The inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree provided private parlours for its guests, but most of its patrons gathered in the inn's public Common Room. Here visitors of all kinds gathered together, travellers and Bree-landers alike. The room was furnished with tables and benches, and the innkeeper Barliman Butterbur served ale to his customers.1 The smoke-shrouded Common Room was lit by three lamps that hung from its beams, and by the light of a great log-burning fire. It had several windows looking out over Bree, across which red2 curtains could be drawn.
The Common Room of the Prancing Pony became important to the story of the War of the Ring when it was visited by Frodo and his companions, and it was here that they first met the Ranger known locally as 'Strider'. In particular, the antics of Frodo (or 'Mr Underhill' as he claimed to be) singing, dancing and unexpectedly vanishing, caused a stir among the guests that was not easily forgotten. Indeed, even after the dangers of the War, which had seen the Common Room become much quieter than it had formerly been, there were those who remembered Mr Underhill and his performance after more than a year had passed.
Notes
1 |
It is tempting to imagine the inn's Common Room laid out as it would be in modern times, with drinks being served at a bar (as indeed it appears in the film version of The Fellowship of the Ring). In fact no such arrangement is mentioned in the text, and from the few relevant comments we have, it seems that the Common Room was simply a large room, and that Barliman Butterbur poured and served beer for his patrons as they called for it.
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2 |
Strictly speaking, the red curtains of the Prancing Pony are only described as seen from outside, and aren't specifically associated with the Inn's Common Room. It seems implausible that Tolkien would mention such a specific detail, though, if he meant for the Common Room curtains to be something other than red in colour. |
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