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Museum-Quality Matte Paper Print available in two sizes:
12" x 16" (30cm x 40cm): $35.00
24" x 32" (60cm x 80cm): $48.00
 
“The Bree folk were all out to see them off, and were in merrier mood than they had been for a year; and those who had not seen the strangers in all their gear before gaped with wonder at them: at Gandalf with his white beard, and the light that seemed to gleam from him, as if his blue mantle was only a cloud over sunshine; and at the four hobbits like riders upon errantry out of almost forgotten tales." - The Return of the King, Book 6, Chapter 7: Homeward Bound
 
If you've always wished you could live at Bree where the Big Folk and the Little Folk are good neighbors, then a print of this rare scene in Middle-earth history might be for you. Most Tolkien-inspired artwork depicting The Prancing Pony Inn features the four travelling hobbits arriving there in The Fellowship of the Ring, but in The Return of the King, they come back again - this time, with Gandalf - and they cause quite a stir. You're one in the crowd on this autumn morning as the wayfarers take their leave of the Bree-folk quite grandly.
 
Things to notice if you bring a print home:
 
My depiction of The Prancing Pony Inn is based on The Bell at Moreton-in-Marsh; a plaque honoring Tolkien is displayed there, and many readers believe this establishment inspired Tolkien's vision of The Prancing Pony Inn.
Merry and Pippin astonish the crowd and cut tall, dashing figures in their gear of Rohan and Gondor.
Barliman Butterbur has a last jolly word for Frodo, but he probably keeps referring to him as "Mr. Underhill".
Gandalf the White is majestic upon Shadowfax, and it is lovely to think he is on his way to visit Tom Bombadil.
Sam is so relieved to be on his way home, at last, and so thrilled to have been reunited with Bill the pony that he is hugging his neck while little Nob offers a last apple.
The men of Bree are very ancient people, and they are broad-built and short of stature with dark hair. Do you suppose their modest height made them more comfortable companions for hobbits? I also think their botanical surnames show a closeness to the natural world that the hobbits love.
Because the reader seems to travel back in time as they travel east in The Lord of the Rings, I have distinguished the Bree hobbits by giving their attire a slightly earlier feeling than that worn in the Shire and Buckland.
The beautiful autumnal guelder rose reveals the narrative of this scene. Its folk-name is the "wayfaring tree", and there is a very old tradition that travelers encountering these trees knew that they were homeward bound, just like the title of this chapter of The Lord of the Rings.
 
If you enjoy seeing rarer scenes depicted, I hope this view of The Prancing Pony and the excellent society of Big and Little Folk at Bree is a pleasure to study.