I want to live in Bree! I know in the movie it didn't look very nice, but in the book it sounds like a sort of meeting place where Hobbits, Men, Elves and Dwarves could rub elbows and enjoy a pint of Barliman's best together.
"Bree was the chief village of the Bree-land ... The Men of Bree were brown-haired, broad and rather short, cheerful and independent: they belonged to nobody but themselves, but they were more friendly and familiar with Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, and other inhabitants of the world about them than was (or is) usual with Big People. ... There wre also many families of Hobbits in the Bree-land ... 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 parts of the Bree-folk. *Nowhere else in the world* was this peculiar (but excellent) arrangement to be found."
To my way of thinking, Bree is like a Shire for Big Folk (and Little), with visits by Elves, Dwarves and Rangers to spice things up. What a great place to live!
-Lily
__________________
"But nay: the praise of the praiseworthy is above all rewards." - Faramir
|