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#1 |
Wight
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 118
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Banditry in middle earth and the third age
Banditry or the iconic image of raiders and criminals living in the woods raiding travelers and passerbys seems to have a minor role in the Legendarium. However I am curious during the late third age was there much banditry in Eriador? Western gondor? Rohan? These regions were fairly loosely populated so it seems unlikely.
But Saruman as Sharkey acquired dozens of ruffians to lord over the shire. Where did he get them? Was there a lot of human bandits scurrying about on the path the fellowship traveled? Thoughts? |
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#2 | ||
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 785
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This suggests that the ruffians were a mixture of Dunlendings and Breelanders who joined them. Quote:
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.
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"Since the evening of that day we have journeyed from the shadow of Tol Brandir." "On foot?" cried Éomer. |
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#3 | ||||
Gruesome Spectre
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Heaven's doorstep
Posts: 8,035
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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?
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Music alone proves the existence of God. |
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#4 | |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 785
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"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.
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"Since the evening of that day we have journeyed from the shadow of Tol Brandir." "On foot?" cried Éomer. |
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#5 |
Regal Dwarven Shade
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: A Remote Dwarven Hold
Posts: 3,589
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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.
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#6 |
Laconic Loreman
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There must be bandits, robbers, thieves...etc in Middle-earth. Afterall, every society has laws and thus every society is going to have people who break them and like-minded criminals will band together. Since this is story primarily revolving around war, you're not going to get too much detailing the common bandits, but there are glimpses.
Some examples already pointed out here, including Harry and Bill Ferny banding to join Sharkey's men. Even in the Shire, there were hobbits who joined up with Sharkey's men. You can call Shagrat and Gorbag talking about getting trusty lads together to raid and loot away from the "big bosses" is a conversation about forming an orc-gang. I also think in Lord of the Rings, you have to look at the path that the Fellowship travelled. Much of it was not on a main road or paths that are travelled often. What good does it do bandits, who survive by looting travelers to be on paths that don't get travelled or are secret? The hobbits go through the Old Forest - no bandits will be in there, there are things far more dangerous (heh suddenly reminded of the 3 dangers in the fire swamp. ![]() In The Hobbit there is a humorous conversation on how the dwarves hire Bilbo as a burglar. The dwarves say the sign that Gandalf put on the door means "burglar wants a good job, plenty of excitement and reasonable reward." Bilbo is offended by the thought of being hired as a burglar.
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#7 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Lonely Isle
Posts: 706
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If you want to talk about bandits, the first we see are the trolls in Chapter 2 of The Hobbit, who aren't just prepared to rob and kill people, but to eat them as well...
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