Page 152 – “The man stared after the hobbits for a moment…”

Okay, remember when I said that I would trust the gatekeeper to be good at his job? So that’s done. Although at least he doesn’t get eaten like the gatekeeper in Jurassic Park.

His name was Jophery.

As the hobbits ride away from the gate, and Harry’s back is turned, a dark figure leaps in. So much for security, Bree!

In other news, the hobbits ride up to The Prancing Pony, and Sam is intimidated by it. He tries to get Frodo to agree to stay with some more welcoming hobbits, but Frodo dismisses him. The inn is actually quite pleasant, and they can hear singing coming from the bar inside. They tie up their ponies and head to the front door, where Frodo almost collides with a man serving drinks.

Stop being a baby, Sam! It’s just a building. Yes, it’s bigger than the hobbit-houses in the Shire, but that’s because this is the kind of building built for men. Of course it’s going to be bigger. Sometimes, you just have to deal with being short.

R2-D2: Making short look good since a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Also, the man that Frodo nearly runs into is the absolute stereotype of a bartender: “a short fat man with a bald head and a red face.” I’m assuming it’s Butterbur, but he hasn’t been named yet. Isn’t it nice to know that, even in Middle-earth, the same guys flock to the same professions? I can’t imagine how these hobbits must feel at seeing a full tray of frosty beer mugs. It’s been a long few days of traveling, and you can bet they’re going to assault this guy for drinks. Frodo begins to ask him something, but gets cut off, and I can only assume that he was going to order a drink.

Is there a drinking age for hobbits? I’m guessing no, but that won’t stop me from wondering.

Words My Computer Didn’t Like:

-storeys

So for the word “story”, in England they add an ‘e’, thus “storey”. To make it plural, they just add an ‘s’. More sense than changing a ‘y’ to ‘ies’? Maybe, but this language just stinks as a whole.

“‘Half a minute, if you please!’ shouted the man over his shoulder,…”

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Page 151 – “…an important person.”

We finally return to our heroes! Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin approach Bree, and find the western gate shut.

The way is shut. It was made by those who are...um, alive.

Naturally, a gatekeeper is on guard, and asks the hobbits about their business in Bree. Frodo tries to keep things vague, but the guard persists, as it is no longer normal to see hobbits out from the Shire late at night. Frodo’s attempts at subtlety are bad, and Merry steps in with a partly truthful fact: they are traveling hobbits from Buckland. They want to stay the night in Bree. The gatekeeper backs down, meaning no harm, and warns them that others will be likely to ask questions. Strange folk are about, and some may even be staying at The Prancing Pony already. Frodo wonders who that may mean. Black riders, or Gandalf?

First Mentions:

-Harry: The gatekeeper of the western gate in Bree. He gets a name, because everyone should! It’s like Oprah’s giving them away here.

Nothing like some good old speculation for Frodo! What kind of strange folk is waiting at The Prancing Pony? Good or evil? Thing is, I would trust that the Ringwraiths wouldn’t exactly want to just spend the night in a town. Do they even need to sleep? If they did, I’m pretty sure that they wouldn’t just book into a hotel and crack open the minibar for the night.

Well, maybe they would check into some places.

And you can’t blame Harry for asking questions. That’s his job. Calm down, Frodo. If he wasn’t there to ask folk questions before they just waltzed into Bree, then it would be overrun with unsavory fellows. And you know what, until proven otherwise, I’m going to say that he does his job admirably well!

Pages until proven otherwise? Not too many.

Words My Computer Didn’t Like:

-offence

The British are coming! The British are coming! And they’re putting ‘c’ in place of ‘s’ EVERYWHERE.

“But there was something in the look and the voice of the gatekeeper that made him uneasy.”

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Page 150 – “…parts of the Bree-folk.”

If you ever have any doubt about whether or not Tolkien really had rich backstories for every single thing mentioned in his works, this page (along with yesterday’s) proves that he did. We’re learning a little bit more about Bree today.

No. Stop. We went over this yesterday.

