Dads are Liars....
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Long before the One Ring ever troubled Middle‑earth, fathers were already deceiving their children. You read the tale aloud, and with a perfectly straight face you weave in the local landmarks.
Their eyes widen; the spell takes hold. Tolkien excelled at this sort of mischief. Mothers attempt it too, but they’re rarely such accomplished fabricators. |
Now picture yourself as a Faringdon father. Lord of the Rings is open on your lap, as you read it out loud to your trusting brood. Hobbiton Hill? Obviously Folly Hill. And if doubt still flickers, you deliver the coup de grâce: Tolkien’s Shire map laid beside the OS map — the two hills aligning like a conjurer’s reveal:
And there it is. Middle‑earth’s Shire really is West‑Oxford‑Shire — and before you know it, your wide‑eyed sprogs are hanging on every word as they picture Frodo’s furry feet padding through the Folly Woodland.
OR... Is it all a convenient coincidence? Tolkien just happened to have an OS map of the landscape that he enjoyed walking through - and he liked the names?
This is the moment you start doubting your own lies. Are some of them… perhaps... accidentally true?
<editor's note: the above map snippet is from the Shire map drawn not by Tolkien himself - but by his son Christopher - for the 1st edition of LOTR. However, we can assume that he was consulting/discussing with his father, and for simplicity therefore - we can treat the map as if drawn by JRRT>
Should we dig a little deeper, as Bilbo once did beneath Bag End? How common are these names, really?
First, let’s dispatch FARTHING → LOW VALUE → LITTLEWORTH with the derision it deserves. ‘Oh Daaad, don’t be ridiculous!’
But FROGMORE BROOK and FROGMORTON? That one refuses to be kicked into the long grass. It’s not common at all — and you’ll only find it east of Hobbitty Folly Hill. Best leave that one simmering; too awkward to explain away.
BUCKLAND, on the other hand, is a gift. There are so many Bucklands in Real‑Earth that we ought to invent a collective noun. A bloat of Bucklands — there you go. Wikipedia lists nine in the UK alone and explains why: from Old English bōcland, ‘book‑land’, land held by charter. Exactly the sort of name an Anglo‑Saxon professor would reach for. Its appearance on both maps, in the same place relative to Hobbitty Folly Hill, is pure coincidence. Yes?
And yet… Buckland does has a hobbitty quirk. Most travellers only glimpse it from the A420, nervously scanning for speed cameras. The village sits a furlong off, tucked in a dip. All you see are the thatched roofs peeking above the fields — as if the houses are burrowed into the earth. Very hobbiton. Unsettlingly so. And lying dads in cars adore it. ‘Children — shout hello to Bilbo!’ Tolkien would have come along the A420 quite frequently and seen the same view.
MARSH and MARISH? Same root: boggy land. Marish is Anglo‑Norman, which would have made it mildly more interesting to Tolkien — or so one assumes.
That leaves the names to the East, West, and South.
To the East, the sign reads BREE. Tolkien scholars generally accept that Middle‑earth’s Bree is Real‑earth’s Brill. Another ‘coincidence’, of course — appearing on both maps in precisely the same direction from Hobbiton Folly Hill.
To the West, the White Downs gesture (only approximately, but unmistakably) toward the Berkshire Downs and the White Horse — long believed to have inspired the Horse of Rohan.
And then we turn South. At first, SARNFORD → STANFORD feels like a stretch. But then we discover that Sarnford doesn’t exist anywhere on Real‑earth because it’s a Sindarin (Elvish) invention meaning ‘Stone Ford’. Meanwhile Stanford comes straight from Old English… and (are you sitting down?) ALSO means ‘Stone Ford’. The same place, rendered in two languages - and someone having a little philological joke?
Now, remind me — do we know anyone capable of translating between the Elvish language Sindarin and Old English?
A Professor of Old English perhaps - who also invented Sindarin?
<editor's note: the above map snippet is from the Shire map drawn not by Tolkien himself - but by his son Christopher - for the 1st edition of LOTR. However, we can assume that he was consulting/discussing with his father, and for simplicity therefore - we can treat the map as if drawn by JRRT>
Should we dig a little deeper, as Bilbo once did beneath Bag End? How common are these names, really?
First, let’s dispatch FARTHING → LOW VALUE → LITTLEWORTH with the derision it deserves. ‘Oh Daaad, don’t be ridiculous!’
But FROGMORE BROOK and FROGMORTON? That one refuses to be kicked into the long grass. It’s not common at all — and you’ll only find it east of Hobbitty Folly Hill. Best leave that one simmering; too awkward to explain away.
