I have now been in Bree-land long enough to form some fair and settled opinions regarding the folk of these parts. I have previously scribed some impressions of the Hobbit-people, strange and new as they were to me, but have been in no especial hurry to likewise record my observations of the Men (the “Big Folk”, as hobbits oft refer to us) that live around and alongside them.
I must confess, I have had no special inclination or inspiration to do so. The Hobbits remain curious and wondrous to me, claims that I cannot accuse the Bree-folk of. However, I have realised that it is my due diligence to good scholarship, to likewise record what I think of the Bree-folk, both for the clarity of my own thought, and for the sake of posterity and good record keeping. As such, here follows a short account of my initial feelings regarding the Men of these lands.
Bree itself is a town that, I profess, I hold no great love for as of yet. It is a strange place, and not unpleasant. Yet I find it overly preoccupied with its own affairs. Perhaps this is to be expected. Bree-town is certainly the largest and most important settlement to be found in these parts for some way, and so it is only natural that affairs of trade and politics should centre around it. Yet even so, I find that many of the Men here are too deeply rooted in their own petty affairs, unable to see the larger scope of the world around them, deluded by the “grandeur”, the importance of Bree itself.
Bree is merely the largest of the small, a rat surrounded by mice - it is no shadow upon a real city, such as Dale.
Nonetheless, there is much to admire and like in certain of the Bree-folk. They are open, warm, hospitable and honest. They value good cheer and merry pleasure, and yet are diligent and hard workers. Many of the folk who live in the outskirts of Bree or the surrounding villages are also more tolerable than their “city” brethren, valuing simplicity and cheer over the schemes and bustle of Bree-town.
Speaking of such, there is also a worrisome undercurrent of crime and skulduggery in the alleys of Bree, a lively circuit of ill deals and duplicitous profiteering. Make no mistake, such disreputable villains ply their trade in the city of Dale also! Yet I cannot but feel that there is some real danger to the underworld of Bree, a twofold danger….for in Dale, the brigands were oft concerned with the shifting of power and politics as much as with anything else. Here in Bree, there is little honour among the thieves, and little concern for what violence or harm they may wreck.
Further, this lack of control among the criminals of Bree seems to have laid them open to outside influence - an influence I do not yet fully understand or comprehend, but that is deep-rooted and may never truly be removed. Dangerous people, it would seem, are interested in Bree, and there be no lack of greedy fools to hasten its own doom. Why such far-removed powers should have such interest in Bree is also unclear to me. Perhaps it be that its position be advantageous for further operation, existing as it does on a great crossroad….
….ah, and to think I near passed through this entry without mentioning the great strength and virtue of Bree-town, a peculiarity of it that makes it especially attractive for one such as myself! Laying as it does between two great roads, Bree is finely situated to attract travellers, wanderers and strangers. I have, over the course of some weeks, come to meet and speak with many greatly varied people, some of whom hold goals and quests near and true to my own heart….and even those who do not are nonetheless of great interest to me, as I continue to build up a fuller understanding of all the peoples of the world.
It is a great curiosity, then, that it be chiefly due to the outsiders that I am determined to remain near Bree, at least for the moment. Yet it is so. The people of the land are, as a rule, friendly and genial enough. Yet I have but little love for Bree-town, and its people are a frustrating blend of being uncouth and pompous. Even so, perhaps they are not so bad, there are greater follies to be guilty of. Were they a little less closeted, a little more concerned beyond the meagre streets of this town, they would be a fine people indeed; and it may yet be that if the lands around be restored and protected, that greater friendship and knowledge develop between these Bree-folk and the settlements to the east, which I am passingly familiar with. Yet so it is, and though I am unlikely to count many of the Bree-landers as my closest friends, still they seem a decent and worthy folk.
