Bree-land

From Tolkien Gateway
Bree-land
Region
Matěj Čadil - Bree-land.jpg
General Information
TypeRegion
InhabitantsBree-men, Hobbits
GalleryImages of Bree-land

The term Bree-land referred to the land around the Bree-hill, which contained a few settlements:[1]

  • Staddle was populated primarily by hobbits who made a living from light agriculture, of pipeweed, which the hobbits were especially fond of smoking. Staddle was on the south-eastern side of Breehill, sitting south of Combe and Archet. It was the only of the villages (other than Bree itself) visible from the Great East Road.
  • Combe was populated primarily by Men, with some hobbits, all of whom made a living from agriculture. Combe was situated on the borders of the Chetwood and on the edge of Breehill, between the villages of Archet and Staddle.

furthest north. Located in the Chetwood, it was populated primarily by Men.

History

The origins of its inhabitants are obscure, but apparently they were Pre-Númenóreans, related to the Dunlendings, who had moved far to the North during the Dark Years, and the Bree-landers managed to survive through the violent history of Middle-earth until they were absorbed into Arnor. It was also the only place of Middle-earth where Men lived with Hobbits on a daily basis: the population of the Bree-land had become a mix of Men and Hobbits, who had migrated from Angmar around T.A. 1300. The ratio varied between each of the four townships of the Bree-land.

In any case, they were still thriving in Bree long after Arnor had collapsed and the memory of fallen kings faded into the grass. The now independent land enjoyed the (unknowing) protection of the Rangers of the North. After the War of the Ring, Bree-land became part of the Reunited Kingdom.

Portrayal in adaptations

Map of Bree-land fromThe Lord of the Rings Online

2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:

Bree-land was a major region, that covers a large area: from Buckland in the far west to the Weather Hills to the far east. The Old Forest, Barrow-downs, Midgewater Marshes and Chetwood were all included within its boundaries. During the War of the Ring, Bree-land was threatened by both Isengard and Angmar. Saruman's thugs and half-orcs came up from the south and barricaded the Greenway at Andrath. Angmar temporarily secured the allegiance of the Blackwold bandit gang and invaded the northernmost reaches of the region with orcs.

References