Inns / Bree
The Prancing Pony
A welcome at the crossroads. An illustrated inn sign for travellers with muddy boots and a story to tell.
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Discover the story behind the sign ↓Imaginary Inns & Curious Shops
Signs for places you wish you could visit.A FIELD GUIDE TO FICTIONAL PLACES
Behind the sign.
Every place has a story.
- WHERE TO FIND IT
- Bree, at the meeting of the East Road and the Greenway · Middle-earth
- ON THE BOOKSHELF
- J. R. R. Tolkien · The Fellowship of the Ring, “At the Sign of the Prancing Pony”
The local knowledge
Barliman Butterbur’s inn welcomes travellers and serves as a meeting place for Bree’s locals. It has rooms for hobbit guests as well as a busy common room. For Frodo and his companions, a stop here brings an encounter with the mysterious Strider and a decisive change in their journey.
Our interpretation
Tolkien describes a rearing pony on the inn’s sign. Our illustration develops that central idea into a traditional, timeworn inn sign, with its own lettering and decorative treatment.