Character Bios
Barliman Butterbur
Other Names:
Barley
Location(s):
Bree
Race/Species: Man
Title(s):
Innkeeper, The Prancing Pony
Dates:
late Third Age
Description:
The proprietor of The Prancing Pony in Bree.
[It] was from Bree that the art of smoking the genuine weed spread.... The home and centre of the art is thus to be found in the old inn of Bree, The Prancing Pony, that has been kept by the family of Butterbur from time beyond record.
The Lord of the Rings, Prologue, Concerning Pipe-weed
'Tom will give you good advice...: four miles along the Road you'll come upon a village, Bree under Bree-hill.... There you'll find an old inn that is called The Prancing Pony. Barliman Butterbur is the worthy keeper.'
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 8, Fog on the Barrow-downs
The Inn of Bree was still there..., and the innkeeper was an important person. His house was a meeting place for the idle, talkative, and inquisitive among the inhabitants, large and small, of the four villages; and a resort of Rangers and other wanderers, and for such travellers (mostly dwarves) as still journeyed on the East Road, to and from the Mountains.
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 9, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
Above the arch there was a lamp, and beneath it swung a large signboard: a fat white pony reared up on its hind legs. Over the door was painted in white letters: THE PRANCING PONY by BARLIMAN BUTTERBUR....
Frodo went forward and nearly bumped into a short fat man with a bald head and a red face. He had a white apron on, and was bustling out of one door and in through another, carrying a tray laden with full mugs.
'Can we — ' began Frodo.
'Half a minute, if you please!' shouted the man over his shoulder, and vanished into a babel of voices and a cloud of smoke. In a moment he was out again, wiping his hands on his apron.
'Good evening, little master!' he said, bending down. 'What may you be wanting?'
'Beds for four, and stabling for five ponies.... Are you Mr. Butterbur?'
'That's right! Barliman is my name. Barliman Butterbur at your service! You're from the Shire, eh?' he said, and then suddenly he clapped his hand to his forehead, as if trying to remember something. 'Hobbits!' he cried. 'Now what does that remind me of? Might I ask your names, sir?'
'Mr. Took and Mr. Brandybuck,' said Frodo; 'and this is Sam Gamgee. My name is Underhill.'
'There now!' said Mr. Butterbur, snapping his fingers. 'It's gone again! But it'll come back, when I have time to think. I'm run off my feet; but I'll see what I can do for you. We don't often get a party out of the Shire nowadays, and I should be sorry not to make you welcome. But there is such a crowd already in the house tonight as there hasn't been for long enough....
'Hi! Nob!' he shouted. 'Where are you, you woolly-footed slow-coach? Nob!'
'Coming, sir! Coming!' A cheery-looking hobbit bobbed out of a door....
'Where's Bob?' asked the landlord. 'You don't know? Well find him! Double sharp! I haven't got six legs, nor six eyes neither! Tell Bob there's five ponies that have to be stabled.'....
'Well, now, what was I going to say?' said Mr. Butterbur, tapping his forehead. 'One thing drives out another, so to speak. I'm that busy tonight, my head is going round. There's a party that came up the Greenway from down South last night — and that was strange enough to begin with. Then there's a travelling company of dwarves going West come in this evening. And now there's you. If you weren't hobbits, I doubt if we could house you. But we've got a room or two in the north wing that were made special for hobbits, when this place was built. On the ground floor as they usually prefer; round windows and all as they like it. I hope you'll be comfortable. You'll be wanting supper, I don't doubt. As soon as may be. This way now!'
He led them a short way down a passage, and opened a door. 'Here is a nice little parlour!' he said. 'I hope it will suit. Excuse me now. I'm that busy. No time for talking. I must be trotting. It's hard work for two legs, but I don't get thinner. I'll look in again later. If you want anything, ring the hand-bell, and Nob will come. If he don't come, ring and shout!'
Off he went at last, and left them feeling rather breathless. He seemed capable of an endless stream of talk, however busy he might be.
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 9, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
They were... in the middle of good deep mugs of beer when Mr. Butterbur and Nob came in again. In a twinkling the table was laid. There was hot soup, cold meats, a blackberry tart, new loaves, slabs of butter, and half a ripe cheese: good plain food, as good as the Shire could show....
The landlord hovered round for a little, and then prepared to leave them. 'I don't know whether you would care to join the company, when you have supped,' he said, standing at the door. 'Perhaps you would rather go to your beds. Still the company would be very pleased to welcome you, if you had a mind. We don't get Outsiders — travellers from the Shire, I should say, begging your pardon — often; and we like to hear a bit of news, or any story or song you may have in mind. But as you please! Ring the bell, if you lack anything!'
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 9, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
Poor Mr. Butterbur looked troubled.... 'I beg your pardon. And I'm mortal afraid of what Gandalf will say, 1 if harm comes of it. But I didn't keep [the letter] back a-purpose. I put it by safe. Then I couldn't find nobody willing to go to the Shire next day, nor the day after, and none of my own folk were to spare; and then one thing after another drove it out of my mind. I'm a busy man. I'll do what I can to set matters right, and if there's any help I can give, you've only to name it.
