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Brandy Hall
For nearly 700 years, the warm light from the many
windows of Brandy Hall has welcomed visitors crossing
the Brandywine River from the west into Buckland. Originally
delved and built by Gorhendad Oldbuck, the first Master
of the Hall (as the head of the Brandybuck family is
called), and greatly expanded over generations, the
ancestral home of the Brandybuck family is now formed
of many tunnels and rooms occupying the entirety of
Buck Hill on the eastern banks of the Brandywine. Brandy
Hall has no less than three main entrance doors and
over a hundred windows, making it one of the grandest
mansions in the entire Shire. Long before the
forming of the Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo Baggins,
orphaned as a young Hobbit, called Brandy Hall home
for many years, before he went to live with Old Bilbo
Baggins at Bag End in Hobbiton. Merry Brandybuck, Frodo's
cousin and also one of the Nine who set off with the
One Ring toward Mordor, also once called this great
mansion his home.
But not only is Brandy Hall the home
of many generations of Brandybucks, along with cousins,
and indeed hundreds of relatives, the halls also house
a significant number of books recording the history
of the Shire. This library would expand significantly
after Merry Brandybuck returned to Brandy Hall and
became Master of the Buckland himself... but these
are tales for another telling.
Although the majority of Brandy Hall
is built underground, a significant amount of building
in and around Buck Hill is visible from a great distance. Indeed,
the entirety of the village of Bucklebury has been
built along the hills and banks surrounding the hall. At
Brandy Hall in the village center, many generations
of expansion have converted the large, low hill into
an impressive dwelling and important social center
for Buckland. Travelers to the region will no
doubt want to take a moment to share a tale and trade
wares with the good Hobbits of Buckland before venturing
into the mysterious darkness of the Old Forest, just
beyond the village's protective hedge, the High Hay,
to the east.
Archet - Barrow-downs -
Brandy Hall - Bree - House
of Tom Bombadil - Prancing
Pony - Weathertop - Withywindle
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