Men of Bree
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The Men of Bree were Bree-landers, specifically the Men who lived around the Bree-land, especially the village of Bree.
Origins
The Men of Bree trace their origins from the race of the Pre-Númenóreans who inhabited the northern White Mountains during the Second Age, in the land that would be later known as Calenardhon. As such they were related to the Men of the Mountains and the Dunlendings.
The ancenstors of the Men of Bree however continued their northward migration and settled the region around the tall, wooded Bree-hill, establishing the settlement of Bree, Staddle, Archet and Combe.
History
Bree-land lay inside the borders of Arnor and on the road that led to Gondor; as such the Men of Bree became subject of Arnor, developed Westron and forgot their origin.
In about T.A. 1300, their land was visited by the Halflings, a strange and little-known race of small Men who were fleeing the encroaching darkness to the east. They settled with them, and a unique society arose where the Big Folk and the Little Folk lived beside one another in harmony.
During the War of the Ring some Men of Bree like Bill Ferny and Harry Goatleaf were spies of the Ringwraiths and later they joined Saruman's ruffians.
Culture
In appearance, these Men had brown hair, and in stature were short and broad and brown-haired. They were cheerful and provincial.
They seem to have maintained a curious tradition of taking their names from plants and herbs; families of the Men of Bree included Appledore, Ferny, Goatleaf, Heathertoes, Rushlight, Thistlewool and Butterburr, the ancestral name of the keepers of the Prancing Pony inn.
