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littlemanpoet · 06-19-2005, 06:01 PM

I think that Meriadoc, Samwise, and Peregrin, the three most powerful Hobbits in the Shire in the early years of the Fourth Age, had enough clout to provide the trust of the Hobbits to Elessar.

There were no Men to the west of the Shire, to my knowledge, so the reason for an alternate road west for Men would not have materialized unless the Elves and Dwarves turned to tourism.

It seems that if there was trade between the Dwarves of the Ered Luin and Men of Bree and other parts of Eriador, the Dwarves, not subject to the ban, would have done well.

All that said, I still agree with Lord Melkor that it was a shortsighted, paternalistic mistake on the part of Elessar. Rather than a Ban, he shoulded have granted the Hobbits legal suzerainty of the Shire, and offered border protection in cooperation with Hobbits' efforts to keep their borders safe.

You can be sure that a brand new trading center or town would have popped up on the eastern side of the Stownbow Bridge over the Brandywine, where Hobbits would have made a killing in tarriffs and tolls.

06-19-2005, 06:01 PM	#10
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	I think that Meriadoc, Samwise, and Peregrin, the three most powerful Hobbits in the Shire in the early years of the Fourth Age, had enough clout to provide the trust of the Hobbits to Elessar. There were no Men to the west of the Shire, to my knowledge, so the reason for an alternate road west for Men would not have materialized unless the Elves and Dwarves turned to tourism. It seems that if there was trade between the Dwarves of the Ered Luin and Men of Bree and other parts of Eriador, the Dwarves, not subject to the ban, would have done well. All that said, I still agree with Lord Melkor that it was a shortsighted, paternalistic mistake on the part of Elessar. Rather than a Ban, he shoulded have granted the Hobbits legal suzerainty of the Shire, and offered border protection in cooperation with Hobbits' efforts to keep their borders safe. You can be sure that a brand new trading center or town would have popped up on the eastern side of the Stownbow Bridge over the Brandywine, where Hobbits would have made a killing in tarriffs and tolls.