Lessons From the Shire: How to Live a Simple Life According to Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, by Philip Kosloski

“[Hobbits] love peace and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-farmed countryside was their favourite haunt. They do not and did not understand or like machines more complicated than a forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a hand-loom, though they were skilful with tools” (Prologue to the Fellowship of the Ring, 1).

Hobbits are well-known for their simple life. Compared to the Men of Gondor or Rohan, Hobbits seem backward in their desire to live close to the earth and not to complicate their lives with new machinery. Yet, it is in this simplicity that Hobbits are able to give one of the greatest lessons to our modern technological world.

Before I go any further, I have decided to focus on the practical application of Hobbit simplicity to our everyday life. I believe that Tolkien’s secondary world has great applicability to our primary world and that we should think honestly about how we can integrate the truths learned into our own lives. Thus, we make the move from “head to heart.” In a certain sense, it is an “examination of conscience” with the Shire as a guide. ….

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