Inns and Taverns

Inns were establishments built along the old Númenórean and Dwarven roads to supply travellers with food, drink and rest. They were chiefly frequented by those journeying by horse or coach and possessed attached stables tended by hostlers. Inns commonly served as local gathering places; often a prominent family maintained an inn or let rooms in their house to guests. Many inns were sizable, prosperous farmsteads with chambers for short‑term travellers and long‑term lodgers. Communal sleeping rooms were common for itinerants, while private rooms were simple: a bed, a chair, a table and a basin, rented to longer‑staying or permanent guests.

They differed from Taverns, where the principal purpose was drinking and the serving of food, though some taverns provided lodgings, and some inns and taverns shared kitchens or gradually merged. Eldar and Númenóreans knew analogous houses called Látacari (Quenya: "Public Houses", lit. "Open‑houses"), where people assembled to sing, dance, tell stories and socialize. Both inn and tavern were at times blended with the older institution of the Sennas (Sindarin: "Guesthouse"), the Guest‑hall or Bruiden, established by local chieftains to offer hospitality to wanderers, the poor, and to the chieftain's own folk. Such houses might be great mead‑halls where the chieftain provided free food and drink. In later times the keeper of an inn was often a respected local person, sometimes charged with minor jurisdiction, able to hold a local court and settle disputes. A distinct development was the Guest House, often nearer to a hostel, hospital or almshouse (Bede‑house). These provided lodgings and simple meals chiefly for the poor, pilgrims and wanderers and were maintained by local authorities or religious fraternities. They were not public drinking houses but places of shelter and basic sustenance. When attached to Houses of Healing they might care for the ill and were sometimes connected with local healers. The older Elven and Adanic form of such hospitality was the Sennas, the guest‑house or resting‑place, which offered moderate lodging and food and was open to any traveller rather than being a poor‑house; these were quiet and not used for public feast and revelry.

List of Inns and Taverns

• Ainhari's Rift' at the Tirthon
• All-welcome Inn west of Frogmorton, The Shire
• The Angry Horse in Strayhold
• The Apple Tree Inn, Eithel Celebrin
• Ashalee Gerzaud tavern, Kun Anyam
• The Barley's Yield in Mekeilaist
• Bat's Inn, Lond Aduial, Tol Aduial, Tolfalas
• The Bent Blade in Beldwin
• The Birchline at Boldercross
• The Black Kine in Strayhold
• Black Ox inn, in the Emyn Arnen, Ithilien
• The Blue Trout in Combe
• Chetwood Inn in Archet
• Comb and Wattle at Combe
• Crow's Nest Inn, Fanuilond
• The Dindraug at Celebannon
• The Drunken Goose inn and tavern, Umbar
• Ethelmund's Tavern in Edoras
• The Fattened Ewe in Metraith
• First Watch tavern, Fanuilond
• Floating log Inn at Frogmorton
• Forsaken Inn (Bree-land)
• The Frothy Tankard at Reedhaven
• Gallan's Folly in Metraith
• The Golden Island at Dispar
• The Golden Perch at Stock
• The Golden Road (Ap. Yol Ehen) tavern and inn, Kun Anyam
• The Golden Spoon in Beldwin
• Gralialeik's in Strayhold
• The Green Crow tavern, Caras Gwindor
• The Grey Moon at Kuska in Angmar
• Guildsmen's Club in Metraith (an exclusive inn)
• Gulthbairht's Tavern in Tuin Bod
• The Haunted Inn in Southern Mirkwood
• Hobwood Inn, near the Hobwood, The Shire
• The Hungry Salmon Inn in Dale
• The Ingle-nook
• Inn at the Last Bridge at the Last Bridge, Rhudaur
• Inn of Greys, in the Firienholt, Rohan
• The Iron Arch in Beldwin
• King's Crown Inn, Mering Steps
• King's Inn, Lond Aduial, Tol Aduial, Tolfalas
• King's Rest Inn in Bree
• The Looking Glass Inn in Nothrimos
• The Mad Badger Inn, Archet
• Maes Tor tavern at Maes Tor
• Mainstay Inn at Bywater
• The Merry Salmon Inn, Etraim
• The Mithril Earring in Metraith
• The Mithril Flask Inn, Occum
• Mother's Finest inn, Fanuilond
• The Mug and Matress Inn, Eithel Celebrin
• Nackers Tavern at Greenholm
• Oded's Red Wave Tavern, Alyahopa
• Ódgairtún Inn (earlier: "Wodgaisistuna") at Esgaroth
• Prancing Pony in Bree
• The Rabid Cow in Metraith
• The Red Sunset inn and tavern, Umbar
• The River's Edge at Fennas Drûnîn
• The Sand Pit Inn in Nothrimos
• The Sands of Harad in Strayhold
• The Seven Stars tavern, Caras Gwindor
• The Silver Horseshoe Inn at Edoras
• Steinholl Inn, Steinholl
• The Summer Moon Tavern, Alyahopa
• Tap of the Grog inn and tavern, Fanuilond
• Taraban's Stars (Ap. Taraban Iilish) tavern, Kun Anyam
• The Thorn Inn, Alyahopa
• The Three Rubies Inn, Eithel Celebrin
• The Tipsy Triton inn, Fanuilond
• The Traveller's Rest' inn at Calost
• Two Waters at Culwic
• Vinië's Hostel, Mering Steps
• The Wanderer in Beldwin
• The Water Serpent Inn, Dinach
• The Wayfarer's Rest inn, Caras Gwindor
• The Whispering Hearth Inn Vidusbaurg
• The White Island Inn, Alyahopa
• The White Mule Tavern, Eithel Celebrin
• The White Purse in Strayhold
• Wildland Inn at Greenholm
• The Winds of Ormal (Ap. Osilen Fel Ormal) inn, Kun Anyam
• Yellow Dawn Tavern at Tuin Bod

References

• LotRO
• MERP

Editorial Note: This entry contains speculative or fan-based material — such as fanon, fanfiction, or theory constructs — that may not be directly supported by canonical texts. Interpretations offered here are part of the NNCA’s speculative corpus and should not be mistaken for primary Tolkien sources.