Recently, the US Department of Homeland Security has taken to “Shire-posting.” That is: using quotes and imagery from Tolkien’s books (and director Peter Jackson’s blockbuster movie adaptations) as part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s enrollment efforts. One meme, posted to X on Wednesday, quoted the character Merry (played by Dominic Monaghan in the films) warning his friend, “There won’t be a Shire, Pippin”—a reference to the peaceable hobbits’ verdant homeland being encroached upon by the forces of the evil wizard Sauron, and his designs to bring the whole of Middle-earth to heel.