Quote Originally Posted by Bohandas View Post
Not atrictly a misuse and it doesn't really bother me, but does the way Tolkien uses the word "shire" strike anyo e else as odd? At times it sounds like they're in some kind of weird high fantasy version of The Prisoner

"Where am I?"
"In The Shire..."
It's just like calling a city The City, or a kingdom The Kingdom, or a polity The Polity.

I don't think it's unreasonable, especially if it's either the only or else the most significant one around (in which case it probably began as a nickname that became formalised by long use).