The Prancing Pony
'Even from the outside the inn looked a pleasant house to familiar eyes. It had a front on the Road, and two wings running back on land partly cut out of the lower slopes of the hill, so that at the rear the second-floor windows were level with the ground. There was a wide arch leading to a courtyard between the two wings, and on the left under the arch there was a large doorway reached by a few broad steps. The door was open and light streamed out of it. Above the arch there was a lamp, and beneath it swung a large signboard: a fat white pony reared up on its hind legs. Over the door was painted in white letters: THE PRANCING PONY by BARLIMAN BUTTERBUR. Many of the lower windows showed lights behind thick curtains.' ― The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, Chapter 9, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
History
The Prancing Pony has been built a long time ago, when traffic on the roads had been much greater. Despite diminished numbers of visitors the inn remains an important centre of news, since Bree is at the crossroads of the East Road and the Greenway, which comes up from the south and goes onwards to Fornost. The inn is kept by the Butterbur Family for generations as a convivial gathering place for Men, Dwarves, and Hobbits (both those living in Bree and travellers from the Shire). Tobold Hornblower was one of the Shire Hobbits who visited Bree and probably the Prancing Pony, where he learned about Pipe-weed. Around T.A. 2670 Old Toby brought back samples of the plant to the Southfarthing where it became a major product of Hobbit agriculture, but the centre of the "art" of smoking remained at the old inn. It was perhaps in the Pony where the Wizard Gandalf met Dwarven King-in-Exile Thorin Oakenshield in the spring of T.A. 2941. That meeting set the stage for the Quest of Erebor. When Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves travelled eastward on their journey to the Lonely Mountain later that year, it is very probable that they stayed at the Prancing Pony, although Bilbo did not specifically mention it in his memoir. At the time of the War of the Ring, the inn was owned and managed by Barliman Butterbur, a man who was somewhat absent-minded at times. He had two hobbit assistants, Nob and Bob.NPC's
Noticeboard
In front of the Prancing Pony stands a noticeboard with all kinds of notes attached to it.A map of The Prancing Pony Inn
Type
Inn
