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| - The most prestigious of Hobbit women, Molly Boffin was the matriarch of a clan without a Thain. The Boffins came early to Kingsland and took up the wool trade in the mid15th century. Scattered by their enterprises, they accumulated wealth but none of the political power that came with bounded clan holdings and a clan muster. Boffins nonetheless held considerable influence in the Shire, because they provided skilled tradesmen and literate merchants, scribes, and physicians to the larger villages, as well as to remote areas. Whenever the clans quarreled, a Boffin could be found who knew everyone involved, who could carry messages, and negotiate compromises. Molliwara Boffin, eldest child of the senior line of the Boffins, was a professional midwife, renowned across three farthings for her sk
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| abstract
| - The most prestigious of Hobbit women, Molly Boffin was the matriarch of a clan without a Thain. The Boffins came early to Kingsland and took up the wool trade in the mid15th century. Scattered by their enterprises, they accumulated wealth but none of the political power that came with bounded clan holdings and a clan muster. Boffins nonetheless held considerable influence in the Shire, because they provided skilled tradesmen and literate merchants, scribes, and physicians to the larger villages, as well as to remote areas. Whenever the clans quarreled, a Boffin could be found who knew everyone involved, who could carry messages, and negotiate compromises. Molliwara Boffin, eldest child of the senior line of the Boffins, was a professional midwife, renowned across three farthings for her skill and knowledge in birthing and tending children. Widowed and orphaned by the Dark Plague, she kept several suitors dancing for two years before marrying a mild-mannered farmer from Nobottle in the Westfarthing. Molly was as bright and healthy in her middle years as most Hobbit striplings. Plump and smallish in stature, she entertained common folk with her vulgar puns and earthy limericks, while impressing the powerful with her good manners and considerable medical skill. Molly's piercing intelligence generally surprised strangers, most of whom mistook her for a rustic housekeeper. Reciting Elvish herblore—poems a hundred to a thousand lines long, voiced in perfect Sindarin—was just one skill that set her apart from the average Hobbit. Little went on in the central Shire without Molly knowing of it from her extensive network of friends and informants, especially Hobbit women. Since most of the important Big Folk in Siragale dealt with Boffins or kept Hobbit servants, Molly was able to study them as well. Through her Boffin connections, Molly had a good grasp on events in the Bree-land and Girithlin, as well as the goings-on of the Shire proper. The Elven ruler, Lady Elindiel, counted Molly as one of her few Hobbit friends; they met periodically to discuss politics, lament the ingratitude of children (Molly had three, all moved to distant villages), and exchanged ideas for new herbal teas. Molly had always been interested in arcane ways; thanks to her Elvish friends, she was a much better wielder of magic than her everyday life demanded. And Bertan "Bert" Greenshins, her new husband, was even better at magic then his wife—he may have been the best alchemist and herbalist between Fornost and Tharbad, but did an excellent job of keeping it a secret. Gandalf, a regular visitor to the Greenshin Farm, had never discovered where Bert learned his trade, but misted Molly would keep her husband from doing anything foolish. If the creeping apaysia outside Molly's door actually started to creep, she would know Bert had gone too far.
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