Banditry in middle earth and the third age

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Rhun charioteer

But Saruman as Sharkey acquired dozens of ruffians to lord over the shire. Where did he get them?

Dunland, it would seem. Butterbur observes that "newcomers and gangrels [...] began coming up the Greenway last year". However, those among them who were "bad men, full o' thievery and mischief" were joined by Bill Ferny and Harry Goatleaf from Bree.

This suggests that the ruffians were a mixture of Dunlendings and Breelanders who joined them.

Originally Posted by Rhun charioteer

Was there a lot of human bandits scurrying about on the path the fellowship traveled?

We certainly don't see any during the Quest for Erebor or the Quest of the Ring, but perhaps they were driven into hiding by Tom, Bert and William in the former case and the terror of the Nazgûl in the latter.

Butterbur also says "we're not used to such troubles; and the Rangers have all gone away, folk tell me. I don't think we've rightly understood till now what they did for us." This suggests to me that the Rangers probably kept the level of mundane criminal activity in Eriador fairly low. As for Gondor and Rohan, I couldn't say.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

This suggests that the ruffians were a mixture of Dunlendings and Breelanders who joined them.

With the odd half-orc thrown in, as well.

Originally Posted by Zigûr

Butterbur also says "we're not used to such troubles; and the Rangers have all gone away, folk tell me. I don't think we've rightly understood till now what they did for us." This suggests to me that the Rangers probably kept the level of mundane criminal activity in Eriador fairly low. As for Gondor and Rohan, I couldn't say.

I'm inclined to think outlaw Men weren't a problem in Eriador in the Third Age, before Saruman's mischief. Aragorn makes mention of guarding Bree and the Shire from creatures that seem more sinister.

'But when dark things come from the houseless hill, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us.'

'"Strider" I am to one fat man who lives within a day's march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly.'

FOTR The Council of Elrond

Then again, when Butterbur hears Gandalf mention Lake Evendim when he and the Hobbits returned to Bree after Sauron's fall, he remarked that it was "haunted" there, and "none but a robber would go". Was the idea of it being suitable for a miscreant in place before the War, or was it a recent thought connected with the Ruffians?

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Aragorn makes mention of guarding Bree and the Shire from creatures that seem more sinister.

Yes, and this is consistent with the rest of Butterbur's quote:
"the Rangers have all gone away, folk tell me. I don't think we've rightly understood till now what they did for us. For there's been worse than robbers about. Wolves were howling round the fences last winter. And there's dark shapes in the woods, dreadful things that it makes the blood run cold to think of."
So perhaps the evil things in the wilds of Eriador limited how much ordinary criminal activity went on.

[Kuruharan]

I think part of the reason why banditry is so limited is the low population of Middle-earth.

Outcasts and other undesirables who were driven out of their societies (the usual ultimate source of gangs of bandits), assuming that enough of them banded together, could easily start up their own people in the wilds of Eriador rather than being a bandit gang per se.

In a way it is almost a "frontier" effect.

I think Rohan might have had a similar situation in that Rohirric outlaws could go to Dunland or somewhere in the wilds to the north.

Gondor is the only place in the West that I think had more ideal conditions for "banditry" being a more settled society, although even Gondor had sparsely populated hinterlands.

I agree with Zigur that the presence of more dangerous and malicious types of evil had a bit of a deterrent effect on the more ordinary kind.