RÓMENNA MEETING REPORT
January 13, 1985
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Present: | David Purdy
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| Joanne Oliva-Purdy (hosts)
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| Randolph Fritz
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| Per Hollander
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| Margaret Purdy
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| Michael Rubin
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In honor of this month's discussion being about Bree, our hosts
had provided for the attending Rómenna members a veritable feast of
good hobbitlike fare: bread and cheese, scones both with currants and
without, a loaf of spice bread, butter, honey and strawberry preserves,
stuffed mushrooms, mulled cider, and root beer (the other kind
not being available). After making some inroads on this splendid
repast, we settled down to discuss the arrival and sojourn of Frodo
and his companions at the sign of the Prancing Pony.
The Bree-folk are described as "decent," which seems to mean
more or less that they were similar to the Shirefolk: mostly farmers,
country people. Like the Shirefolk they tend to be suspicious of the
unusual, though because of their location and history the Bree-folk
are a bit more open to strangers. We wondered whether hobbits were
inherently parochial. We compared their country with English country
towns in the real world, as well as some rural areas in the United
States, such as backwoods Tennessee. Per said that Bree reminded him
of a village in England he had visited called Thaxton, a back-of-beyond
place where everybody knew everybody else and they all came to
the pub every night. Similarly, the Prancing Pony has its regular
patrons and Butterbur knows them all by name. We wondered whether
such small enclaves were a widespread pattern. Middle-earth at this
time was fairly anarchic, with few actual nations or states. Gondor
was one of these few (like Byzantium in the Middle Ages); it was just
about the only one with a standing army, for instance. Even in Rohan
when war was at hand the levies had to be called up.
Bree also has the distinction of being a place where Hobbits and
Men live peacefully side by side. It was pointed out that the two
races are closely related and thus not incompatible. The hobbits live
in the hillier parts of the Bree-land and the Men in the flatter
areas, and the whole arrangement works out very well. Sam is not used
to Men, however, and is dismayed by their "tall houses" (which are all
of three stories high). It was pointed out that because of the hobbits'
smaller size, even a two-story building in the Shire would
probably be able to fit into the room we were in. The inhabitants of
the Bree-land tend to go in for "botanical" surnames that sound odd to
the Shire-hobbits; even some of the Bree hobbits have them, though
others have names similar to or the same as names used in the Shire.
We noted that the village of Bree is protected by a dike (a deep
ditch, probably with an earth wall on one side made of the dirt dug
out of the ditch) and a hedge. This would probably be adequate
protection for the everyday kind of trouble that the Bree-folk might
expect: wolves, bandits, and so forth. A thick, prickly hedge is an
effective barrier against most things. There are gates in the hedge
for the Road to pass through, and gatekeepers at the gates. It was
pointed out that the gatekeeper's job was not to defend the gate, but
to keep an eye on it, let people in at night after it had been shut,
and make a racket if somebody tried to get in who wasn't wanted. At
about this point the buzzer rang, heralding a late arrival, and was
promptly dubbed "Butterbur."
The buzzer's namesake came in for some discussion after the latecomer
had been let in. Butterbur is an important and well-known
figure in Bree, being kind of the "inn, general store and postman."
His inn is the social center of the four villages, as well as being a
convenient meeting place for travelers. Just about everyone who
traveled in those parts stopped in Bree, though we noted that there
was no mention of the Elves doing so. It was pointed out that there
weren't that many Elves left in the Third Age, and they tended to keep
to themselves. (The hobbits called them the "Fair Folk"--in contrast
to the Big Folk and the Little--much as the fairies are so called in
English folklore.) Besides, the hobbits' meeting with Gildor's company
proved that the Elves could provide their own good cheer almost
anywhere they found themselves. Travelers who wanted to meet with
other travelers would often arrange to meet in Bree. Being at an old
crossroads, it was easy to find, no mean thing in a time and place
with few roads and no road maps. These days it's hard for us to
remember how difficult it could be to find places without such
conveniences.
