Farmer Maggot of Bamfurlong: Hospitality and Mystery in the Marish

If you've always longed to see 'A Shortcut to Mushrooms' from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring depicted, I hope this new painting is food for both the soul and for thought! I am so honored to welcome you to the brick-built farmhouse at Bamfurlong with Farmer Maggot, and Mrs. Maggot is already at work in her kitchen, preparing "a mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon" at sundown.

The traveling hobbits have had quite a day by the time they get to this landmark spot in the water-rich Marish which is filled with ditches and dykes. Reclaimed marshland of this kind is a good spot for ash trees, and so the house stands in a little grove of them, and its fields of turnips, cabbages, and other hearty crops stretch out to the wall. Family and farmhands are finishing up the day's work and will be coming in for supper. It's a scene of such relief after the alarms Frodo, Sam, and Pippin have been undergoing on their way to Buckland, and I love how it exemplifies hobbit hospitality.

There is room at the farmhouse table for the wanderers, even if young Mr. Baggins used to pilfer mushrooms from this fine property when he was a little lad.

The Mysterious Farmer Maggot

I truly hope this painting helps you feel like you've finally seen Farmer Maggot. I am particularly fond of him, myself. In the first place, I am impressed by his courage. Like Sam's Gaffer, this hearty hobbit sends a black rider away from his door. When you consider what those creatures are, this is quite astounding. In the second place, Maggot is one of the figures who invites us to ponder the fact that there is more to hobbits than may meet the eye.

Don't you think it's fascinating that this farmer is a personal friend of Tom Bombadil's - one of Middle-earth's most mysterious beings? Tom not only mentions this relationship to the wandering hobbits but they get the impression that Bombadil thinks of Maggot as "a person of more importance than they had imagined." Tom explains of his hobbit friend:

"There's earth under his old feet, and clay on his fingers; wisdom in his bones, and both his eyes are open..."

Maggot's importance stems from both his relationship to the earth (a trait he appears to have in common with Bombadil) and the fact that he is alert to things (perhaps in contrast to some of the farmer's sleepier neighbors.)

Tom and Maggot have been cronies for quite a while, as is suggested by the old poem 'Bombadil Goes Boating' and Frodo, Sam, and Pippin could hardly have ended up in a luckier place after the first worrisome stages of their journey. In fact, like the meeting with Gildor Inglorion in the Woody End, you might call it "more than chance." Thanks to Farmer Maggot, the hobbits will make it through the dark of night to the Buckleberry Ferry and to Crickhollow.

Tolkien's Genius for Warmth

Tolkien's genius is at work in the feeling of safety he gives us in this warm scene at Bamfurlong. I find it a joy to see this superlative hobbit in his maturity. Farmer Maggot is stout, strong, sensible, knowing, and kind. He provides an early lesson in not underestimating hobbits, and I'd love to spend several months on his farm, planting turnips and dining with the family.

One final note: in working on this scene, I was amused to consider the actual fierceness of Farmer Maggot's dogs. Were they really terrifying? Or did Frodo simply write them that way to make this moment in The Lord of the Rings rather exciting when he was back at Bag End, writing it all down, and because he remembered the dogs as being scary when he was young? As you can see from the painting, Sam is quite alarmed by Wolf, but Pippin is at ease with Grip, and Fang stands loyally by, perhaps smelling supper.

Whatever the case may be, I'm delighted to offer you an experience of Farmer Maggot's hospitality in this video short, which I hope may be especially pleasant to see if you've never found a depiction of it before. Imagine being there!