The Forsaken Inn

From Tolkien Gateway
The Forsaken Inn by Matěj Čadil

The Forsaken Inn appears to have been the easternmost outpost of the small inhabited region around the town of Bree known as Bree-land. It was, according to Strider, "a day's ride east of Bree" and he doubted "if the Road has ever been measured in miles beyond the Forsaken Inn".[1]

This road, the Great East Road, was used years earlier by Thorin and company on the quest to Erebor yet Bilbo Baggins never mentioned the Forsaken Inn in his memoir, There and Back Again. Perhaps it was simply an abandoned or ruined building by the end of the Third Age, its earlier history lost or "forsaken".

Other Versions of the Legendarium

Around 1960 J.R.R. Tolkien embarked on a detailed revision of The Hobbit, with a goal of reconciling it with The Lord of the Rings.[2] In the retelling, the sketchy details of the trip from Bag End to Rivendell were filled in and made to fit the geography of the later story. After Thorin's company left Bree, a day's journey brought them to the Last Inn, which they found deserted.[3] There they camped on 3 May T.A. 2941, being too depressed to proceed further than the twenty miles they had progressed.[4] John Rateliff (author of The History of The Hobbit) states that the Last Inn (later called the Forsaken Inn) was brought in to emphasize the desolation which had grown east of Bree.[5]

The Treason of Isengard included the first map of The Lord of the Rings. On Map II, in the square K-8, there is a dot with the initials "F.I." on the road east of Bree about one-quarter of the distance to Weathertop.[6] Christopher Tolkien stated that these initials did stand for the Forsaken Inn.[7]

Portrayal in Adaptations

The Forsaken Inn as depicted in The Lord of the Rings Online.

2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:

In this adaptation, the role of the inn is greatly expanded. It is the Lone-lands settlement closest to Bree-land and lies in the shadow of Weathertop. A respite for travelers, the Inn has a milestone, mail service, and many merchants, in addition to a great number of people in need of travellers' assistance. These include the Inn's proprietor, Anlaf, and his staff as well as travellers, guests, and some of the Eglain that have recently been displaced from Minas Eriol.
To the north and northeast lie the ruins of the fortifications of the war between Arthedain and Rhudaur, now occupied and spanned by camps of orcs and goblins. Ruins also lie to the south-east, and along both sides of the road to the East. A long journey across the Lone-lands in that direction eventually leads to Ost Guruth, the last settlement before the Hoarwell, which marks the borders of the Trollshaws.[8]

External links

References

  1. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Knife in the Dark"
  2. J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Return to Bag-End, "The Fifth Phase", The 1960 Hobbit, p. 765
  3. J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Return to Bag-End, "The Fifth Phase", The Broken Bridge, p. 792
  4. J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Return to Bag-End, "The Fifth Phase", Timelines and Itinerary, p. 816
  5. J.R.R. Tolkien, John D. Rateliff (ed.), The History of The Hobbit, Return to Bag-End, "The Fifth Phase", Timelines and Itinerary, p. 814
  6. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Treason of Isengard, "XV. The First Map of The Lord of the Rings", "Map II"
  7. J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Treason of Isengard, "XV. The First Map of The Lord of the Rings", "The original element in the First Map"
  8. "The Forsaken Inn", LoreBook.Lotro.com (accessed 20 February 2013)