men of middle-earth ✦ middle men ✦ headcanon disclaimer
The Men of Bree were descended from the first Men who wandered to the West in the First Age, but unlike the Three Houses of the Edain they never crossed the Blue Mountains into Beleriand. Instead they settled in the White Mountains, and over the centuries divided into several distinct groups, including the Dunlendings, the Men of the Mountains, and the Bree-men themselves, who migrated northward to the Bree-hill to escape the growing influence of Sauron in the East. When the Kingdom of Arnor was founded, Bree-land lay inside its borders, and thus became subjects of the King. The Bree-folk were amenable to their new lords, and under Arnor’s dominion they established the settlements of Bree, Staddle, Archet, and Combe. When the halflings fled westward from the Shadow, the Bree-men were quick to accept their presence, and soon the two groups integrated into a unique society where Big Folk and Little Folk lived side-by-side in harmony. Eventually, many hobbits would move further west and found the Shire, but Bree remained a place where any human or halfling could dwell. Even elves and dwarves were welcomed on their journeys in the West, able to stop at the Prancing Pony Inn where the Butterbur family provided good service to the likes of the Rangers and many others. In the late Third Age, Barliman Butterbur was an especial friend of the wizard Gandalf, trusted to deliver messages to his hobbit friends in the Shire, and though he sometimes failed in his tasks he remained a jolly fellow throughout many hardships. The Bree-folk endured the Fall of Arnor and returned to living independently, not much bothered by the troubles of the outside world until the War of the Ring, when the Ringwraiths corrupted several citizens of Bree and enticed them into the service of the Shadow. Among these folk were Bill Ferny and Harry Goatleaf, serving as spies for their dark masters and relaying information to them about the Shire-hobbits. Goatleaf was the town gate-keeper, greeting outsiders gruffly but opening the gates to the Nazgûl attack. Ferny harbored a Dunlendish colleague in his home, little trusted by the townsfolk, and sold a mistreated pony to Strider and his companions at an outrageous price, hoping to hinder them on their journey. When Sharkey came to town, Ferny and Goatleaf were quick to change allegiance to newest bully in the district, and joined his ruffians in a skirmish that left five Bree-landers dead: Rowlie Appledore, Mat Heathertoes, Little Tom Pickthorn, and the two hobbits Willie Banks and Alberic Underhill. Another man, Jack Rushlight, suffered terrible wounds in the battle, but survived and took three ruffians down with him, including the squint-eyed Southerner known as Duncan. In the end, though, the pony got the last laugh: when the hobbitish veterans of the Fellowship of the Ring returned home and scoured the Shire of Sharkey’s influence, Harry Goatleaf and Bill Ferny were turned out of town, Ferny’s old pony kicking him in the back as he fled. The story of Bill the Pony’s revenge remained a favorite of the Bree-landers for many years, and Old Man Percy Thistlewool was often called upon to spin the yarn well into his eighties, though the tale had ballooned into quite the epic since he had witnessed the skirmish as a child.