Bree

2007-09-09T10:28:01Z

84.163.208.67: fictional? oh, really?

[[Image:800px-Breewide.jpg|300px|thumb|Bree in [[Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring]].]]

'''Bree''' was a village in [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s [[Middle-earth]], east of [[The Shire]] and south of [[Fornost Erain]].

Bree was a very ancient settlement of men in Eriador by the time of the [[Third Age]] of Middle-earth, but after the collapse of the kingdom of Cardolan, which had claimed it, Bree continued to thrive without any central authority or government for many centuries.

Bree was the most westerly settlement of men in all Middle-earth by the time of the [[War of the Ring]], and became one of only three or four inhabited settlements in all of Eriador. During [[the War of the Ring]] a days ride east from the village along the road lay [[The Forsaken Inn]], according to [[Aragorn]], although nothing else is known of that place.

Directly west of Bree were the [[Barrow-downs]] and the [[Old Forest]]. Bree was the chief village of '''Breeland''', a small wooded region near the intersection of the main north-south and east-west routes through [[Eriador]]. Breeland was the only part of Middle-earth where [[Men]] and [[hobbits]] dwelt side by side.

The name ''Bree'' means ''hill'', according to Tolkien, referring to the fact that the village of Bree and the surrounding Breelands were centered around a large hill. There were three villages in Breeland in addition to Bree proper.

*'''[[Staddle]]''' was populated primarily by hobbits who made a living from light agriculture, of pipeweed, primarily. Staddle was on the south-eastern side of Breehill, sitting south of Combe and Archet. It was the only of the villages (other than Bree itself) visible from the [[Great East Road]].

*'''[[Combe]]''' was populated primarily by Men, with some hobbits, all of whom made a living from agriculture. Combe was situated on the borders of the '''[[Chetwood]]''' and on the edge of Breehill, between the villages of Archet and Staddle.

*'''[[Archet]]''' was the furthest north. Located in the [[Chetwood]], it was populated primarily by [[Men]].

In ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', [[Frodo Baggins]] met Strider ([[Aragorn]]) at the largest inn in Bree, [[The Prancing Pony]], owned by [[Barliman Butterbur]]. Later on in ''Fellowship'', some men in the service of the [[Ringwraiths]] (and possibly [[Saruman]]) broke into the room where the [[Hobbits]] intended to sleep, but Strider had anticipated trouble and stayed with them in the parlor through the night. The hobbits also returned to Bree [[The Return of the King|near the end of the story]], on their way home.

Bree is also the place where, earlier, seemingly by accident, [[Gandalf]] and [[Thorin Oakenshield]] met. They were both thinking about the same problem: the [[Dragons|Dragon]] [[Smaug]] at the [[Lonely Mountain]]. The meeting led to the undertaking of the [[Quest of Erebor]], which resulted in the death of Smaug and the finding of the [[One Ring]] by [[Bilbo Baggins]]. If Smaug had lived until the [[War of the Ring]], he would have posed a serious threat.

In [[Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring]], Frodo and his companions arrive at Bree almost immediately after the scene in which they leave the Shire, giving the impression (perhaps unintentionally) that the two are much closer together than described by Tolkien.

[[Category:Eriador]]
[[Category:Bree]]
[[Category:Cities in Eriador]]

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Bree