When Frodo and his companions arrive in Bree, the gatekeeper
regards them with great suspicion, which in turn serves to make them
(and the reader) suspicious as well. The innkeeper is welcoming, however.
The description of the Prancing Pony recalls an English country
inn. The question was raised whether Bob, one of the inn servants, is
a hobbit or a Man. We decided that since he's the ostler, he's probably
a Man, since the picture of a hobbit trying to handle a full-grown
horse is pretty ridiculous.
Frodo's apprehension about Pippin's expansiveness in the common
room was discussed. He is afraid both that Pippin will "blow his
cover" by bringing to mind the name of Baggins, especially if there
have been recent queries in Bree for one of that name, and that he
might get so forgetful as to mention the Ring. Prompted by Strider,
who makes his first acknowledged appearance here (we saw him climbing
over the gate earlier), Frodo intervenes, only to blow it much more
badly than Pippin could have. We wondered about the causes of the
Ring's trick, and whether the Nazgûl who were present in Bree at the
time could have had anything to do with it. None of them could
actually have been in the room without anybody knowing it (the miasma
of fear they exude makes them rather conspicuous), but their agents
were: Bill Ferny and the "squint-eyed Southerner." This Southerner,
by the way, is identified elsewhere as originally Saruman's agent, and
a Dunlending. He has recently met up with the Nazgûl and has been
"persuaded" to help them. On the other hand, the Nazgûl need not have
had anything to do with Frodo's "accident"; as shown by the examples
of Isildur and Gollum, the Ring is quite capable of mischief on its
own. We noted that Frodo's disappearing act made the locals more
angry than fearful; they feel they've been made fools of and leave in
a huff. One wonders if they remembered to pay their bill. . . Butterbur does not seem unduly put out, however, since he knows that
they'll all be back for many nights to come in order to discuss the
phenomenon thoroughly.
We then passed on to a discussion of Strider (with David taking
up at this point a suitably long clay pipe for "atmosphere," though he
refused suggestions that he don cloak and boots). Strider's manner in
the common room is "cloak-and-daggerish," and he continues to act
mysterious during part of his interview with the hobbits. Once he has
used this ploy to make them aware of their danger, he has to try to
convince them to trust him so that he can help them. In speaking of
the Black Riders he says he knows more of them than the hobbits do; we
wondered if he had actually had contact with the Nazgûl. After searching
through the available sources we had to leave the question
undecided. Gandalf's letter helps the hobbits to accept Strider, but
Sam is still suspicious, whereupon the Ranger switches to what we
called "Aragorn mode," the proud, kingly manner that he evidences
occasionally (and which in later appearances is often accompanied by
long strings of his names and titles): "If I wanted the Ring, I could
have it--now!"; and he seems to grow taller. Sam is at length convinced.
At this point Merry reappears, having gone out for a walk and
had a run-in with a Nazgûl. The hobbits and Strider prepare for the
night and a possible attack as the chapter closes.
So where has Gandalf been all this time? We made a brief excursion
into the chronology of Gandalf's escape from Saruman. There are
two versions in the
Unfinished Tales, but they both agree that he
escaped on the 18th of September. At this point in the story he has
just about reached the Shire after visiting Rohan and making friends
with Shadowfax, and has presumably found Frodo gone only a few days
ago, since Butterbur never got his letter delivered. The logistics of
getting a letter from Bree to Hobbiton were mentioned: Butterbur
would either have to find someone who was going to the Shire on business
of his own, or send someone; he apologizes later that he couldn't
find anyone willing to go to the Shire at first, and that he couldn't
spare any of his own people for that long (it would be two days at
least, there and back). Once the letter got to the Shire, of course,
the Shire postal service was available.
At that point we left off the discussion and again attacked the
food, after settling on time, place and topic for the next meeting.
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