"Storming the Bank", by Ted Nasmith
Ruffians mainly refers to Sharkey's Men, a band of about 150 thugs who invaded the Shire from the South in the employ of "Sharkey", who was actually the fallen Wizard Saruman.
History[]
By the time of the final meetings of the White Council, Saruman had grown suspicious of Gandalf's connection to the Hobbits and begun sending agents to infiltrate the Shire or to keep an eye on its borders. Most of the spies of the White Wizard at this time were outlaws from Bree-land and Dunlendings, but there were also Hobbits "in the pay of the Bracegirdles and Sackville-Bagginses”;[1] these were later joined by Half-orcs from Isengard, who called Saruman "Sharkey".[2] Saruman also used his agents to negotiate purchase of pipe-weed - since, in secret imitation of Gandalf, he had begun to smoke - and other supplies.
In the years leading to the War of the Ring, Saruman's servants troubled the Dúnedain Rangers that stood watch at Sarn Ford, but also actively misled the emissaries of Saruman's "new master",[3] Sauron. In their hunt for the “Baggins”, the Nine Ringwraiths stumbled upon two men in the Wizard’s employ, one of which possessed detailed maps of the Shire that he handed over to the Morgul Lord. During the War of the Ring, Saruman’s thugs were welcomed into the Shire by his associate, Lotho Sackville-Baggins. At first, they enforced Lotho's new laws and plans regarding the region and persecuted and imprisoned those who would not go along with them.
"Sharkey, Tyrant of the Shire", as depicted by Matthew Stewart
Seeking a petty vengeance on Gandalf by hurting the Hobbits, Saruman journeyed to the Shire and assumed the "Sharkey" alias, leading the ruffians from the shadows. After Lotho's murder on Sharkey's orders, they followed the fallen Wizard's commands alone. They became known as Sharkey's Men or the Chief's Men, and their mistreatment of Hobbits became even harsher. But, being few and rather unintelligent, these ruffians were defeated at the Battle of Bywater following a couple of skirmishes with Hobbit country-folk, at the end of the War of the Ring. Those killed in the battle were buried in a place known as the Battle Pit.[2][4] The rest of Sharkey's Men were expelled from the Shire, and their fate is untold.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Finnish | Roistot |
| Hebrew | בריונים |
| Italian | Ruffiani |
References[]
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, IV: "The Hunt for the Ring"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter VIII: "The Scouring of the Shire"
- ↑ The Two Towers, "The Voice of Saruman"
- ↑ The Atlas of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings, "The Battle of Bywater"