At last our four heroes come back to their beloved Shire. One evening they reach the Brandywine Bridge wet and tired, but to their dismay they are denied entrance. The Shire is no longer the place they left behind. Shirriffs guard the gates and uphold new unreasonable laws, ugly buildings sprout everywhere, and there are evil Men in the Shire who are using the Hobbits as slaves. And all orders seem to come from Bag End, from the mysterious Sharkey.
How do the four travellers set about organising the resistance against the ruffians? How is Frodo’s reaction to the state of the Shire different from the others, and what is Frodo’s part in the scouring of the Shire? In what ways do Frodo, Sam , Merry and Pippin show how much they have developed on their travels?
We shall also look at possible inspirations for ‘the scouring of the Shire’, and compare Saruman and Frodo at their last encounter. Join us in #thehalloffire as we take a look at The Scouring of the Shire – Chapter VIII of the Return of the King.
Times:
Saturday Chat:
5:30pm ET (17:30)
[also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat:
7:00 pm (19:00) CET
[also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AET = Australian East Coast
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