Chapter Four
Hobbits had lived in the village of Bree for some three hundred years. After the mass migration known as the Wandering Days, it seemed as though they had found a home here. For many years they lived in perfect harmony with the Big Folk, who also dwelled there. Bree was built upon the crossroad between the Great East Road, from east to west, and the Greenway, from north to south. It was thus considered, even in those times, an important trading post for all merchants. The markets and trade halls of Bree were considered the best in Eriador, creating much wealth for the village. Its inns were also popular among the many travellers of the land, who could rest here for a day or two before continuing their journeys.
Bree had existed long before the time before the fragmentation of Arnor. Being east of the Brandywine River, it was claimed by the Kingdom of Cardolan. Before this time Bree, or what otherwise stood at the crossroad, was considered one of the major settlements of the realm. But soon enough, it was diminished to the village that it is today. Unable to trade with Arthedain or Rhudaur, given the tensions between the three, less and less trade passed through Bree. But the Hobbits who settled there found it homely enough, for it was built upon a hill in which they could burrow their own holes. Soon enough, most of the Hobbit population of the world could be found in Bree and the surrounding villages, including Staddle.
But the hobbits cared not for war. The onslaught of Angmar had left Cardolan in ruins; what was once green was now burned black with ash. No one knows exactly why Bree was spared in Angmar’s conquest. It is possible that it was damaged or burned, but its people endured to rebuild it once more. But for the Hobbits of Bree, this was no longer their home. In Bree, for hundreds of years, they had lived in peace and security; now Angmar had brought this to an end. They could not go east, for Rhudaur was still occupied by the Witch-king, and his own dark realm was to the north. It was to the west, to Arthedain, that they looked, which had long held firm against Angmar. If they were to find peace anywhere, then it would be in the Kingdom of Arthedain.
As legend has it, the brothers Marcho and Blanco appealed to King Argeleb the Second, son of the valiant Araphor, in Norbury. They begged for his permission to settle within his realm, so that they may live under his protection against the fires of the Witch-king. Argeleb was sympathetic to their cause; graciously accepting their request. So it was that Marcho and Blanco led the exodus of hobbits from Bree to the Brandywine River. Only the most stubborn, or foolish, remained behind. King Argeleb had granted them the land between the Brandywine River in the east and the White Downs in the west, between the Moors in the north and Marches in the south. It was a shire of the kingdom – soon to become the Shire. The Shire Reckoning, our calendar, began from Year One when Marcho and Blanco crossed the Brandywine Bridge.
The King required that the hobbits, his new subjects, should maintain all the bridges and roads found in their land, to speed the king’s messengers, and to swear fealty to Argeleb and his successors as their lord. Grateful for allowing them to escape the clutches of Angmar in Cardolan, the hobbits did so happily. In return for their loyalty, the hobbits were given the guarantee of royal protection and the permission to manage their own affairs. At last, the hobbits had found their true home. Word of the Shire soon reached the many scattered tribes of hobbits across the land, and within thirty years almost every hobbit could be found living in the Shire.
