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Bree - Ered Luin - Shire - Mithlond

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'Bree was the chief village of the Bree-land, a small inhabited region, like an island in the empty lands round about.'

'Passing through, they kept on along to Road for some miles. It bent to the left, curving back into its eastward line as it rounded the feet of Bree-hill, and then it baegan to run swiftly downwards into wooded country. To their left they could see some of the houses and hobbit-holes of Staddle on the gentler south-eastern slopes of the hill; down in a deep hollow away north of the Road there were wisps of rising smoke that showed where Combe lay; Archet was hidden in the trees beyond.'

The Breefolk culture, despite its name, is actually home to humans and hobbits of four towns surrounding Bree Hill.

The Towns

Bree Proper

The village of Bree had some hundred stone houses of the Big Folk, mostly above the Road, nestling on the hillside with windows looking west. On that side, running in more than half a circle from the hill and back to it, there was a deep dike with a thick hedge on the inner side. Over this the Road crossed by a causeway; but where it pierced the hedge it was barred by a great gate. There was another gate in the southern corner where the Road ran out of the village. The gates were closed at nightfall; but just inside them were small lodges for the gatekeepers. Down on the Road, where it swept to the right to go round the foot of the hill, there was a large inn. It had been built long ago when the traffic on the roads had been far greater. For Bree stood at an old meeting of ways; another ancient road crossed the East Road just outside the dike at the western end of the village, and in former days Men and other folk of various sorts had travelled sic much on it. 'Strange as News from Bree' was still a saying in the Eastfarthing, descending from those days, when news from North, South, and East could be heard in the in, and when the Shire-hobbits used to go more often to hear it. But the Northern Lands had long been desolate, and the North Road was now seldom used: it was grassgrown, and the Bree-folk called it the Greenway.

Bree is the largest by far of the four towns situated around Bree hill. Dominating the majority of the hill itself on its southern and western sides, Bree is the typical small town. A marketplace, business district, and residential district make up the sections of the town, with the fourth major attraction being the Prancing Pony Inn by Barliman Butterbur. 'The Pony,' as it is affectionately called by most established residents of Bree, is the center of Bree's social life. Bree is home to both humans and hobbits, with several established families of each.

Bree proper provides a perfect place for the residents of the smaller villages to pawn their wares, as visitors make their way through the larger of the four towns regularly. The marketplace is a frequent stop for dwarves and humans who are traveling through from hither to thither. As the cornerstone and anchor for the entire culture, Bree proper has some similance of government, including a Town Council and captain of the Breeguards. The vast majority of the population of Bree resides in Bree proper, though one might not find it as kind to strangers -or- as safe as some of the other towns.

Staddle

Home to the halflings, Staddle is best known for the fact that everyone who lives there is one of the 'Little Folk." No humans live in Staddle, which provides fairly well for some relief if ever the Bree-lands encounter some conflict between its two species. Staddle is set in the southeastern side of the Bree-hill, and there a group of somewhere between 100 and 300 hobbits resides peacefully. Since they are closest to the main town of Bree, the residents of Staddle make the trip into town more frequently than those from the other towns.

The life in Staddle is very characteristic of a hobbit lifestyle. Lots of gardening, cooking, eating, smoking, playing near the ever-so-safe Staddle Pond, and more eating make up the activities which go on in the smallest burgh of Bree. Though a great many of the hobbits who live there must work like any other modest Breefolk, they tend to take life a little bit easy.

Combe

Combe is a relatively small town on the northeastern side of Breehill. It is located low on the slopes of the hill, and rests just outside the Chetwood forest. Combe is in many ways independent from the other towns, sitting quietly minding its own business, surviving fairly well for a town of its size. There is a small marketplace there, and the burgh itself is the farming center of the Breelands, as there are several large farms, orchards, and herds kept in and around there.

Combe is inhabited mostly by humans, though there is a small hobbit population there as well. Combe residents make their money mostly agriculturally, with the raising of livestock and the farming of crops and fruits.

Archet

Probably the largest of the three minor towns in the Bree-lands, Archet is a small settlement which lies further away from Breehill than the other villages. Archet is a forestry-based town, inhabited mostly by humans. Located just inside the mysterious Chetwood Forest, Archet likes to keep to itself as much as possible, though the political processes in Bree tend to keep a pretty good eye on the financially supportive lumber industry there.

While getting to Archet through the forest may be a trick, once you're there you are likely to find friendly, down-home type people who welcome honest folk and shun those who don't seem to be on the 'up-and-up.' Archet is home to a large lumberjack population; were it not for the massive amounts of wood treated and tended by this small town, Bree would lose a fairly large amount of resources.

Other Nearby Geography

Chetwood

The Chetwood was once part of a vast woodland covering nearly all of Eriador, but since the Second Age has dwindled down to the few remnants that remain, of which the Chetwood and the Old Forest are two. Around the Breelands, the Chetwood is a major source of economic value, providing lumber, hunting, and foraging for the Breefolk; Archet's livelihood is based on this. However, the Chetwood is also known to be a dangerous place, especially in the dark -- beasts roam about, and some of the older town residents and travelers will tell taller tales of things they encountered deeper in the forest.

Other

There is a bit of in-game help for getting around Bree. In certain rooms in the town, you can type one of the following to get directions to that place.

+market - the marketplace
+smials - the hobbit smials
+jail - the Breeguard Headquarters and Jail Cells
+houses - the Stone Houses
+healing - the Healer's House
+pony - the Prancing Pony

Not every room has every command; sometimes directions can be found by reading the room description, or by continuing to follow the last direction given.

Maps

• In-Game Bree Map
• [1] - Map of the Bree Area, smaller and plainer than below
• Graphical Map of the Bree Area - large and detailed
• [2] - excellent PDF map of middle earth!

Travel

Visit the Culture page for Travel info.