BUCKLAND, on the other hand, is a gift. There are so many Bucklands in Real‑Earth that we ought to invent a collective noun. A bloat of Bucklands — there you go. Wikipedia lists nine in the UK alone and explains why: from Old English bōcland, ‘book‑land’, land held by charter. Exactly the sort of name an Anglo‑Saxon professor would reach for. Its appearance on both maps, in the same place relative to Hobbitty Folly Hill, is pure coincidence. Yes?
And yet… Buckland does has a hobbitty quirk. Most travellers only glimpse it from the A420, nervously scanning for speed cameras. The village sits a furlong off, tucked in a dip. All you see are the thatched roofs peeking above the fields — as if the houses are burrowed into the earth. Very hobbiton. Unsettlingly so. And lying dads in cars adore it. ‘Children — shout hello to Bilbo!’ Tolkien would have come along the A420 quite frequently and seen the same view.
MARSH and MARISH? Same root: boggy land. Marish is Anglo‑Norman, which would have made it mildly more interesting to Tolkien — or so one assumes.
That leaves the names to the East, West, and South.
To the East, the sign reads BREE. Tolkien scholars generally accept that Middle‑earth’s Bree is Real‑earth’s Brill. Another ‘coincidence’, of course — appearing on both maps in precisely the same direction from Hobbiton Folly Hill.
To the West, the White Downs gesture (only approximately, but unmistakably) toward the Berkshire Downs and the White Horse — long believed to have inspired the Horse of Rohan.
And then we turn South. At first, SARNFORD → STANFORD feels like a stretch. But then we discover that Sarnford doesn’t exist anywhere on Real‑earth because it’s a Sindarin (Elvish) invention meaning ‘Stone Ford’. Meanwhile Stanford comes straight from Old English… and (are you sitting down?) ALSO means ‘Stone Ford’. The same place, rendered in two languages - and someone having a little philological joke?
Now, remind me — do we know anyone capable of translating between the Elvish language Sindarin and Old English?
A Professor of Old English perhaps - who also invented Sindarin?
BUT NO HATFORD ON THE SHIRE MAP?
Where you might expect to find Hatford on Tolkien's Shire map - the closest place is Frogmorton.
The explanation therefore could be very simple. There's no river Hat (never has been) - but there is a Frogmore. Tolkien might have considered Frogmoreford perhaps? But there's no longer a ford either - replaced by a bridge. So - Frogmorton - why not?
<Editor's note: The name Hatford in fact derives from the old english Heafod, meaning headland. So - nothing to do with rivers called Hat - or Fords. Although, a local historian - the late Violet Howse - in 1976 wrote a small book about Hatford's history, and claimed it was named after the ford over the River Hatt. But there there is no evidence that Frogmore Brook was
ever called the River Hatt by anyone other than her!>
OR....
It’s at this point you begin to wonder whether our staunch Catholic philologist might, just might, be having a bit of fun. After all, the closest Roman Catholic church to Hatford just a mile away is St George’s in Buckland — a church built by the Throckmortons, the most famous recusant family (Catholics who defied the crown, and refused to attend the state-mandated Anglican services) in all Oxfordshire.
And here’s where things get intriguing. Throckmorton. Throgmorton. Frogmorton. All variations of the same name.
So when Tolkien christens a village Frogmorton, is he simply inventing a Shire place‑name… or is he also winking at the establishment church? Because in that light, Frogmorton starts to look suspiciously like a private joke — a philologist’s sideways nod to the recusant stronghold just down the lane.
Call it what you like, but the implication is: Frogmorton might as well mean “Recusant‑town.”
And who would be more likely to slip that kind of joke into a map than a man who clearly delights in names that carry hidden histories?
His Catholicism was central to his life, and it’s also possible that chose Frogmorton as place name for the same reason that he called his weekend hideaway Rivendell: a name that evokes safety, retreat, and sanctuary.
On Sundays, while staying over in Rivendell, Tolkien would have wanted to attend Mass - and would then have wandered over to St George’s in Buckland, just a mile a way, following the meandering woodland path through Buckland Warren — and once inside the church, he would have found himself surrounded by the many references to the Throckmortons.
Side Note: Buckland Warren - with its seemingly impenetrable bosky grove of gnarled and knotted hardwoods - did suffer in the 40s, when Lumberjills harvested quantities of wood for the war effort. Could this have been another source of inspiration for "The Scouring of the Shire" - the penultimate chapter in Lord of the Rings?
The north transept of St Georges houses family memorials.
Additionally, multiple Throckmortons are buried in the churchyard, including Frances Giffard
Throckmorton (1773–1809) and William Throckmorton (1762–1819).
