matters not reported in the Red Book of Westmarch
Ever wonder about the economy of Middle-Earth? Like: What do Rangers eat, where do their children sleep, and how do they pay for their beer at the Prancing Pony? What do the goblins of the Misty Mountains eat between dwarves? Why has Eriador – which ought to be hospitable to nomadic shepherds if nothing else – been mostly empty for a thousand years despite being defended by the Rangers?
Speaking of the Prancing Pony, why does Bree have a travelers’ inn, when no one but the occasional Dwarf uses the old roads and a visitor from the Shire is cause for excitement?
And: in Elrond’s 4765 years at Rivendell, did his servants stay in the same jobs? Maybe they rotated.
And: if all the country between Fangorn and the Shire was once wooded, why haven’t the trees reclaimed it?
And: as pretty much nobody uses the road between Bree and Rohan, why hsn’t the Common Speech diverged?
And: when Saruman buys pipeweed from the Shire, does he merely contribute to inflation in the Shire’s otherwise closed economy, or do the Hobbits buy things from passing Dwarves?