Places in Middle-earth
Bill Ferny's House
Type: Buildings, Halls, Houses
Region: Bree/The Shire
Location: In Bree, the last house along the Great East Road, just inside the South-gate.
Description:
Strider had changed his mind, and he decided to leave Bree by the main road....
But as they drew near to the further gate, Frodo saw a dark ill-kept house behind a thick hedge: the last house in the village. In one of the windows he caught a glimpse of a sallow face with sly, slanting eyes; but it vanished at once.
'So that's where that southerner is hiding!' he thought....
Over the hedge another man was staring boldly....
Sam turned quickly. 'And you, Ferny,' he said, 'put your ugly face out of sight, or it will get hurt.' With a sudden flick,... an apple left his hand and hit Bill square on the nose. He ducked too late, and curses came from behind the hedge.
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 11, A Knife in the Dark
'And there are some folk in Bree who are not to be trusted... Bill Ferny, for instance. He has an evil name... and queer folk call at his house.'
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 10, Strider
'[The Black Rider] seemed to make off up the Road, eastward,' continued Merry. 'I tried to follow.... I went round the corner and on as far as the last house on the Road.'....
'Anyway, I went, and suddenly I heard voices by the hedge. One was muttering; and the other was whispering, or hissing.... Then I felt terrified, and I turned back,... when something came behind me and I... I fell over.'
'I found him, sir,' put in Nob.... 'I went... back up towards South-gate. Just nigh Bill Ferny's house....'
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 10, Strider
So it was that near the end of a wild and wet evening... the five travellers rode up the climbing road and came to the South-gate of Bree....
When they came to Bill Ferny's house they saw that the hedge there was tattered and unkempt, and the windows were all boarded up.
The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 5, Homeward Bound
Contributors: Elena Tiriel 23Oct05