There was a cluster of Catholic literati in the Vale. At its core was Lyford Grange (less than two miles away from Rivendell) , where the Jesuit martyr Edmund Campion was arrested in the reign of Elizabeth I. In the 1930s Lyford Grange was owned by Douglas Woodruff, who was then the editor of The Tablet, the leading British Catholic journal. He was an expert and essayist on the famous Catholic Anglo-French writer Hilaire Belloc, whom he knew personally. Woodruff was also a close friend of Evelyn Waugh, who often visited the Vale of White Horse.
The closest Roman Catholic church to Lyford Grange was St George's in Buckland - just two miles away. Did Tolkien and Woodruff ever attend Mass together? We don't know - but certainly, as a staunch Catholic, Tolkien would have felt very much at home in this Catholic stronghold with so much recusant history behind it.
The explanation therefore could be very simple. There's no river Hat (never has been) - but there is a Frogmore. Tolkien might have considered Frogmoreford perhaps? But there's no longer a ford either - replaced by a bridge. So - Frogmorton - why not?
<Editor's note: The name Hatford in fact derives from the old english Heafod, meaning headland. So - nothing to do with rivers called Hat - or Fords. Although, a local historian - the late Violet Howse - in 1976 wrote a small book about Hatford's history, and claimed it was named after the ford over the River Hatt. But there there is no evidence that Frogmore Brook was
ever called the River Hatt by anyone other than her!>
OR....
It’s at this point you begin to wonder whether our staunch Catholic philologist might, just might, be having a bit of fun. After all, the closest Roman Catholic church to Hatford just a mile away is St George’s in Buckland — a church built by the Throckmortons, the most famous recusant family (Catholics who defied the crown, and refused to attend the state-mandated Anglican services) in all Oxfordshire.
And here’s where things get intriguing. Throckmorton. Throgmorton. Frogmorton. All variations of the same name.
So when Tolkien christens a village Frogmorton, is he simply inventing a Shire place‑name… or is he also winking at the establishment church? Because in that light, Frogmorton starts to look suspiciously like a private joke — a philologist’s sideways nod to the recusant stronghold just down the lane.
Call it what you like, but the implication is: Frogmorton might as well mean “Recusant‑town.”
And who would be more likely to slip that kind of joke into a map than a man who clearly delights in names that carry hidden histories?
His Catholicism was central to his life, and it’s also possible that chose Frogmorton as place name for the same reason that he called his weekend hideaway Rivendell: a name that evokes safety, retreat, and sanctuary.
On Sundays, while staying over in Rivendell, Tolkien would have wanted to attend Mass - and would then have wandered over to St George’s in Buckland, just a mile a way, following the meandering woodland path through Buckland Warren — and once inside the church, he would have found himself surrounded by the many references to the Throckmortons.
Side Note: Buckland Warren - with its seemingly impenetrable bosky grove of gnarled and knotted hardwoods - did suffer in the 40s, when Lumberjills harvested quantities of wood for the war effort. Could this have been another source of inspiration for "The Scouring of the Shire" - the penultimate chapter in Lord of the Rings?
The north transept of St Georges houses family memorials.
- It also contains three Throckmorton hatchments — painted funeral armorials for
- Sir Robert Throckmorton (d. 1791)
- Sir John Courtenay Throckmorton (d. 1819)
- Sir Charles Throckmorton (d. 1840)
Additionally, multiple Throckmortons are buried in the churchyard, including Frances Giffard
Throckmorton (1773–1809) and William Throckmorton (1762–1819).
There was a cluster of Catholic literati in the Vale. At its core was Lyford Grange (less than two miles away from Rivendell) , where the Jesuit martyr Edmund Campion was arrested in the reign of Elizabeth I. In the 1930s Lyford Grange was owned by Douglas Woodruff, who was then the editor of The Tablet, the leading British Catholic journal. He was an expert and essayist on the famous Catholic Anglo-French writer Hilaire Belloc, whom he knew personally. Woodruff was also a close friend of Evelyn Waugh, who often visited the Vale of White Horse.
The closest Roman Catholic church to Lyford Grange was St George's in Buckland - just two miles away. Did Tolkien and Woodruff ever attend Mass together? We don't know - but certainly, as a staunch Catholic, Tolkien would have felt very much at home in this Catholic stronghold with so much recusant history behind it.
It’s entirely possible that Tolkien chose not to place Hatford on his Shire map — keeping his hidden Rivendell retreat safely veiled - and instead - being a staunch catholic - slipped in Frogmorton, a name that to his mind would have roughly meant ‘Recusant‑town' .
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