Sunday, April 01, 2012

Sounds like the Shire

I recently came across a sentence in a published document, which I have pared down here to its essentials:
Bigwarfe was arrested ... after allegedly [committing offense] in the Town of Fowler and fleeing to the Town of Gouverneur.
There is something about the names in that sentence that make me think of the Shire; they have the feel of antiquity, a rustic charm passed down through the ages. (Although I suppose in that case the omitted language would have referred to Shirriffs rather than modern law enforcement officials.)

And there's also a local or parochial flavor to it which is Shirelike: towns instead of cities.

And in context, even the word "fleeing" here lends an air of quaintness; as if the fugitive had hoped somehow to find asylum or refuge in a nearby town, as if by crossing a magical border one might thereby escape the reach of the authorities.

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