A dwelling of Hobbits in the Westmarch, the region between the Far Downs and the Tower Hills gifted to the Shire-hobbits some three decades after the War of the Ring.
It was at Undertowers that Sam's daughter Elanor settled with Fastred of Greenholm and gave rise to the Fairbairn family, the hereditary Wardens of Westmarch. In time, the Fairbairns would become as influential as the Tooks and Brandybucks in the history of the Shire, and it was at Undertowers that they preserved the Red Book of Westmarch, whose contents formed the ultimate basis for the account of The Lord of the Rings.
Notes
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In the Tale of Years (Appendix B to The Lord of the Rings), the entry for Shire-year 1452 includes the comment 'Fastred and Elanor make their dwelling at Undertowers on the Tower Hills...' It's not completely clear from this wording whether it refers to Undertowers being founded in that year, or whether it already existed when the new Warden settled there. At most, Undertowers could only have been founded shortly before this, because the Westmarch was only settled by Hobbits ten years before this date.
Note that some older editions of The Lord of the Rings contain a minor dating error, listing the settlement of Undertowers as taking place in 1455 or 1462 rather than 1452; this has been corrected in later editions. |
See also...
Elf-towers, Elfstan Fairbairn, Elostirion, Fairbairn Family, Fastred of Greenholm, Folklands, Gamgee Family, Goodchild Family, Harding of the Hill, Longfather-tree of Master Samwise, Red Book of the Periannath, The Towers, The Towers, Warden of Westmarch, Westmarch of the Shire, [See the full list...]White Towers
Indexes:
About this entry:
- Updated 29 April 2022
- This entry is complete
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