The White Council

Re: Gildor Inglorion

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : Tolkien's usage in this matter is not clear, and he sometimes : : uses words or idioms in non-standard ways. He used the word : : "fief" to refer to specific areas of Gondor, for instance, : : and many people have argued this means Gondor is somehow : : feudal. But in the material prepared for the Appendices : : Tolkien said the Gondorian regions were called by suza : : in Westron, the same word used as the name for the Shire, and : : he defined its meaning as "a sphere of occupation (as of the : : land claimed by a family or clan), of office, or business." : : (See page 45 in THE PEOPLES OF MIDDLE-EARTH). "Fief" is not : : defined that way in the feudal sense. Tolkein seems to have : : had the non-feudal meaning of the word in mind when he : : referred to the "fiefs" of Gondor.

: Fief is a linguistic variant of feudum. The connection is a : strong one. Whatever the internal linguistic derivation, : Tolkien's use of the word fief in the text of LOTR is a telling : one.

I'm sorry, but the usage is no more "telling" than Tolkien's use of the word "Elves" to refer to the Quendi is telling. His explanation for the word "suza", which is used to refer to the fiefs, shows that there is no feudal connection.

In modern usage "fief" (and/or "fiefdom") simply refers to "anything under a person's complete control or authority". There is strong evidence in Tolkien's definition for "suza" that this is the usage he had in mind when he said "fief".

: Shire is a more loose term probably derived in most cases from : the territory controlled by a tribe or dynastic leader in the : early Anglo-Saxon period. Later used as an administrative : unit. When England was feudalised (either before or after 1066) : the shire was brought into that system. The Sherrif or : Shire-reeve was the crown's administrator in the shire, but he : had to work within the feudal society which existed there. : : In the fiefs of Gondor there isn't even the hint of a royal : officer of such a type, only hereditary lords. Hereditary : lords who furnish troops to the state in time of war - sounds : rather feudal to me.

There was certainly nothing feudal about the practice in Roman times, so I don't see why we must assume feudalism within Middle-earth. As I've pointed out in past discussions, there are no mentions of homages and enfeofments, no references to land-tenants or tenures, no benefices, no contracts of personal service -- in short, virtually none of the criteria for Medieval feudalism appear.