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Strange as news from Bree... - Page 8

© Michael Martinez

The Rangers seem to have set themselves to the task of cleaning up Eriador. The Witch-king had filled Angmar with evil creatures and men, and though most of these were destroyed when Gondor and Lindon defeated the Witch-king's army in the Battle of Fornost, it seems that northern Eriador was never again wholly free of evil creatures. In "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony" Tolkien writes that at the end of the Third Age "no other Men [than those at Bree] had settled dwellings so far west, or within a hundred leagues of the Shire". If we take a "league" to measure about 3 miles, that would mean the nearest Mannish settlements were in the Misty Mountains. While it's not impossible that the Dunedain lived in the western foothills of the mountains near Rivendell, it would seem the Rangers would have to spend a great deal of time away from home. Nonetheless, most of the Ranger activity Tolkien mentions does in fact occur near Rivendell. Both the South Downs and the Misty Mountains seem to fit Tolkien's wording, although the South Downs lay closer to the Shire than 100 leagues. So it may be that Aragorn's people did in fact dwell in the mountains, and they only sent Rangers into Eriador to maintain a watch over the Shire, Buckland, and Bree. Bree's decline from the late 20th century would have been relatively slow and gradual. There was never any hope of recovering the old status the town had once enjoyed, but it remained at the crossroads between the west, east, and south. Tharbad, the Shire, and the Dwarves of Ered Luin provided at least some trade and commerce, and brought news to Bree to be shared with other peoples. The Rangers, too, must have visited the town on their many journeys. The Bree-folk must have known who the Rangers were at first, but with the passing of centuries they eventually forgot the connection and became somewhat suspicious and contemptuous of the Rangers. The 24th century saw a return of evil things to Eriador, as well as the founding of the Buckland. Tolkien mentions there was traffic between Buckland and Bree for many years, and between Eastfarthing and Bree. I find this curious, since Eastfarthing seems to have had a large Stoor population. But perhaps the Stoors were influenced by their ancient habits of consorting with Men and thus were drawn toward Bree. As Eriador became more and more dangerous through the centuries Bree must have seemed like an island in the sea to many travellers. They would have found safe lodgings after many days in the wilds, or would have prepared for long journeys into the east and south by provisioning their parties at Bree. Feeding and equiping travelling parties may not have earned much income, but it would have helped to bring in as much traffic as Eriador could provide.

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