Breredon

A village beyond the Hedge

Years of the TreesFirst AgeISecond AgeIIThird AgeIIIFourth AgeIV

The location of Breredon (somewhat conjectural)

" 'Hoy! Here's Woodman Tom with his billy-beard on!'
laughed all the little folk of Hays-end and Breredon."

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil 2
"Bombadil Goes Boating"

A village of Hobbits that lay outside the great Hedge known as the High Hay, which protected most of the Bucklanders from the strange beings who inhabited the Old Forest. Breredon stood on a small hill between the Hedge and the River Withywindle, from which it took its name (Breredon means 'briar hill'). Living without the protection of the High Hay, the Hobbits of Breredon were unusually ready to defend themselves against 'Forest-folk and bogies from the Barrows' (ibid), even going so far as to shoot arrows at Tom Bombadil as he travelled past them on the river.

Notes

We don't know exactly when Breredon was founded, but its location beyond the Brandywine implies that it probably didn't exist before the founding of Buckland in III 2340.

There is some uncertainty of the pronunciation of this name. Following the standard pronunciation rules laid out for Elvish names, it would be 'bre'redon', with both 'e' sounds individually pronounced. However, Breredon is not an Elvish name, and the original Old English pronunciation seems to have been 'bree'rdon' (that is, the first element brere would rhyme with modern English 'here' or 'mere').

In fact, Breredon was a real English place-name, a name that is now rendered Brereton, and pronounced as 'bree'rton'. Further, when Tolkien uses the name in hus poem "Bombadil Goes Boating", he rhymes the name with 'beard on'. All of these clues together suggest that 'bree'rdon' is the intended pronouncation of the name.

Breredon

A village beyond the Hedge

Notes

See also...

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