King Aragorn's Edict

"And so indeed it has befallen: the One and the Seven and the Nine are destroyed; and the Three have passed away, and with them the Third Age is ended, and the Tales of the Eldar in Middle-earth draw to their close" (p. 299, The Silmarillion). I thought this was an eloquent synopsis of the beginning of the Fourth Age. King Aragorn issued an edict declaring the Shire was the domain of Hobbits alone and not for the dominion of Men. What follows is the Shire perspective of Aragorn: "'Our King, we call him; and when he comes north to his house in Annuminas restored and stays a while by Lake Evendim, then everyone in the Shire is glad. But he does not enter this land and binds himself by the law that he has made, that none of the Big People shall pass its borders'" (p. 324, The Return of the King). It's noted that Pippin and Sam would visit Aragorn often; and Sam had good reason. "His daughter Elanor the Fair is one of the maids of Queen Evenstar" (p. 324, The Return of the King).

Now may be a good time to talk about unique attributes of the Northern Dúnedain. For they were taller and lived longer than any other mortals in Middle-earth. Even so, through the long years of the Third Age their lifespan diminished. "The dwindling of the Dúnedain was not a normal tendency, shared by peoples whose proper home was Middle-earth; but due to the loss of their ancient land far in the West, nearest of all mortal lands to the Undying Realm" (p. 287, Unfinished Tales). One of the reasons the Dúnedain (or Númenoreans you may recall) lost their land was due to the fact that they would not lay down their lives and accept their mortality. Because of this the Valar began to take away their lifespan. Yet they still lived twice as long as other Men by the beginning of the Fourth Age. "Aragorn indeed lived to be one hundred and ninety years old, longer than any of his line since King Arvegil; but in Aragorn Elessar the dignity of the kings of old was renewed" (p. 324, The Return of the King).

One other people group in Middle-earth, beside the Dúnedain, dwindled as well: Hobbits. "The much later dwindling of hobbits must be due to a change in their state and way of life; they became a fugitive and secret people, driven (as Men, the Big Folk, became more and more numerous, usurping the more fertile and habitable lands) to refuge in forest or wilderness: a wandering and poor folk, forgetful of their arts, living a precarious life absorbed in the search for food, and fearful of being seen" (p. 287, Unfinished Tales). No timetable is given for this dwindling of the hobbits so I would assume it's much later in the Fourth Age. But this is a sad note for a people so renown in the defeat of Sauron.

Middle-earth timeline: Fourth Age, 5 and beyond
Today's reading comes from: The Silmarillion, page 299; The Return of the King, page 324; Unfinished Tales, page 287