Who ruled Bree?

These sorts of sociological topics are always interesting. I agree with Syslox, plus I imagine that (both in the Shire and Bree) larger, wealthier families and landowners were influential and more or less mediated disagreements and managed affairs on their estates and in their families. Sounds a little medieval, I suppose!

I wonder, too, if it was something like medieval Iceland, which had no government but a big yearly Althing were big families got together to resolve differences and quarrels, etc. Didn't The Professor study Icelandic, among many other languages?

EG