The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Established no earlier than III 1601 (year 1 by the Shire-reckoning); all inns in the Shire were closed by Lotho Sackville-Baggins in III 3018 or III 3019
Race
Culture
Settlements
On the Bywater Road between Hobbiton and Bywater
Meaning
Apparently named after a real inn1

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About this entry:

  • Updated 12 January 2022
  • This entry is complete

The Ivy Bush

An inn on the Bywater Road

A small inn that lay near Hobbiton, on the road to Bywater. It was favoured by Sam's father Hamfast Gamgee and his neighbour Daddy Twofoot, as well as many other Hobbits of the Hobbiton area. The Ivy Bush was a centre of gossip and storytelling, and it was here that the Hobbiton residents gathered to exchange fantastical tales of Elves, Dragons and treasure-hunting, as well as (rather more usually) the latest doings in the Shire.


Notes

1

Tolkien seems to have been influenced in his choice of the name Ivy Bush by a pub of that name that would have been local to him during the time he lived in Birmingham. Though now relatively rare as a name for a real inn, the use of a bush as to signify an inn was common in ancient times. A bush of ivy would at one time have marked out a tavern where wine could be served, but later came to be used more widely for inns or taverns of any kind.

See also...

Daddy Twofoot, Ivy, Old Noakes

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 12 January 2022
  • This entry is complete

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