Nestled in the gently rolling green hills of the Shire is the village of Hobbiton, a sleepy assemblage of stone buildings and burrows, home to the diminutive Hobbits. Overlooking the village from the hill at the end of Bagshot Row is Bag End, the stately underground abode of Bilbo Baggins, an eccentric Hobbit widely acknowledged about town as having cracked some years ago, and his cousin and ward Frodo Baggins, who is certainly in the process of cracking. Consorting with Wizards, Dwarves and other folk with dangerous ideas, the Bagginses maintain a museum of sorts in their home, the various rooms of Bag End being stuffed with treasures and trinkets accumulated over the years by Bilbo either on his adventures or as gifts from his peculiar company.
But extraordinary as its occupants and contents might be, the abiding atmosphere of Bag End itself is one of lazy comfort, from the pretty but slightly overgrown gardens that hug its eaves to the welcoming clutter inside it labyrinthine chambers. Reclined across the hillside in the shade of an old oak tree whose roots twist through its halls, the home reflects the gentle good humour of its hosts and the universal Hobbit love of simple pleasures. There have been Bagginses living under the hill for as long as anyone can remember, and there always will be.
