A village or town located somewhere in the Westfarthing of the Shire, though its exact location is not known. It is important to history as the home of many of Sam Gamgee's ancestors. His great-great-grandfather Wiseman Gamwich came to Tighfield about two hundred years before the War of the Ring, and Wiseman's son Hob Gammidge is recorded as a roper, one of a long line of Tighfield rope-makers. Hob's grandson was Hamfast Gamgee, Sam's father, who left Tighfield for Hobbiton, to start a new life as a gardener.
Tighfield's name is associated with the tradition of rope-making there, and indeed is related to the modern word tie. Hob's son Hobson, and in turn his son Andwise, were said to have practised their skills in a rope-walk (that is, a rope-maker's yard) for many years.
Notes
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Our first dated mention of Tighfield relates to Sam Gamgee's ancestor Wiseman Gamwich, who was said to have removed from Gamwich village to Tighfield. We're not told exactly when he did this, but we know that Wiseman was born in III 2800, so a date of very approximately III 2840 (or 1240 by the Shire-reckoning) seems realistic. Of course, Tighfield likely predated this by some considerable time, but this is our first reference to it that we have that is even remotely dateable.
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The tigh- element of the name comes from an old word for 'rope' (connected to modern English 'tie') reflecting the fact that the town and its environs were well known for the manufacture of rope. There was at least one 'rope-walk', or rope-maker's yard, in the town, and Sam Gamgee's ancestors who lived in the Tighfield area were associated with that trade.
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See also...
Andwise ‘Andy’ Roper, Anson Roper, Erling, Gamgee Family, Gammidge Family, Gammidgy, Gamwich Family, Halfred of Overhill, Hamfast of Gamwich, Hamson Gamgee, Hob Gammidge, Hobson, Holman the greenhanded, Old Gammidgy, Roper Family, [See the full list...]Roper Gamgee, Rowan, Wiseman Gamwich
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- Updated 2 February 2021
- Updates planned: 1
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