On the interactive atlas
Coordinates shown here are approximate, marking this place on the shared atlas map for orientation rather than cartography. It sits on the Third Age layer.
View on the interactive atlas →Geography
Sited on Bree-hill, commanding the crossroads of the Greenway and the East Road.
History
Bree is one of the oldest settlements of Men in Eriador, surviving the fall of the northern kingdom when much around it was abandoned.
People & inhabitants
Men of Bree and a substantial Hobbit population.
Significance
At the Prancing Pony, Frodo meets Strider and the Nazgûl close in — the first crossing of the ordinary and the mythic.
Connections
The East Road runs to the Shire in the west and Rivendell and the Misty Mountains eastward.
Events here
Figures of this place
CharacterFrodo Baggins
The hobbit of the Shire who carried the One Ring across Middle-earth to Mount Doom and destroyed it.
CharacterAragorn
The heir of Isildur, raised in Rivendell in secret, who becomes King Elessar and reunites the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor.
CharacterGandalf
A Wizard of the Istari, keeper of the Elven-ring Narya, and the chief architect of the resistance to Sauron.
Sources
The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55
Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.
Related places
LocationThe Shire
The green homeland of the Hobbits in the west of Eriador, sheltered and largely overlooked by the great powers.
LocationRivendell
Elrond’s refuge in a hidden valley below the Misty Mountains, a haven of lore, healing and counsel.
Weathertop
A ruined watchtower on a hill in the Weather Hills, where Frodo was wounded by the Witch-king.