'Leaving the letter aside, I promised Gandalf no less. Barley, he says to me, this friend of mine from the Shire, he may be coming out this way before long, him and another. He'll be calling himself Underhill. Mind that! But you need ask no questions. And if I'm not with him, he may be in trouble, and he may need help. Do whatever you can for him, and I'll be grateful, he says. And here you are, and trouble is not far off, seemingly.'
'What do you mean?' asked Frodo.
'These black men,' said the landlord lowering his voice. 'They're looking for Baggins, and if they mean well, then I'm a hobbit. It was on Monday, and all the dogs were yammering and the geese screaming. Uncanny, I called it. Nob, he came and told me that two black men were at the door asking for a hobbit called Baggins. Nob's hair was all stood on end. I bid the black fellows be off, and slammed the door on them; but they've been asking the same question all the way to Archet, I hear. And that Ranger, Strider, he's been asking questions, too. Tried to get in here to see you, before you'd had bite or sup, he did.'
'He did!' said Strider suddenly, coming forward into the light. 'And much trouble would have been saved, if you had let him in, Barliman.'
The landlord jumped with surprise. 'You!' he cried. 'You're always popping up. What do you want now?'
'He's here with my leave,' said Frodo. 'He came to offer me his help.'
'Well, you know your own business, maybe,' said Mr. Butterbur, looking suspiciously at Strider. 'But if I was in your plight, I wouldn't take up with a Ranger.'
'Then who would you take up with?' asked Strider. 'A fat innkeeper who only remembers his own name because people shout it at him all day? They cannot stay in The Pony for ever, and they cannot go home. They have a long road before them. Will you go with them and keep the black men off?'
'Me? Leave Bree! I wouldn't do that for any money,' said Mr. Butterbur, looking really scared. 'But why can't you stay here quiet for a bit, Mr. Underhill? What are all these queer goings on? What are these black men after, and where do they come from, I'd like to know?'
'I'm sorry I can't explain it all,' answered Frodo.... 'But if you mean to help me, I ought to warn you that you will be in danger as long as I am in your house. These Black Riders: I am not sure, but I think, I fear they come from —'
'They come from Mordor,' said Strider in a low voice. 'From Mordor, Barliman, if that means anything to you.'
'Save us!' cried Mr. Butterbur turning pale; the name evidently was known to him. 'That is the worst news that has come to Bree in my time.'
'It is,' said Frodo. 'Are you still willing to help me?'
'I am,' said Mr. Butterbur. 'More than ever. Though I don't know what the likes of me can do against, against —' he faltered.
'Against the Shadow in the East,' said Strider quietly. 'Not much, Barliman, but every little helps. You can let Mr. Underhill stay here tonight, as Mr. Underhill, and you can forget the name of Baggins, till he is far away.'
'I'll do that,' said Butterbur. 'But they'll find out he's here without help from me, I'm afraid. It's a pity Mr. Baggins drew attention to himself this evening, to say no more. The story of that Mr. Bilbo's going off has been heard before tonight in Bree. Even our Nob has been doing some guessing in his slow pate: and there are others in Bree quicker in the uptake than he is.'
'Well, we can only hope the Riders won't come back yet,' said Frodo.
'I hope not, indeed,' said Butterbur. 'But spooks or no spooks, they won't get in The Pony so easy. Don't you worry till the morning. Nob'll say no word. No black man shall pass my doors, while I can stand on my legs. Me and my folk'll keep watch tonight; but you had best get some sleep, if you can.'
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 10, Strider
Mr. Butterbur paid for [the replacement pony] himself, and offered Merry another eighteen pence as some compensation for the lost animals. He was an honest man, and well-off as things were reckoned in Bree; but thirty silver pennies was a sore blow to him, and being cheated by Bill Ferny made it harder to bear.
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 11, A Knife in the Dark
Etymology
Butterbur. So far as I know, not found as a name in England, though Butter is so used, as well as combinations (in origin place-names) such as Butterfield. These have in the tale been modified, to fit the generally botanical names of Bree, to the plant-name 'butterbur' (Petasites vulgaris).... The butterbur is a fleshy plant with a heavy flower-head on a thick stalk, and very large leaves.
A Butterbur plant, Petasites vulgaris, after which Barliman Butterbur is named.
Butterbur's first name Barliman is simply an altered spelling of 'barley' and 'man' (suitable to an innkeeper and ale-brewer)....
"Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
From A Tolkien Compass, compiled by Jared Lobdell
Chicago: Open Court Pub Co, June 1975
Notes
1 Barliman has reason to be concerned about Gandalf's opinion:
PPPS. I hope Butterbur sends this promptly. A worthy man, but his memory is like a lumber-room: thing wanted always buried. If he forgets, I shall roast him.
From Gandalf's letter to Frodo
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 9, At the Sign of the Prancing Pony
Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 23Oct05, 21Apr08, 27Jul10
