The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Built no earlier than III 1601 (year 1 by the Shire-reckoning)
Location
Stock, in the Eastfarthing of the Shire
Race
Culture
Meaning
Named for a river fish1

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  • Updated 15 March 2012
  • This entry is complete

The Golden Perch

Home of the best beer in the Eastfarthing

Map of the Golden Perch
The Golden Perch at Stock2
The Golden Perch at Stock2

The inn of Stock in the Eastfarthing of the Shire. It stood at the meeting of two roads, one running southward from the Brandywine Bridge and the other, the Stock Road, running eastwards from the Tookland. Members of the Took clan would therefore pass the Golden Perch if they travelled east to meet the Brandybucks of Buckland, and it's clear that Peregrin Took, at least, was familiar with the inn. He reported that it served the best beer in the Shire's Eastfarthing. The inn took its name from a river fish, presumably one found in the Stock-brook, or the Brandywine that flowed nearby (Tolkien suggested that the inn was popular with Hobbit fishermen, so explaining the choice of its name).


Notes

1

The 'golden perch' is a real variety of fish, but as a native of Australia, it would have been unknown to the Shire-hobbits (the perch found in the Shire's rivers would presumably have been of the green, striped variety commonly found in Europe). It seems, then, that the 'golden perch' was merely a fanciful name, or perhaps a reference to some story out of Hobbit folklore.

2

One building in Stock was significantly larger than the others, lying southwest of the junction of the two roads. This was presumably the inn, though it is nowhere specifically identified as such.

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About this entry:

  • Updated 15 March 2012
  • This entry is complete

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