The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Founded not before III 1601 (year 1 by the Shire-reckoning), but probably several centuries after that date1
Location
The Tookland in the Westfarthing of the Shire, to the south of Hobbiton
Race
Culture
Family
Associated with the Took family
Source
Unknown2
Pronunciation
whi'twell
Meaning
'White well' (that is, a spring in chalky white lands)

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About this entry:

  • Updated 11 December 2014
  • This entry is complete

Whitwell

A township of the Tookland

A village or town near Tuckborough in the Shire's Tookland region, at the western end of the Green Hills. Thain Paladin Took II, Pippin's father, was known to farm the land around Whitwell, though it is not known whether he maintained a home there, or dwelt in the ancestral residence of the Tooks at Great Smials.


Notes

1

III 1601 was the date of the founding of the Shire, and hence the earliest point that Whitwell could have been established. Its association with the Tooks of Tookland hints that it was probably a rather later settlement, based on the known date of the excavation of the Tooks' famous residence at Great Smials. This was not begun until III 2683 (S.R. 1083), more than a thousand years after the original settlement of the Shire.

2

The name 'Whitwell' ('white well') implies that the village was built near the source of a stream flowing out of chalky hills. There is, however, no such stream recorded, which is unfortunate, because it would allow us to narrow down Whitwell's otherwise uncertain location.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 11 December 2014
  • This entry is complete

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