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Town · Eriador

Bree

Prancing Pony

The crossroads town east of the Shire where Men and hobbits live together and Frodo met Strider

View on map Eriador
Appears in
The Lord of the Rings
Region
Eriador
Journeys passing through
3
Bree on the map of Middle-earth

Bree is the only real town between the Shire and Rivendell. It sits on the western side of Bree-hill, where the north and south road called the Greenway crosses the Great East Road, with a dike and hedge around it and a gate at each end. Three smaller villages belong to the same community: Staddle on the hill's southern slope, Combe in a valley on the east, and Archet in the edge of the Chetwood to the north.

What makes Bree unusual is that Men and hobbits live in it side by side and have done so for longer than anyone remembers. The Bree-men are the oldest settlement of Men left in this part of Eriador, survivors of the days before Arnor, and they stayed put while the kingdom rose and fell around them. Dwarves, Rangers and traders pass through, and the Bree-landers hear more news than the Shire does and believe less of it.

The Prancing Pony is the centre of it, kept in the Third Age by Barliman Butterbur, who had a bad memory and a good inn. Gandalf met Thorin Oakenshield in the land of Bree in TA 2941, which is how the quest of Erebor began. Seventy-seven years later Butterbur forgot to send Gandalf's warning letter to Frodo, and the delay cost the hobbits months.

Frodo reached the Pony on 29 September TA 3018 calling himself Underhill, sang on a table, fell off it and put the Ring on by accident in front of a full common room. Strider, a Ranger the locals distrusted, took the hobbits aside and revealed himself as Aragorn son of Arathorn. That night the Riders wrecked the empty beds, the ponies were driven off by Bill Ferny, and the company left on foot with a single ill-used pack pony.

Events at this place

  1. TA 2941 · Appendices

    Gandalf meets Thorin at Bree

    A chance meeting in the land of Bree set in motion the expedition to the Lonely Mountain and the finding of the Ring by Bilbo.

  2. TA 3018, June 30 · The Lord of the Rings

    Gandalf's letter is not sent

    Gandalf left a warning for Frodo with Barliman Butterbur on Midyear's Day. The innkeeper forgot it, and Frodo set out months late and unwarned.

  3. TA 3018, September 29 · The Lord of the Rings

    Frodo meets Strider

    On 29 September the hobbits reached the Prancing Pony, the Ring slipped onto Frodo's finger in the common room, and Aragorn offered himself as their guide.

  4. TA 3018, September 30 · The Lord of the Rings

    The Riders attack the inn

    Before dawn on 30 September the Nazgûl slashed the bolsters in the hobbits' room. Aragorn had moved them, and the party left Bree on foot.

  5. TA 3019, October 28 · The Lord of the Rings

    Bree under the ruffians

    Men from the south menaced the town, and several Bree-landers were killed before the returning hobbits and the King's peace settled the roads.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Bree on the Middle-earth map?

East of the Shire and the Barrow-downs, at the foot of Bree-hill where the Great East Road crosses the Greenway. Weathertop lies further east along the Road.

What are the four villages of Bree-land?

Bree itself, Staddle, Combe and Archet. Bree and Staddle are on Bree-hill, Combe in the valley east of it, and Archet in the Chetwood.

Do hobbits live in Bree?

Yes. Bree is the one place where hobbits and Men live in the same settlement, and Bree-hobbits claim to be the oldest hobbit community of all.