Rivendell

• Bilbo’s 129^th birthday is celebrated.
• Frodo tells Bilbo he must return to the Shire.

Eregion

• Gandalf and the hobbits pass the Ford of Bruinen and Weathertop. Frodo’s wound aches.

The Prancing Pony

• They drink at the inn, sharing stories with Barliman and the locals.
• Nob brings Bill the Pony from the stables.

The Shire

• The land turns darker as they travel towards The Shire. Gandalf leaves them, heading to the Old Forest.
• They find the gate closed at the Brandywine. The guards are under orders not to let people in. Merry and Pippin climb the gate and open it. Merry chases off Bill Ferny.

Frogmorton

• They head towards Hobbiton, but are arrested at Frogmorton. They laugh this off and continue. Robin Smallburrow explains that rough men came and took over The Shire.

Bywater

• Six men threaten Frodo, but are chased off by the other hobbits. They claim to answer to ‘Sharkey’.
• Sam visits Farmer Cotton and Rosie.

• Merry rouses the hobbits with the horn of Rohan. They set up barricades.
• Pippin rides off to gather his relatives.
• A gang of men attacks the hobbits, but are surrounded and surrender.

• Merry spends the night setting up traps and barricades for an ambush.
• Sam and Frodo talk to the Gaffer and Rosie.
• In the morning Merry sets archers around the town. Pippin returns with a hundred hobbits.
• The ruffians walk straight into Merry’s trap. They do not surrender and many are killed.

• A few hobbits are killed and the ruffians decide to kill rather than escape. Merry and Pippin charge into them.
• Seventy men and nineteen hobbits are dead.

Hobbiton

• Frodo and Sam lead two dozen hobbits into Hobbiton. They see the entire town turned grey, with all the trees cut down.
• Ted Sandyman gathers all the hobbits left in Hobbiton to follow Frodo
• Frodo recognises this as Saruman’s work, before they encounter Saruman himself at Bag End.

• Saruman orders the hobbits to kill Frodo, but they are not swayed. He attempts to stab Frodo himself and is thwarted by the mithril coat.

• Frodo shows mercy to Saruman. Saruman reveals Wormtongue killed Lotho. Wormtongue slits Saruman’s throat and is killed himself by hobbit archers.
• Saruman’s spirit hovers before being blown away by the West wind.
• The imprisoned hobbits, including Fatty Bolger and Lobelia, are released.
• The dead hobbits are buried. A memorial is placed in Bywater.

Deaths – Saruman, Grima Wormtongue, Lotho Sackville-Baggins

Adapted from chapters ‘Homeward Bound’ and ‘The Scouring of the Shire’ of The Lord of the Rings.

Pictures

• The Shire – John Howe
• Unwelcome Return – Alan Lee
• Sam and Rosie Cotton – Ted Nasmith
• Storming the Bank – Ted Nasmith
• Scouring of the Shire – discogangsta
• Saruman – Eric Faure-Brac
• The Scouring of the Shire – Inger Edelfeldt