Whilst The Shire remains the most instantly recog­nis­able loca­tion in Tolkien’s leg­en­dar­ium, it can be argued that three of the best loved loca­tions of The Lord of the Rings are found in the neigh­bour­ing Bree-land.  The Old For­est, the Barrow-downs and Bree itself are the main loca­tions which see the Hob­bits flee from The Shire and begin their great adven­ture.  The chap­ters which detail the jour­ney from Crick­hol­low to the Pranc­ing Pony, The Old For­est, In the House of Tom Bom­badil, Fog on the Barrow-downs and At the Sign of the Pranc­ing Pony are often cited as fans favourites, mine included.  The appeal of read­ing about the seem­ingly help­less Hob­bits blun­der­ing around from peril to deadly peril, with lit­tle or no help, and bear­ing the One Ring, makes for fas­ci­nat­ing reading.

Much of the jour­ney through the Bree-land is com­monly excluded from adap­ta­tions of The Lord of the Rings.  The films by Peter Jack­son and Ralph Bak­shi, as well as the 1981 BBC Radio adap­ta­tion, move straight from The Shire to Bree itself, miss­ing out entirely the adven­tures in the Old For­est and the Barrow-downs.  Addi­tion­ally one of the most impor­tant, and best loved, char­ac­ters of The Lord of the Rings, Tom Bom­badil, has not been included in any of the major adap­ta­tions.  For this rea­son, many play­ers of LotRO who are unfa­mil­iar with the books will expe­ri­ence these loca­tions and char­ac­ters for the first time in-game.

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