Bree is a village, East of The Shire and was inhabited by both Men and Hobbits. The word “Bree” is derived from the Celtic and Welsh words for “hills” and indeed Tolkien settled Bree in a hilly area of Eriador, located in the North-West portion of Middle Earth.
Founded in the Elder Days by the Pre-Númenóreans, it is a hub of activity for the adventures in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit as many characters meet and stay at its well-known Prancing Pony Inn.
Trivia
The Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien) and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy (C.S. Lewis) were published in the same year. C.S. Lewis named the talking horse in his novel “Bree”. As the two authors were close companions and core members of The Inklings and had each other give feedback on their writings, the shared name is highly unlikely to be a coincidence.
Bonus Trivia
Peter Jackson (Director/Screenwriter/Producer) and Fran Walsh’s (Screenwriter/Producer) daughter, Katie Jackson acted in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, as Betsy Butterbur, the Innkeeper’s wife at The Prancing Pony Inn, located in Bree. Katie has played hobbits in other movies in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies.
