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Many years ago, a hobbit went on a long, brave adventure to reclaim a fallen kingdom from a dragon. But that hobbit brought more than gold, silver, gifts, memories and stories with him. It is said that he brought back three ghosts. No one had ever learned the ghosts names, not even the hobbit they came with. So the shire came up with some.
This is the story of the ghost known as “Fee.”
A young hobbit, anxious and “unsocialable,” wandered through a field near his home. He wasn’t a very popular faunt, in fact he was made fun of by many. So he often escaped the bullies by looking for wild edible plants.
But today, he was followed. Lotho Sackville-Baggins and his gaggle of friends found the shy hobbit. Unkind words flew. He tried to ignore them, but then he was shoved to the ground. He expected more to happen. More almost did happen. But then there was an unknown voice that called out, “Hey!”
Heavy footsteps got closer. Before whoever they belonged to got close enough to cast a shadow on the group, Lotho and his gang ran off. When the remaining faunt turned towards where the voice and footsteps came from, he was startled to find a blond, breaded figure right behind him.
“Excuse…excuse me sir,” the faunt stuttered.
“Are you alright?” The figure asked. They knelt down to get on a better level to look for any bumps and bruises on the youngling.
“I’m okay, I think.” The young faunt began fidgeting with his buttons. “My name is Samwise.”
“I’m Fili, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The figure smiled.
Samwise nodded and looked towards his home. He bowed, thanked “Mister Fee” for helping him, and ran towards the Gamgee home.
When Sam needed someone to listen to his rambling about his hobbies, he went back to that part of the field. Fee was doing tricks and flips to entertain himself. But once Sam spoke, he sat down and listened. Soon it became tradition, talking and sharing secrets in the middle of a field. One time, Sam offhandedly mentioned his crush. Before the hobbit’s embarrassment kicked in, Fee began talking about his secret relationship—which he said was difficult to maintain because of their different standing, and how affectionate his people were with people they love.
Other faunts told tales of a blond figure stepping in whenever faunts became too disrespectful towards one another. They called him Fee, or sometimes “Feeling,” and was regarded as their guardian. He broke up fights between young hobbits, oftentimes helping them come up with cover stories.
He’d help the younglings of the shire cover their tracks if they ended in less than desirable situations. And thus started the legend of Fee, one of three ghosts of the Shire.
The stories of the other two ghosts are meant for another time.