— Ch. 1 · The Hill And The Road —
Bree (Middle-earth).
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
Bree sits at the base of a large hill, known as Bree-hill. This ancient settlement of men in Eriador lies some distance east of the Shire. It marks the westernmost point where Men lived side by side with Hobbits in all of Middle-earth. No other settlement of Men exists within a hundred leagues of the Shire. Two major roadways meet here: the Great East Road and the long disused Greenway. These paths turned the village into a centre of trade for centuries. When the northern kingdom of Arnor waned, Bree continued to thrive without central authority. Pipe-weed flourishes on the south-facing slope of the hill. The Hobbits of Bree claim they were the first to smoke this plant. Dwarves, Rangers, and Wizards later took up the habit when visiting the village. Tom Bombadil once spoke of the place in his metrical speech. He said four miles along the road one would find the village under the hill. Doors there look westward toward the Barrow-downs and the Old Forest.
Inn At The Crossroads
The Prancing Pony stood at the meeting of two great roads just outside the village. It served beer to locals while providing food and lodging to travelers. One of Eriador's major cross-roads lay directly before the inn. Gandalf met Thorin Oakenshield inside this building during a chance encounter. That meeting set off the quest to destroy Smaug and reclaim Erebor. Frodo Baggins stayed at the inn for a night during his journey to Rivendell. After singing The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late, he slipped the One Ring onto his finger. He became invisible within the crowded room. A squint-eyed Southerner from some distant land saw him vanish. Bill Ferny also witnessed the disappearance. They informed the Black Riders who then attacked the inn. Aragorn saved Frodo and led the party away. The innkeeper had forgotten to deliver a letter from Gandalf months earlier. This delay nearly cost them their lives. The art of smoking pipe-weed began here and spread among all races of Middle-earth.