In the year 1601 of the Third Age, two Fallohide brothers named Marcho and Blanco gained permission from the King of Arnor at Fornost to cross the River Baranduin and settle on the other side. Many Hobbits followed them, and most of the territory they had earlier settled was abandoned. Only Bree and a few surrounding villages lasted towards the end of the Third Age. The new land that they founded on the west bank of the Brandywine was called the Shire. The crossing of the Brandywine, as the hobbits called it, was the event that led to the settlement of the Shire, thus the Shire Reckoning began. Originally, the Hobbits of the Shire swore nominal allegiance to the last Kings of Arnor, being required only to acknowledge their lordship, speed their messengers, and keep the bridges and roads in repair. During the final fight against Angmar at the Battle of Fornost, the Hobbits maintain that they sent a company of archers to help, but this is recorded nowhere else. After the battle, the kingdom of Arnor was destroyed, and in absence of the king, the Hobbits elected a Thain of the Shire from among their own chieftains.