The inhabitants of Bree don’t travel much, though some hobbits used to venture to Buckland or the Eastfarthing from the village, and hobbits in the eastern parts of the Shire would sometimes visit the taverns in Bree. This back-and-forth has waned over the years, though it is undeniable that the hobbits of Bree and Buckland share some of the same ancestry. Today, the Shire-hobbits tend to think of anyone outside the Shire as backwards, even though the hobbits of Bree live comfortable lives similar to those in the Shire.

Bree itself is surrounded by a tall hedge and ditch, much like Buckland, and the East Road runs right through it, from a gate in the west to another in the south. The gates are guarded at night. The growth of Bree, as I had thought, was due to the convergence of the East and North roads just west of the village. Though the northern road is rarely used now, tales told by all the various travelers passing though Bree at The Prancing Pony were said to be strange.

First Mentions:

-Outsiders: The term given by hobbits in the Shire to anyone living outside its borders. Kind of a derogatory title.

-the Northern Lands: Abandoned lands to the north. Once the kingdom of Arnor. Now, nothing.

-the North Road: North-south road passing by Bree. Now called the Greenway by Bree-folk due to its overgrowth.

Bree is a crossroads town! It’s like the Midwest of Middle-earth.

Oh, I went there.

Why must the hobbits of the Shire be so elitist? Aren’t we supposed to like them? I would understand if we were just talking about wayward hobbits roaming the countryside, but the divide between hobbits in the Shire and hobbits in Bree seems to come from the fact that the two groups don’t see each other as much anymore. But seriously, it’s just because of laziness! Hobbits are lazy, that’s a fact, and if the hobbits in the Shire or Bree would just work up the effort to travel for a single day, they could visit the other hobbits easily. Get it together, folks.

Words My Computer Didn’t Like:

-Bucklander

It’s amazing what words I haven’t already used that you would assume I would have. Like that one.

“The Inn of Bree was still there, however, and the innkeeper was…”

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Page 149 – “Chapter 9 – At the Sign of The Prancing Pony”

Did you ever want to learn a lot about Bree? Let’s learn a lot about Bree!

Nope.

Bree is the largest of a small cluster of villages in this area. Since it’s an independent group, the men who live here are more friendly to hobbits, dwarves, and elves than the other men of Middle-earth tend to be. These men pride themselves on being direct descendents of the first men to come to Middle-earth, and have survived long as hardy woodlanders, even outliving the kings of the Downs. This is the furthest western settlement of men, and they often have dealings with the mysterious Rangers who roam the land between here and the Misty Mountains. The hobbits living in Bree also claim to be the oldest living direct descendants of their ancient relatives, as Bree was settled long before the Brandywine was crossed and the Shire founded. These hobbits and men get along quite well.

First Mentions:

-the Bree-land: This group of villages between the Shire and the Misty Mountains. Clearly a little Bree-centric.

-Straddle: Village on the eastern side of Bree-hill. Mostly hobbits.

-Combe: Village in a valley east of Bree-hill.

-Archet: The final village in the Bree-land. The ‘t’ may or may not be silent.

-the Chetwood: Small forest east of Bree, next to Archet.

-the Elder Days: Refers to the First Age of Middle-earth and before. We’re currently in the Third Age. Bree has been around ever since then.

-Rangers: Wandering men in the lands near Bree. Few in number, they are thought to have some magical powers.

Yes, this page is all history of Bree. There isn’t any mention of the band of four hobbits at all. We’ve had enough of them anyway.

It’s funny that, in a time where the various races are said to be growing apart in Middle-earth, Bree sits in harmony all by itself. Sure, it’s mostly just hobbits and men, but dwarves and elves clearly travel through here on the East Road commonly enough, and they seem to be a part of the everyday comings and goings of Bree. I don’t know if we meet anyone here other than hobbits and men, but we’ll see.

What kind of men live in Bree? Men like Peter Jackson himself.

It’s an interesting region here, but ultimately not so important. Bree is like our first introduction to the world outside the Shire. In some ways it’s safer than being out on the open road, but the hobbits are a little intimidated. There’s no place like home.

Words My Computer Didn’t Like:

-Archet

Whee! Bree! Yippee!

“The Big Folk and the Little Folk (as they called one another) were on friendly terms, minding their own affairs in their own ways, but both rightly regarding themselves as necessary…”

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