The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Location
Flowing generally eastward, though with significant meanders, through the Eastfarthing of the Shire
Race
Culture
Settlements
Willowbottom and Deephallow both lay within a few miles of this river's course
Source
Tributaries
Outflow
Pronunciation
shi'reborn
Meaning
'Bright stream'1

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  • Updated 23 July 2016
  • This entry is complete

River Shirebourn

A southern river of the Shire

Map of the River Shirebourn

A lesser river flowing through the southern parts of the Shire's Eastfarthing. Its source was in the uplands of the Green Hill Country, from where it flowed south and then southeast. At Willowbottom, it met the Thistle Brook, and then flowed eastwards until the Shirebourn itself met the Brandywine.

The Shirebourn flowed into the Brandywine beneath Deephallow, and at its mouth formed the boggy region known as the Overbourn Marshes, opposite the southern end of the High Hay.


Notes

1

The word scīr (modernised to 'shire') had two meanings in Old English. The first described a bounded region or a fiefdom, and it is from that meaning that the name of the Shire, the land of the Hobbits, took its name. The same word could also mean 'bright', 'clear' or 'gleaming' and it is from this second sense that the river Shirebourn acquired its name. The two meanings are distinct, though doubtless Tolkien was well aware that the modernised spelling 'Shirebourn' was well suited for a river within the Shire. The element -bourn comes from Old English burna, a stream or brook.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 23 July 2016
  • This entry is complete

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