List of Middle-earth inns

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In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, there were several inns run by Hobbits or Men in the Third Age.

Contents 1 All-welcome Inn 2 Bridge Inn 3 The Floating Log 4 The Forsaken Inn 5 The Golden Perch 6 The Green Dragon 6.1 Literature 6.2 Adaptations 6.3 Namesakes 7 The Ivy Bush 8 The Prancing Pony 8.1 Literature 8.2 Adaptations 8.3 Trivia 9 References 10 External links

[edit] All-welcome Inn

An inn located at the junction of the Northway and the East Road on the Hobbiton side of Frogmorton. It was much used by travellers, especially Dwarves from the Ered Luin.^[1]

[edit] Bridge Inn

An inn located on the west side the Brandywine Bridge in the Shire. It was likely used by travellers on the East Road. When the Shire was occupied by Saruman's men during the War of the Ring, the Bridge Inn was demolished and replaced with a guard house, with gates erected on the Bridge.^[2]

[edit] The Floating Log

A "good inn" located in the village of Frogmorton in the Shire. During the War of the Ring, the inn was closed, so that Frodo Baggins and his companions were taken to a Shirriff-house instead while travelling through Frogmorton.^[2]

[edit] The Forsaken Inn

An inn on the East Road east of Bree, presumably constructed by Men. It was mentioned by Aragorn discussing with Frodo Baggins the further course of their journey: "None have measured the road between Rivendell and the Forsaken Inn, a day's ride east of Bree."^[3]

The East Road was used years earlier by Bilbo Baggins; The Forsaken Inn is not specifically referred to in The Hobbit, but "an inn or two" at the edge of the Lone-lands are mentioned.^[4]

[edit] The Golden Perch

An inn situated in the village of Stock in the Eastfarthing of the Shire. It was credited by Peregrin Took for having "the best beer in the Eastfarthing".^[5]

[edit] The Green Dragon

An inn at Bywater, the last building on the side of the village nearest to Hobbiton.

[edit] Literature

At the beginning of the Quest of Erebor, Thorin Oakenshield with his company went ahead to The Green Dragon to make preparations and await Bilbo Baggins.^[4] The inn was also the site of a conversation between Samwise Gamgee and Ted Sandyman about the strange things that had been happening, such as queer folk passing through the Shire and a "Tree-man" seen by Halfast of Overhill.^[6] When Frodo Baggins and the others returned to Bywater from Gondor, they found the inn "lifeless and with broken windows", as it was not maintained under Saruman's men.^[2]

[edit] Adaptations

In the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, The Green Dragon is the employer of Rosie Cotton, who works there as a bar maid. This is where Samwise Gamgee approaches her following the Fellowship's return from Gondor. The inn was also not vandalized by Saruman's men in the films, because the Scouring of the Shire is only shown as an alternate future in Galadriel's mirror. It is featured twice, in brief interludes near the beginning and end of the three movies. The largest size of ale featured by The Green Dragon is half a pint.

Merry and Pippin sing a song about The Green Dragon in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King:

Oh, you can search far and wide You can drink the whole town dry But you'll never find a beer so brown But you'll never find a beer so brown As the one we drink in our hometown As the one we drink in our hometown You can drink your fancy ales You can drink 'em by the flagon But the only brew for the brave and true Comes from The Green Dragon![7]

The song is mostly invented by the film's writers, though the phrase "a beer so brown" appears in "The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late", an actual Tolkien poem found in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.^[8]

In The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, the inn is not simply vandalized, but utterly destroyed by the goblins of Gorkil in the Evil Campaign. "The Green Dragon Inn" is also seen in the Shire map for skirmish mode, where it functions as a normal inn once captured.

[edit] Namesakes

• At Cornell University the student coffeeshop serving the College of Architecture, Art and Planning is named "The Green Dragon".
• The oldest pub in Cambridge, England, which was built in the 16th century, is located on the banks of the river Cam and is called "The Green Dragon".
• A popular gaming shop in North Charleston, South Carolina is named "The Green Dragon".
• At the website LibraryThing, the most popular group (by post count) is a social group named "The Green Dragon."
• There is also a "Green Dragon" in New Forest.

[edit] The Ivy Bush

A "small inn on the Bywater road" in the Shire. Here Gaffer Gamgee recounted to the visitors his stories about Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, who were about to throw a magnificent joint birthday party.^[9]

[edit] The Prancing Pony

An inn at the centre of the village of Bree.

[edit] Literature

It was situated at the base of the Bree-hill, at the spot where the East Road made a bend and a side road ran towards the Greenway and Fornost. The building is described in The Lord of the Rings:

"Even from the outside the inn looked a pleasant house to familiar eyes. It had a front on the Road, and two wings running back on land partly cut out of the lower slopes of the hill, so that at the rear the second-floor windows were level with the ground. There was a wide arch leading to a courtyard between the two wings, and on the left under the arch there was a large doorway reaches by a few broad steps. ... Above the arch there was a lamp, and beneath it swung a large signboard: a fat white pony reared up on its hind legs. Over the door was painted in white letters: THE PRANCING PONY by BARLIMAN BUTTERBUR."^[10]

Inside there was a large Common Room, several private parlours, and a number of bedrooms, including a few rooms in the north wing designed for Hobbits, that were low to the ground and had round windows. The inn also had stables.

The Prancing Pony was a meeting place for both Bree-folk and travellers, and was frequented by Men, Hobbits and Dwarves. Some of the Bucklanders from the Shire are known to have travelled to the inn occasionally. The art of smoking pipe-weed was said to have begun in Bree and from The Prancing Pony it spread among the races of Middle-earth. The inn was also noted for its fine beer, enchanted at an occasion by Gandalf.^[11] At the time of the War of the Ring, the proprietor was Barliman Butterbur, whose family kept the inn "from time beyond record".^[12] Two Hobbits worked for Butterbur: Nob, a servant in the inn, and Bob, who worked in the stables.

Two important events leading up to the War of the Ring took place at The Prancing Pony. The first was "a chance-meeting" of Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield, which eventually led to the destruction of Smaug and far lighter casualties during the War in the northern theatre.^[13] The second event occurred during the journey of Frodo Baggins to Rivendell, when he and his companions stayed at The Prancing Pony for a night. After singing The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late, Frodo accidentally put the One Ring on and became invisible, which led to an attack on the inn by the Black Riders. Frodo also met Aragorn at that time, who saved him and led away.

Business at The Prancing Pony declined during the War because of an influx of rough Men from the South who terrorized Bree and the surrounding countryside. However, when Gandalf stopped with the Hobbits at the inn on their way home, he prophesied that "better days" were coming as the Kingdom was restored and "some fair folk" would be staying at The Prancing Pony.^[14]

[edit] Adaptations

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie, the scene at the inn looks more sinister than it does in the book. The Hobbits only briefly reside in the Common Room, without Frodo singing, after which Frodo is taken away by Aragorn.

[edit] Trivia

In an out-of-print Middle-earth Role Playing, set in the mid-Third Age, the inn in Bree is "The King's Rest Inn".

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Public Buildings - Inns, at The Thains Book, An encyclopedia of Middle-earth in the Third Age
• The Encyclopedia of Arda