Bilbo's home is the SHIRE, a region in Middle-earth in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Hobbit. The SHIRE is a peaceful and prosperous land inhabited by Hobbits, a race of small human-like creatures. It is located in the northwest of Middle-earth and is bordered by the Old Forest, the Barrow-downs, and the river Brandywine. Bilbo Baggins, the protagonist of The Hobbit, lives in a hobbit-hole in the SHIRE.