Lessons from the Shire: How to live a simple life according to Tolkien’s Middle-Earth

“[Hobbits] love peace and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-farmed countryside was their favourite haunt. They do not and did not understand or like machines more complicated than a forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a hand-loom, though they were skilful with tools” (Prologue to the Fellowship of the Ring, 1).

Hobbits are well-known for their simple life. Compared to the Men of Gondor or Rohan, Hobbits seem backward in their desire to live close to the earth and not to complicate their lives with new machinery. Yet, it is in this simplicity that Hobbits are able to give one of the greatest lessons to our modern technological world.

Before I go any further, I have decided to focus on the practical application of Hobbit simplicity to our everyday life. I believe that Tolkien’s secondary world has great applicability to our primary world and that we should think honestly about how we can integrate the truths learned into our own lives. Thus, we make the move from “head to heart.” In a certain sense, it is an “examination of conscience” with the Shire as a guide.

• • Peace and quiet. Hobbits in the Shire live peacefully in their own quiet world. Picture yourself in the Shire; what do you hear? The wind blowing past you, through the grassy hills and the nearby river rushing along. Men and women conversing in the town square.
    What do you not hear in today’s world? Among other things, automobiles honking their horns, whizzing by on the road. A neighbor’s radio blasting through the air and a lawnmower piercing the ears of its user. How do we find peace and quiet in our busy and loud world? Let us think about our day and the various opportunities to spend it in quiet or in noise. Do we turn on the radio immediately when we get into the car? Do we listen to music while we jog in the morning? Do we turn on the TV after we take off our shoes? We all have many choices and can choose to live in noise or in peace and quiet.

• • Good tilled earth. Hobbits are excellent farmers and gardeners and know the value and simplicity there is in tilling the earth. Among the numerous activities that we have in the Western world, gardening is one that brings us back to a simpler time. It is  also contemplative, an activity that facilitates contemplation on life. When we are out in nature, we hear the natural sounds of birds, insects, frogs, and many other animals. We touch the ground and experience the world first hand, instead of through a TV or computer screen. What have we done to cultivate the earth? If we live in a city, do we try to “escape” and go to the countryside on occasion?  Or do we live in our artificial world and only experience it through a screen?

• • Simple machines. Hobbits again are simple folk and willfully do not understand complicated machinery. As I write this I laugh as I am using probably one of the most complicated pieces of machinery the human race has ever seen. Yet in our technological age, we do have many choices. We must ask ourselves, does a “smart phone” make our lives easy and simple or more complex? Yet, we don’t have to dismiss technology altogether, but we can be wise about our use of it. We can learn from Hobbits and choose to use the simple machinery that make accomplishing a task a little bit longer and inconvenient. We could write down our notes for class instead of typing them (thus removing the temptation to play Angry Birds during a lecture). We could even choose to write more letters by hand instead of e-mails.

 

In the end, many of us (even Tolkien) have an idyllic vision of the Shire. It is certainly not a realm without its flaws, but it has the potential to be a living example for us on how to experience true joy, unencumbered by the complexities of our Modern age. As a result, we can live more at peace with ourselves and with the world around us. If there is anything that our world needs right now, it is peace.