Location

Particularly noted as growing in the Northfarthing of the Shire

Race

Associated with Hobbits, but doubtless also grown by other peoples

Settlements

The village of Oatbarton in the Shire's Northfarthing had a name that derived in part from the Old English for 'barley farm'

Meaning

From Old English bærlic, ultimately derived from an ancient root meaning 'spiked'

Note

'Barley' was also a common nickname used for Barliman Butterbur of Bree (whose name did indeed ultimately derive from the crop, and especially the beer made from it)

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Updated 30 May 2021
This entry is complete

Barley

Grain used to make beer

A cereal crop of particular importance to the Hobbits, as it was a major ingredient of beer. In the Shire, it was grown especially in the farmlands of the Northfarthing, and the crop of the year after the War of the Ring was of a particularly fine quality (as was the beer that was brewed from it). The association of this grain with brewing appears elsewhere in Middle-earth, too: Barliman Butterbur, the innkeeper of the Prancing Pony, took his given name from this crop.

Barley

Grain used to make beer

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