The Forsaken Inn

[Ñólendil]

I didn't know it was in italics, but I knew it was capitilized like that. It could simply be what everyone calls it, since it's a fitting name. I. e., it could have been called 'The Crooked Staff' when it was in business, but since it was forsaken everyone who knew about it called it The Forsaken Inn, and so the name changed.

What sort of people a day's march from Bree do you think would name their solitary Inn The Forsaken Inn?

[ragamuffin92]

Re: "What sort of people a day's march from Bree do you think would name their solitary Inn The Forsaken Inn?"

LOL--Not people with good business instincts, that's for sure. They should have lied, or at least exaggerated, like the people who named "Greenland" did (or so I hear. Never been to Greenland. Maybe someday. )

[luinilwen]

maybe it became forsaken after the owners decided to have dwarf women strip shows. i could just see aragorn... "nah i think i'll stick with the elven princess - less facial hair..."

[bropous]

"The Forsaken Inn" sort of conjures up visions of lonely "Stuckey's" stuck out in the middle of nowhere on the highway....

[azalea]

Maybe The Forsaken Inn would have attracted people that wished to remain anonymous, who didn't want to talk to anyone or be seen by anyone, because of secret business or something, as opposed to an inn that served as a gathering place for the townsfolk to chat and tell stories. Maybe it would have been a better place for the hobbits to meet Gandalf. Or it could have just been a romantic name given to an inn that was not in the center of town, but far out in the middle of "nowhere", but still along a busy road; the kind of place that the weary traveller would be glad to see (like the lone hotel along a deserted stretch of highway).

[Snowdog]

There are enough details, mysteries, and untaken side trips to fill ten books the size of Rings. The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle Earth, et. al. have been prepared for the general public's reading by the author's son Christopher, of course, but sometimes I find that the best "side trips" in Middle-earth are those that even the background material leaves in mystery.

Yes, I agree! I saw this thread today and read the posts and it is a good discussion. I always wondered about The Forsaken Inn since the first time I read the books. The last couple posts here kind of brushed up against how I see the Forsaken Inn. it was a place where it was a little freer atmosphere, and with it, many darker characters. It was outside the jurisdiction of Bree and so the burlesque shows and hard drinking and rowdiness (think biker bar), and the line between good and evil was blurred some there. Hence Tolkien bypassed it as he would such a place in real life. This is just my imagination taking up where the Professor left off. There is alot as was said for the imagination to run with, especially the lives and generations of the Rangers since King Arvedui of Arthedain.

Me, I probably would have gravitated more toward there than the Pony in Bree proper. I had a character in an RP that was a Ranger that hung out at the Forsaken Inn. It turned out quite good as a story actually.

[Wayfarer]

I still think that it's forsakeness was basically due to the fact that it was out in the middle of nowhere.

[Snowdog]

And the reason an Inn was located a days ride east of Bree?

[azalea]

Even people living in the middle of nowhere need a pint every now and then!

[Aragorn_iz_cool]

Probably just a name.

[ladyisme]

What if the Forsaken Inn was a hold over from the times when the land had more people in it? For all we know the inn could be the last survivour of a town that died out, and is called forsaken because it is the only one left.

"The road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began."

[Nill]

So is the Forsaken Inn something like the Pony? Hehehe, if it is I'll come in and have a drink.

[ladyisme]

I don't think the book mentions how good the acomidations at the Forsaken Inn are, but the Golden Perch Inn in Stock is said to have exceptional beer.

"The road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began."

P.S. Welcome Nill to Entmoot!

[Nill]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm on another message board on another site, and I thought this one looked cool, so here I am.
As for the good beer, the Dragon has some good stuff too.
Anyone know if I can change my screen name easily? I have another name I use, and I was wondering if I could use that.

[Snowdog]

So I start dreaming last night that I am a Dúnedain Ranger in the Forsaken Inn, and it was a sort of a Middle Earth biker bar, without the bikes though. It was a place where Black Numenoreans and Dunlandings mixed freely with Hobbits and Dúnedain and dark elves, for the fair elves wouldn't be found in such a debaiched place. Tha ale selection was huge with the line of finely carved tap handles along the bar... Mordorian Stout so black (think Guinness) to a light pale North Farthing ale! Unfortunatly I woke up when a tiff erupted between an old crippled Dunlanding veteran of Sarumann's defeated army, and a very drunk Rohirric man. I stepped in to break it up saying we have to get past the past. Totally wierd! I wanted to go back to sleep and return to Middle Earth.

[Keith K]

With the demise of the North Kingdom the road became more or less forsaken, used mainly by dwarves traveling to their mines in the Blue Mts. As the road became forsaken, the businesses along it also became forsaken....Ask any proprietor; the three secrets of success are location, location, location.

[The Lady of Ithilien]

"The Forsaken Inn" sort of conjures up visions of lonely "Stuckey's" stuck out in the middle of nowhere on the highway....

Yes, and Stuckey's does pretty well out there, too, or they all would have folded long ago. Enough traffic to support them, and not much competition.

So maybe there was enough traffic on the Road from the Breelanders to support an inn. (People from the Shire once rode out to Bree for a change of pace, why not people from Bree going out into the wild lands a safe distance for the same reason?)

Too, such a location was good in terms of the westbound traffic on the road -- people would be getting short of everything, and longing for a taste of civilization, and yet not be able to get to Bree for one more night yet. Think of the prices the innkeeper could charge, way out there with no competition, the things they could sell, etc. There might not be as many people coming in as there would be in or closer to Bree, but what customers they got would be hungry, thirsty, and footsore, longing for some creature comforts and not in a mood to haggle.

Maybe "Forsaken Inn" was just what the Butterburs of Bree called it, not liking the dent it caused in their own business. The owner might have called it something much more pleasant or personable; heck, maybe they just hung out a sign: "Clean restrooms" or even "restrooms."

[Snowdog]

Yes Keith K, like the forsaken stretches of Route 66 after the freeways were built.

I still have a vision of the place as one that seen better days.

[Nurvingiel]

Where is the Forsaken Inn in Tolkein's books? It sounds very interesting, I think I'd like to go have a pint there.

Snowdog, I'm very interested in your signature. Who said, "I was so much older then, I'm much younger than that now." ?

[Nurvingiel]

Originally posted by Ñólendil
What sort of people a day's march from Bree do you think would name their solitary Inn The Forsaken Inn?

Rangers, that's who!