Location

On the borders of the Shire, running southward and eastward from the inflow of the river Shirebourn into the Brandywine

Race

Culture

Shire-hobbits

Settlements

The marshes lay directly southward of Deephallow and the Mithe

Source

The marshes were formed by the combined waters of the Shirebourn and Brandywine

Meaning

Uncertain¹

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Updated 18 October 2022
This entry is complete

Overbourn Marshes

The marshland to the southeast of the Shire

At the southern tip of the Old Forest, on the eastern border of the Shire, the River Brandywine was met almost simultaneously by two other rivers. The Withywindle ran down to meet it through the Old Forest to the east, and then, just a few miles farther along its course, the Shirebourn flowed into it from the west. The three rivers came together at the southern end of Buckland, and the sudden inflow of water, especially from the Shirebourn, resulted in a region of marshland to the south of Haysend and Deephallow. This region was known as the Overbourn Marshes, and it spread out southwards from the meeting of the three rivers.

Notes

The name Overbourn is not explained, though it at least seems clear that -bourn (Old English burna, 'stream') is a reference to the river Shirebourn on the marshes' northern edge. On the simplest level, the name might suggest that the marshes were 'over the (Shire)bourn)', as seen from within the lands of the Shire.

In Old English, ōfer carried various meanings, and perhaps the most applicable here would be 'along', so we could read ōfer burna as 'along the stream'. Alternatively, ōfer could mean 'border' or 'bank', giving a meaning of 'border stream' or 'river bank'. Any of these alternatives would seem to be at least plausible.

One final possibility is that the name represents a playful pun of the kind popular among the Shire-hobbits. On this reading, the name Overbourne might be meant to bring to mind the word 'overborne' (in the sense of 'overwhelmed' or 'overpowered'). In that sense, the waters of Brandywine were 'overborne' by those of the Shirebourn, and so flooded out to form the marshes. This derivation seems a little more far-fetched than the Old English alternatives, but such punning names were far from unknown among the Hobbits.

Overbourn Marshes

The marshland to the southeast of the Shire

Notes

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