Lord of the Rings Fan Built His Own Shire to Live In

Lord of the Rings fan in Italy built himself his very own Shire and has been living it in for three years. Originally a three-part novel by J.R.R. Tolkien published from 1954-55, The Lord of the Rings remains one of the most beloved stories in all of fantasy fiction, ranking among the best-selling books of all time. New Zealand director Peter Jackson adapted it into a trilogy of films in the early 2000s to tremendous acclaim, and the third entry, The Return of the King, still holds the record for the most Academy Awards won by a single film with 11.

While each of the locations created for the series is certainly memorable, there is perhaps none more beloved than the Shire. Home of the Hobbits, the Shire is a peaceful, rural place that encourages gentle living in its diminutive inhabitants, who reside in Hobbit-holes dug into hillsides. The Lord of the Rings film trilogy’s design for these buildings, with circular doors placed at the hill’s highest point, made a strong impression on viewers—so much so that, when Jackson returned to make The Hobbit films, his team built the village of Hobbiton as a lasting structure that can be visited as a tourist attraction.

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But Insider reports that location in New Zealand is not the only Hobbit-appropriate dwelling in our world. An Italian pastry chef and Lord of the Rings fan named Nicolas Gentile has spent the last three years living in a Hobbit-hole he built himself in the central region of Abruzzo, where he runs the Instagram account MyHobbitLife. He made the decision to build his own village, which he calls the “Gentile Country,” in 2018:

I have always loved fantasy literature and movies, Dungeons and Dragons, and video games. But at some point in my life, I felt like I was living the adventures of others and not my own. I decided that I, too, would live my life like a character in the movies and books I loved so much. […] This project does not aim to make a profit. If I had wanted to get rich, I would have invested in bitcoin! All I want is to meet people like me, who have the same magic in their eyes and a love for the simple things in life, who enjoy dinner with friends and an adventure in the woods now and then.

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And in this goal, Gentile has so far succeeded. The article recounts that his greatest achievement in his Hobbit-life thus far was hiking to Naples’ Mount Vesuvius this August with eight others he met online. Dressed as members of the Lord of the Rings Fellowship, the group trekked 180 miles, crossing forests, mountains, and ancient cities to reach the active volcano. And once they did, of course, they tossed in a replica of the One Ring, probably saving all of Italy in the process.

Gentile has taken his love for Tolkien’s world further than most and has surely captured the hearts of fans everywhere in the process. He is currently crowdfunding to expand his village, with the hopes of creating a small community that lives off the land as the Hobbits would. Because recreating the Shire doesn’t come cheap, he’s looking to raise $1.78 million, but if the new Amazon Lord of the Rings series can spend $465 million for just its first season, anything seems possible.

Source: Insider, MyHobbitLife

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