Bree

Bree was a town of Men and hobbits, located east of the Shire, north of the South Downs, west of Weathertop, and south of Fornost in Eriador. It was also the first of the Hobbit-settlements after the Wandering Days of the Hobbits were over.
It was bordered on the north side by Bree-hill, from which stretched a dike and hedge in a great semicircle protecting the dwellings within. This barrier had three gates, through which the East-West Road passed.
== History ==
Bree was an ancient settlement of Men in Eriador by the time of the Third Age of Middle-earth, but after the collapse of the North-kingdom, Bree continued to thrive without any central authority or government for many centuries. Bree had become the most westerly settlement of Men in all of Middle-earth by the time of the War of the Ring, and became one of only three or four inhabited settlements in all of Eriador. At the time of the War of the Ring, Bree-land was the only part of Middle-earth where Men and hobbits dwelt together. Being located on the most important crossroads in the north, on the crossing of the Great East Road and the Greenway, people would pass through Bree. The Prancing Pony had many rooms, but the local people did not seem accustomed to many travelers. 
Hobbits from the Shire would also occasionally visit Bree. The Rangers of the North were also familiar to Bree-folk, though they were suspicious of them (and to them). Bree was the place where, seemingly by accident, Gandalf and Thorin II first met. They were both thinking about the same problem: the dragon Smaug at the Lonely Mountain. The meeting led to the undertaking of the Quest of Erebor, which resulted in the death of Smaug and the finding of the One Ring by Bilbo Baggins.
Bree functioned as the capital of Bree-land, a small wooded region near the intersection of the main north-south and east-west routes through Eriador. In the years of the War of the Ring, a day's ride east from the town along the road lay the Forsaken Inn, according to Aragorn, although nothing else is known of that place. Directly west of Bree were the Barrow-downs and Old Forest. 
Hobbits of the Shire sometimes visited Bree, especially the more adventurous Brandybucks, who lived just over a day's journey from the Shire. Despite raising some of their own "leaf" in the Southlinch, the Bree-folk very much enjoyed Shire Pipe-weed, from the Southfarthing, which was of superior quality.
In the Shire, Bree-folk were known for telling news that seemed outlandish especially to the peace-loving, risk-averse Shire-hobbits. At an earlier time, when the Brandybucks had traveled more often to Bree, the odd news came often enough to spark the phrase "strange as news from Bree", which means that the thing in question was very odd.
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo Baggins met Strider (Aragorn) at the largest inn in Bree, The Prancing Pony, which is owned by Barliman Butterbur. Several of the Ringwraiths attempted to kill the hobbits; but Strider anticipated this, and the hobbits were in a front parlor with him when the Ringwraiths struck. Frodo and his companions later traveled through Bree on their way home and found things rather worse there. Servants of Saruman had attempted to take control, but were repelled by the inhabitants with the loss of several lives, including an Underhill from Staddle.
== Proverbs ==
Bree is the origin of many proverbs and sayings, more so than any other location in The Lord of the Rings; perhaps because of the mixed races (Hobbits and Men), as well as a place well-suited for travelers who are coming up North. A few of them are listed below.
* 'Strange as news from Bree': to say that something is very odd or queer: used most often by the Shire-folk.
* 'When it rains it pours': is when something hasn't happened in quite a while, and then begins happening in large amounts.
== Etymology ==
The name Bree means "hill" in Brythonic, a Celtic language, referring to the fact that the village of Bree and the surrounding Bree-lands were centered around a large hill. According to Tom Shippey, J.R.R. Tolkien was inspired by the actual town of Brill.
== In adaptations ==
=== The Hobbit film trilogy ===
In Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Bree is seen during a flashback, when Thorin II and Gandalf discuss the dragon Smaug and Thorin's missing father, Thráin. In The Prancing Pony, Gandalf urges Thorin to take back Erebor, and tells Thorin they're going to need a burglar.
=== The Lord of the Rings film trilogy ===
In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo and his companions arrive at Bree almost immediately after the scene in which they leave the Shire, giving the impression (perhaps unintentionally) that the two are much closer together than described by Tolkien. From the Brandywine Bridge, it is roughly a three-day walk to Bree.
=== Video games ===
*Bree is also depicted in video games such as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, and The Lord of the Rings Online, where it serves as one of the main hub for new players.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Брее
Burmese 	ဘရီး
Chinese (Hong Kong) 	布里村
Czech 	Hůrka
Dutch 	Breeg
Estonian 	Voore
Finnish 	Brii
Gallician (Spain) 	Prebe
Georgian 	ბრი
Greek 	Μπρι
Hebrew 	ברי
Hungarian 	Brí
Irish Gaelic 	Brae
Italian 	Brea
Japanese 	ブリー
Korean 	브리
Norwegian 	Bri
Persian 	بری
Polish 	Bree
Portuguese (Brazilian Portuguese)	Bri
Russian 	Пригорье (Prigor'ye)
Slovak 	Svažiny
Thai 	บรี
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Брі
Category:Cities of Men
Category:Bree and Bree-land
Category:Eriador
ca:Bree
de:Bree
es:Bree
fr:Bree
it:Brea
nl:Breeg
pl:Bree (miasto)
ru:Бри
uk:Брі
Category:Hobbit settlements