A farm in the boggy region of the Marish in the eastern Shire. It was the home of Farmer Maggot, who (like the other Hobbits in this inhospitable area) lived above ground rather than in a traditional Hobbit-hole. Maggot's farm was well-known in the area for his mushrooms, which he protected fiercely against trespassers with his three fearsome dogs.
The name Bamfurlong is an old English one. Tolkien suggests that it comes originally from words meaning very roughly 'bean-field', though definite knowledge of its meaning is now lost.
Notes
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Bamfurlong is not shown on the full map of the Shire, but the text of The Lord of the Rings gives a detailed account of a journey from the farm to Bucklebury Ferry. The trip ran for some one or two miles down Maggot's Lane, and then about five miles northward along the Causeway to the ferry lane. One slight discrepancy arises in that the lane from the Causeway to the river is shown as about a mile long on the canonical Shire map, presumably for clarity. The text, however, describes it as much shorter, at about a hundred yards from the Causeway to the landing of Bucklebury Ferry.
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- Updated 14 June 2021
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