Que nous dit le 1er chapitre de HoME XII sur les différents états de rédaction du prologue??? Eh bien, dans le manuscrit nommé P5, que:
"In the Year 1 (according to the reckoning of Shire-folk) and in the month of Luyde {9} (as they used to say) the brothers Marco and Cavallo, having obtained formal permission from the king Argeleb II in the waning city of Fornost, crossed the wide brown river Baranduin. They crossed by the great stone bridge that had been built in the days of the power of the realm of Arthedain; for they had no boats. After their own manner and language they later changed the name to Brandywine. All that was demanded of the 'Little People' was (1) to keep the laws of Arthedain; (2) to keep the Bridge (and all other bridges) in repair; (3) to allow the king to hunt still in the woods and moors thrice a year. For the country had once been a royal park and hunting ground."
Comme quoi, le Suzerain des Hobbits était roi d'Arnor mais ils n'étaient soumis qu'aux lois d'Arthedain... ;-)
La consigne relative à la chasse est amusante mais elle n'a pas été retenue.
En note, Ch. Tolkien apporte une précision ultérieure de son père au sujet de la règle n° 2 imposée aux Petites Gens (celle de tenir les ponts en bon état) : "the second of the conditions imposed on the Hobbits of the Shire was 'to foster the land' (changed later to 'speed the king's messengers')" et c'est bien cette ultime version (pour les messagers du roi) que l'on retrouve dans la version publiée.
Plus intéressants encore sont les éléments de HoME XII sur les Appendices, notamment les premiers états pour les tables de l'Appendice B, dans le manuscrit baptisé T4, où l'on trouve:
1601. (S.R.1)(19) "A host of Periannath migrates from Bree west-ward, and crosses the R. Baranduin (Brandywine). The land beyond, between the Baranduin and Emyn Beraid, had been a demesne of the Kings of Arnor, where they had both chases and rich farms; but they were now untended and falling into wilderness. The king Argeleb II therefore allowed the Periannath to settle there, for they were good husbandmen.(20) They became his subjects in name but were virtually independent and ruled by their own chieftains. Their numbers were swelled by Stoors that came up from southern Eriador and entered the land from the south and dwelt mostly near to the Baranduin. This land the Periannath or Halflings called 'The Shire'. Shire-reckoning begins with the crossing of the Baranduin in this year.
Et surtout:
1976. "Aranarth son of Arvedui takes refuge with Elrond at Imladris. He abandons the title of 'king', since he now has no people, but the chieftains of the Dunedain descended from him continue to bear names with the royal prefix Ar, Ara. The Periannath sent archers to the Battle of Fornost, but after the end of the kingdom they claim the Shire as their own. They elect a Thain to take the place of the king.(25) According to their tradition the first independent Shire-thain was one Bucca of the Marish, from whom later the Oldbuck family claimed descent. The beginning of his office dated from S.R.379.
Ch. Tolkien précise en note qu'une autre version (le manuscrit T3) disait:
" but after the end of the kingdom they claim 'The Shire' as their own land, and elect a 'Shire-king' from among their own chieftains."
Voila qui alimenterait l'étude politique....si Ch Tolkien ne précisait pas qu'au départ, le titre de Shire-King attribué au chef des Took avait été abrégé en "Shirking" et que ce 'gag' avait été abandonné par son père: "Shirking is of course a reduction of Shire-king with shortening (and
in this case subsequent alteration) of the vowel, in the same way as Shirriff is derived from Shire-reeve; but this was a joke that my father decided to remove."
Silmo (c'est tout pour le moment)