
"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a Hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."
Bag-End, or Bag End, was an elaborate smial atop the Hill in Hobbiton, home of Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, and Samwise Gamgee and family.
History[]
Bag-End was built around Third Age 2880 by Bungo Baggins as a mansion and dream-home for he and his wife, Belladonna Took. Partially on account of his own skill as a craftsman, and partially out of his wife's family fortune (she being the daughter of the Thain of the Tooks, Gerontius Took), he had the resources to build a very large and comfortable burrow overlooking all of Hobbiton. After the birth of their son Bilbo, they concluded that they were happy with one child and that their one child would be happiest without siblings, and so abandoned plans to burrow around to the north face of the Hill; many side passages were blocked off and not rediscovered until over a century later by Master Samwise, who expanded them into new rooms for his larger family.
The three-person Baggins family lived long there in happiness and comfort, and Bilbo had nothing but fond memories of his childhood in the Hill; at any rate, he did not dare any such adventurous deeds for freedom as other Hobbit-children often did. Even after Bungo and Belladonna's deaths, Bilbo inherited Bag-End and lived a very comfortable bachelor's life alone. This sparked the jealousy of his cousin Otho Sackville-Baggins, who would afterwards alway envy Bilbo's wealth.
All of this comfort and security changed with the arrival of the wizard Gandalf, an old friend of the Hobbit, and Thorin Oakenshield, chieftain of the Longbeards in exile, who with his companions essentially squatted in his home for a night, and afterwards coerced Bilbo into a grand adventure. Otho and his wife Lobelia were quick to claim the property after his departure. During an auction to sell off the hole's contents a year later, Bilbo reappeared with a fortune of gold and reasserted his claim on Bag-End, to the Sackville-Bagginses' eternal annoyance.
Bilbo continued to live alone for many years until his young cousin Frodo Baggins was orphaned. Knowing of the poor boy's inadequate living conditions, Bilbo took Frodo in and named him heir to Bag-End, which absolutely outraged the Sackville-Bagginses. After Bilbo's true disappearance in TA 3001, Frodo became master of Bag-End until his departure on the Quest of the Ring in 3018, when he sold it to Lobelia and her son Lotho (for Otho died some year earlier).
In Frodo's absence, Lotho and his mother quartered in Bag-End. Lotho was coniving and soon took the property for his own. His ambition overstepped when he took over the Shire with the help of Saruman, and his plans went awry with Saruman's arrival in the Shire: Lobelia was arrested and sent to the Lockholes in Michel Delving, while Lotho was held on house arrest at Bag-End, before his eventual murder by Saruman's lackey Grima Wormtongue.
After Saruman was defeated in the Battle of Bywater, Frodo and his servant Samwise Gamgee took up residence once again in Bag-End; and yet Frodo departed over the Sea two years later in TA 3021, to the land of Valinor. He willed Bag-End to Sam, who lived in it with his wife Rose and their thirteen children until he too went over the Sea in Fourth Age 61. From then on, Bag-End was owned by his eldest son, Frodo Gardner, and his illustrious family and descendants.
Description[]


Bag-End was the most luxurious smial in the Hobbiton area. Built into the southern slope of the top of the Hill, it featured a large round front door painted bright green, opening onto a central hallway running westward, opening onto other rooms, including a kitchen, dining room, study, parlor, multiple bedrooms, and several pantries and storerooms. A second door at the western end of the hall led up to the Hill's summit. Bilbo maintained a small secret room in which he stowed his gold, though he gave most of it away by the time he left.
Bungo Baggins built an "inner hall" running north into the Hill, leading to a back door on the Hill's north face, but blocked it off after Bilbo's birth. Saruman discovered this passage and used it to hide Lotho's remains. Master Samwise had it opened up again and cleaned out after he took up residence.
In front of Bag-End was a fragrant garden tended by the Gamgees, a small lane winding up the Hill, and a wide yard owned by Bilbo. This Party Field was the site of his famous going-away party, centered around the Party Tree. The tree was cut down by Lotho during his industrialization of the Shire, but Samwise planted the mallorn seed given him by Galadriel on the spot.
Inhabitants[]
Baggins Family[]
- Belladonna Took
- Bilbo Baggins
- Bungo Baggins
- Frodo Baggins
- Lobelia Sackville-Baggins
- Lotho Sackville-Baggins
During the Scouring[]
Gamgee Family and Offshoots[]
- Bilbo Gamgee
- Daisy Gamgee II
- Elanor Gamgee
- Frodo Gardner
- Goldilocks Gamgee
- Hamfast Gamgee II
- Harding Gardner ("Harding of the Hill")
- Holfast Gardner
- Merry Gamgee
- Pippin Gamgee
- Primrose Gamgee
- Rose Cotton
- Robin Gamgee
- Ruby Gamgee
- Rose Gamgee
- Samwise Gamgee
- Tolman Gamgee
References[]
- MERP: The Shire
- Karen Wynn Fonstad, Atlas of Middle-earth