The Forsaken Inn

[The Mouth of Sauron]

Aragorn stated that the Forsaken Inn was " a day's ride east of Bree " . Has anyone got any ideas about this place ? Was it staffed by Men, or Hobbits or both ? Was it part of Breeland or outside of it ?

Indeed was it at the time of LOTR a working Inn or just a landmark ?

Answers on a postcard please .............

[piosenniel]

The Forsaken Inn was only mentioned once in the LotR.

Here's a map where you can look at the East-West road as it heads out of Bree (which can be looked at as the last outpost of civilization before one gets to Rivendell). The Forsaken Inn would have been along the road, probably just above where the capital 'R' in BREE is.

Hard to say whether the Forsaken Inn was an actual working inn at the time of LotR or mostly in ruin; but, if it were in business, those who might have 'frequented' it may have been a rather dicey lot - brigands, ruffians, and such.

Here's and interesting conception of the Inn made up for the Lord of the Rings Online Game.

~*~ Pio

[Rhugga II]

In the old Interplay Lord of the Rings game for PC, the Forsaken Inn was run by a Dwarf (the name escapes me). You could go into the basement there. It is supposedly the last inn, but in MERP there was an Inn of the Last Bridge as well.

[Selmo]

In The Hobbit, after leaving The Shire Bilbo and the Dwarves pass through a region where "Inns were less frequent". This suggests that there were more than just The Forsaken Inn on the road passed Bree.

They're not mentioned in LoTR because Strider led the four hobbits off the road or perhaps because they had been abandoned in the eighty years since Bilbo's journey.

.

[Pitchwife]

If the Inn was run by anybody at the time of LotR, why was it called Forsaken?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

If the Inn was run by anybody at the time of LotR, why was it called Forsaken?

If forsaken was simply meant as an adjective instead of part of the inn's name, wouldn't Aragorn have referred to it as the forsaken inn?

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

If forsaken was simply meant as an adjective instead of part of the inn's name, wouldn't Aragorn have referred to it as the forsaken inn?

Depends, I think - if it had been forsaken for a long time and/or the ruins were a well-known landmark, the name would have become a standing term and thus acquired upper-case initials, especially if it was the only such place in the region.
If it was the name of a working inn, it would indicate a weird sense of humour on the landlord's part, and an even weirder sense of advertising. I mean, imagine yourself in the boots of a weary traveller stumbling across a roadsign 1 mile to Forsaken Inn! Wouldn't your heart be gladdened? Well, in bad weather you might at least hope the wretched thing still had a roof...
OK, there's the possibility it had been restored and reopened after having been abandoned for quite a while, in which case people might still refer to it as the Forsaken Inn out of habit, and because it's easier to pronounce than TAFKATFI (The Accomodation Formerly Known As The Forsaken Inn).
Or (as it's Aragorn who mentions it) maybe it was truly forsaken in the sense of no longer being a working inn, but frequented and maintained as an (unmanned) outpost by the Rangers - a place where they could find some shelter and firewood on their wanderings, perhaps a small store of cram and cured meat too. If it was a well-known place among them, that could explain the capitals.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

If it was the name of a working inn, it would indicate a weird sense of humour on the landlord's part, and an even weirder sense of advertising.

But look at the context– we've also got the Green Dragon, the Ivy Bush, the Prancing Pony... these are surely meant to suggest English inn names. Now, some of those are pretty weird, like the Hit or Miss, or the Quiet Woman (depicted as carrying her own severed head). So, I imagine Tolkien might well have meant the Forsaken Inn to be the actual name of the place.

[The Mouth of Sauron]

The Ivy Bush actually exists - on Hagley Road, Birmingham, England. It's believed that JRRT actually took the name from the pub.

The real Ivy Bush is full of Brummie Orcs.

[Snowdog]

I always pictured the Forsaken Inn in my mind as some sort of Middle Earth 'biker-bar' where the rougher crowd would go to be outside the jurisdiction of the Bree Shire Council to have fun.

I wrote a few "adult" fan-fics around this inn...

[Galin]

Aragorn says that the Forsaken Inn was a day's journey east of Bree. When Tolkien began a recasting of The Hobbit (see The 1960 Hobbit, Return To Bag-End, John Rateliff) he wrote:

'Bree was as far as Bilbo's knowledge reached, even by hearsay. Beyond it the lands had been desolate for many long years. When in a day's journey more they came to the Last Inn, they found it deserted. They camped in its ruins, and next day they passed into a barren country with great marshes on their left as far as eye could see.'

The Broken Bridge, The History Of The Hobbit

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Snowdog

I always pictured the Forsaken Inn in my mind as some sort of Middle Earth 'biker-bar' where the rougher crowd would go

From Dusk Till Dawn at the Forsaken Inn? Could be a nice theme for a WW game...

[skip spence]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

From Dusk Till Dawn at the Forsaken Inn? Could be a nice theme for a WW game...

Man, that film was awesome!

What Galin posted seems to have settled the issue with the Forsaken Inn, at least as far as I'm concerned. It was indeed forsaken at the end of the Third Age. But I'm digging Snowdog's idea as well. Bet it was like that in the latter days of the Northern Kingdom, when it was divided.

[Snowdog]

Originally Posted by skip spence

But I'm digging Snowdog's idea as well. Bet it was like that in the latter days of the Northern Kingdom, when it was divided.

Yeah, I wrote up a tale of the days of the three kingdoms, and the Forsaken was the 'neutral bround for meeti ngs.

Thanks for the Broken Bridge quote Galen!