing the same thing – that an illustration of The Shire by the Lord of the Rings author depicted nearby Arnold Lane.Two Tolkien historians told the BBC they thought the evidence was compelling.
Mr Rodrigues was one of several people to spot the connection from news reports. "I'm very convinced. You can see straight away that's Arnold Lane," he said."It's nice to know he walked the streets I walked… and wow, I'm following in his footsteps."
The 75-year-old pointed to the bend in the road and similarities between the drawn mill in the foreground and the real All Hallows Church.He also pointed out the similarity in shape and position between farm buildings in the image and Phoenix Farm.This was a farm, owned by Tolkien's aunt, where the author is known to have stayed and written the poem which began his work on Middle Earth.The farm overlooked Arnold Lane.The road has been reshaped and some of the buildings destroyed since Tolkien visited in the early 1900s.The surrounding fields and countryside have also been turned into housing.But comparisons with old black and white images of the road convinced many on social media of the connection.
There is much debate about which locations inspired Tolkien's landscapes.In a newspaper interview Tolkien said the Shire was "inspired by a few cherished square miles of actual countryside at Sarehole", an area in the West Midlands.But John Garth, Tolkien biographer and author of a book on the places that inspired Middle-earth, pointed out the image does not look much like Sarehole.After looking at the old images of the road and old ordinance survey maps, he said it was "rather likely" some of the illustration drew on what Tolkien saw in Gedling."The place was very special to him," he said."He was happy to put personal references and in-jokes into The Hobbit."Even if he hadn't intended it, I can imagine his aunt would have opened the book and thought 'oh look, this looks like my old farm'."There's a really quite a good case to be made here for direct inspiration."
Andrew Morton, author of Tolkien's Gedling, was initially sceptical.He said he often hears people coming up with "fantastic ideas" connecting Tolkien to the landscape.But after seeing the evidence, he said: "It's quite compelling, your readers are onto something here."It's reasonable to think he'd have dug [Arnold Lane] out of his memory and incorporated it into his landscape."Although you have to be careful, or you'll end up with Bilbo Baggins living at Mapperley Top."