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Brandywine Bridge
(Bridge of Stonebows) | |
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Other names
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(S.) Baranduiniant; Bridge of Stonebows; Great Bridge
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Type
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Stone bridge (three spans)
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Location
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Purpose
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Carried the Great East Road over Baranduin
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Built by
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Date constructed
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Lifespan
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Survived into the Fourth Age
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The Brandywine Bridge (S. Baranduiniant[1]), originally called the Bridge of Stonebows, was the largest and most useful artifact of ancient Arnor in the Shire. Built "in the days of the power of the North Kingdom" (i.e.: between S.A. 3320 and T.A. 861), this stone bridge carried the Great East Road over river Baranduin, just below (south) of where The Water joined the "Brandywine". At the time of the War of the Ring (late Third Age), it was therefore one of the oldest surviving structures in Eriador.
- Type: Bridge
- Inhabitants: N/A
- Population: 0
- Origin: Built by Arthedain, T.A. 1102
- Purpose: Carried the Great East Road across river Baranduin.
History[]
A stone bridge was first put over the middle Baranduin in the reign of Elendil the Tall. It replaced the two ferries that had previously carried traffic moving along the recently improved Menatar Romen. As part of a political deal between King Mallor of Arthedain and the noble house of Tarma, this fine example of ancient Arnorian stonework was rebuilt and expanded into the magnificent Bridge of Stonebows around T.A. 1102. Magic went into its construction, and it continued to be useful well into the Fourth Age. The bridge was four carts wide and a thousand feet long.
Rivermen and Eriadorans once had dominated the country surrounding this bridge, the only direct link between the Shire and eastern Arthedain. From here, a fast rider could reach the royal garrison at Bree in a day, and Fornost in three. A Fallohide clan, the Quill, had been commissioned to garrison a small stone tower on the western end of the bridge and charge a toll of 3 coppers to travelers. In the early years of the Shire colony, Tarma agents continued to stir up resentment against Hobbits in Stonebows village and the farmlands, using the notion of paying a toll to "child-things and changelings" as a potent argument. The Quill aggravated the problem by conspicuously failing to collect "the King's Pence" from Hobbit travelers. The tolls, allegedly for the maintenance of the bridge and keep, were rumored to be spent on weapons for the Hobbit Dumuvurdur (Kd. "House-guard") allegedly training around Hobbiton and Bywater.
The Bridge Tower was maintained by the Shire-folk for a few centuries after the fall of Arthedain, but eventually its stones were put to better use elsewhere. High ground, in the form of two ridges built up into causeways by the Arnorians, reached close to the Brandywine at this point. The country on either side was a mix of woods, bogs, and farms, fading away into brush and prairie eastward along the Great East Road. The few Hobbits living east of the bridge were considered to be eccentric. An iron and timber gate blocked the western end of the bridge at nightfall, although Hobbits had no trouble getting the gate-keepers to wake up and open it if they arrived after dark. South of the road and east of the bridge, another gate provided an entrance to Buckland. The High Hay blocked passage farther east, but eventually it turned southward. The traveler could then peer into the darkness of the Old Forest, entered by only a few brave hunters who seldom spent the night.
In the first century of the Fourth Age, increased traffic along the Great East Road caused a small town, Bridgebury, to spring up at either end of the span. Despite strenuous efforts by the Brandybuck, Bolger, and Quillfoyle clans, Hobbits were not able to prevent Men from settling on the eastern outskirts of the town, since that locale was technically outside of Shire bounds. Babbin Quillfoyle, the Hobbit mayor of Bridgebury, had to negotiate town-rules with Arnorian traders and caravansaries, just as his ancestors did in the old Shire in the years following its grant by Arthedain's King.
Places of Note[]
- Bridgebury
- Bridgefields
- Bridge Inn
- Iant Baranduin
- Shire Warden
- Stonebows village
Inhabitants[]
Ca. T.A. 3018/19[]
Ca. T.A. 3018-3019: Alaric Brandybuck Amalda Brandybuck Athanaric Brandybuck Clark Harebell Hob Hayward Theodoric Brandybuck
Notes[]
- ↑ Lenited to Varanduiniant in the King's Letter
References[]
- MERP #2017: The Shire
- merp #2005: Arnor