The Battle of Bywater

The Battle of Bywater was the final armed conflict of the War of the Ring, fought on November 3, 1419 S.R. within the Shire itself. It was the only battle ever to take place within the borders of that peaceful land, and it ended the brief but brutal occupation of the Shire by the ruffians of Saruman, who had been sent there under the alias "Sharkey" to wreak havoc and ruin. The battle was a spontaneous uprising of the hobbitry, led by the returning travellers Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, and it resulted in a decisive victory for the Shire-folk, the death of Saruman and his servant Wormtongue, and the liberation of their homeland.

Background and Causes

The trouble in the Shire had begun long before the hobbits' return. Lotho Sackville-Baggins, a greedy and ambitious hobbit, had begun buying up property and sending goods away, and had invited in a gang of rough Men from the South to enforce his will. These ruffians, under the direction of Saruman (who had taken the name "Sharkey"), had turned the Shire into a place of fear and oppression. They cut down trees, burned houses, closed inns, and imprisoned anyone who resisted in the Lockholes at Michel Delving. The hobbits, accustomed to peace and plenty, were cowed and leaderless. When Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin returned, they found their beloved country transformed into a dreary, rule-bound land, with a great ugly mill in Hobbiton and the Party Tree felled. The travellers, hardened by war and bearing the authority of the King, resolved to raise the Shire and drive out the invaders.

The Course of the Battle

The uprising began at Bywater. Merry blew the Horn-cry of Buckland, a call that had not been heard for a hundred years, and the hobbits flocked to him. A band of twenty ruffians from Hobbiton marched into the village, expecting to cow the inhabitants, but they found themselves surrounded by a ring of armed hobbits. Their leader was shot dead with four arrows, and the rest surrendered. The main force of the enemy, nearly a hundred strong, came up the road from Waymeet. Merry laid a trap, blocking the road with carts and lining the hedges with archers. The ruffians walked into the ambush. A fierce fight ensued, but the hobbits, fighting for their homes, were resolute. Merry himself slew the leader, a great squint-eyed brute like a huge orc. Nearly seventy of the ruffians were killed, and a dozen were taken prisoner. Nineteen hobbits fell, and some thirty were wounded. The dead ruffians were buried in a sand-pit, later called the Battle Pit, and the fallen hobbits were laid in a grave on the hill-side, where a great stone was set up.

Consequences and Aftermath

The Battle of Bywater was the last battle fought in the Shire, and the only one since the Battle of Greenfields in 1147 S.R. It cost very few lives, but it was a decisive and cathartic moment. The hobbits, having thrown off their oppressors, then marched on Bag End. There they found Saruman, who had been hiding in the Shire, and Wormtongue. Saruman attempted to bargain and threaten, but Frodo, showing mercy, ordered him to go. In a final act of spite, Saruman revealed that Wormtongue had murdered Lotho, and Wormtongue, in a rage, cut Saruman's throat. Wormtongue was then shot dead by hobbit archers. Saruman's body dissolved into a grey mist, and his spirit was blown away by a cold wind from the West. The Shire was free. The hobbits then set about the work of repair, restoring Bag End, replanting trees, and rebuilding the homes that had been destroyed. Samwise Gamgee used the gift of earth from Galadriel to restore the Party Field, where a beautiful mallorn tree grew, a wonder of the Shire. The Battle of Bywater thus brought a final, small-scale, but deeply personal end to the great War of the Ring, restoring peace and beauty to the land the hobbits loved most.