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Places in Middle-earth

Prancing Pony

Type: Buildings, Halls, Houses

Region: Bree/The Shire

Other Names
the Pony
the Inn of Bree

Location: The main inn on the Great East Road in the village of Bree.

Description:

The home and centre of the art [of smoking pipe-weed] is... to be found in the old inn of Bree, The Prancing Pony, that has been kept by the family of Butterbur from time beyond record.

The Lord of the Rings, Prologue, Concerning Pipe-weed

The Inn of Bree was still there..., and the innkeeper was an important person. His house was a meeting place for the idle, talkative, and inquisitive among the inhabitants, large and small, of the four villages; and a resort of Rangers and other wanderers, and for such travellers (mostly dwarves) as still journeyed on the East Road, to and from the Mountains.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 9, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

Sam stared up at the inn with its three storeys and many windows....

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 reached by a few broad steps. The door was open and light streamed out of it. 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. Many of the lower windows showed lights behind thick curtains.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 9, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

Frodo... nearly bumped into a short fat man with a bald head and a red face....

'Good evening, little master!' he said, bending down. 'What may you be wanting?'

'Beds for four, and stabling for five ponies, if that can be managed. Are you Mr. Butterbur?'

'That's right! Barliman is my name. Barliman Butterbur at your service!'....

'I'll see what I can do for you. We don't often get a party out of the Shire nowadays, and I should be sorry not to make you welcome. But there is such a crowd already in the house tonight as there hasn't been for long enough....

'Hi! Nob!' he shouted....

A cheery-looking hobbit bobbed out of a door....

'Tell Bob there's five ponies that have to be stabled. He must find room somehow.'

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 9, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

'If you weren't hobbits, I doubt if we could house you. But we've got a room or two in the north wing that were made special for hobbits, when this place was built. On the ground floor as they usually prefer; round windows and all as they like it.'....

He led them a short way down a passage, and opened a door. 'Here is a nice little parlour!' he said. 'I hope it will suit'....

They found themselves in a small and cosy room. There was a bit of bright fire burning on the hearth, and in front of it were some low and comfortable chairs. There was a round table, already spread with a white cloth, and on it was a large hand-bell....

They were... in the middle of good deep mugs of beer when Mr. Butterbur and Nob came in again. In a twinkling the table was laid. There was hot soup, cold meats, a blackberry tart, new loaves, slabs of butter, and half a ripe cheese: good plain food..., and homelike enough to dispel the last of Sam's misgivings (already much relieved by the excellence of the beer).

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 9, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

The company was in the big common-room of the inn. The gathering was large and mixed, as Frodo discovered, when his eyes got used to the light. This came chiefly from a blazing log-fire, for the three lamps hanging from the beams were dim, and half veiled in smoke. Barliman Butterbur was standing near the fire, talking to a couple of dwarves and one or two strange-looking men. On the benches were various folk: men of Bree, a collection of local hobbits (sitting chattering together), a few more dwarves, and other vague figures difficult to make out away in the shadows and corners.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 9, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

Contributors: Lyllyn 30May03
Elena Tiriel 24Oct05, 24Apr08

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