- "Then who would you take up with? A fat innkeeper who only remembers his own name because people shout it at him all day?"
- —Aragorn to Barliman Butterbur in The Fellowship of the Ring, Strider
Barliman Butterbur was a Man of Bree and owner of The Prancing Pony, in the town of Bree.
Biography[]
Barliman Butterbur owned the Prancing Pony for an unknown period of time in the late Third Age. He was fond of Hobbits and had two hobbit employees: Bob, who worked in the stables, and Nob, a servant. He knew Gandalf very well as he frequently came and stayed at the inn from time to time over the years. During the War of the Ring, he forgot to send Gandalf's letter to Frodo, leaving Frodo uncertain as to Gandalf's fate and causing him to start his journey much later than the letter indicated. He did not remember it until Frodo and his companions arrived to stay at the inn, and even then it was long before the connection was made.
When Gandalf found out, he threatened to "roast" Butterbur, but forgave him in light of his memory problems. Butterbur did, however, remember in time to produce Strider's credentials. Gandalf blessed his beer for seven years upon hearing that Frodo and companions were alive and well and with Strider.
After the War of the Ring, Butterbur was amazed to learn that Strider, a former patron of his inn and for whom he thought was a mere Ranger of the wild, had become a king. In the days that the hobbits visited The Prancing Pony shortly before the Scouring of the Shire, Bob went home after dark every day, which Butterbur continued to forget.[1][2]
Character[]
Barliman was a stout, good-hearted man, notorious for his very bad memory, about which he said "One thing drives out another".
Barliman Butterbur in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, The Black Riders expansion
In adaptations[]
Butterbur appears in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film, voiced by Alan Tilvern.
James Grout was the voice of Butterbur in BBC Radio's 1981 serialization of The Lord of the Rings.
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy[]
Butterbur appears in Peter Jackson's 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, portrayed by David Weatherley. Most of his scenes, such as the references to Gandalf's letter, were cut.
The Hobbit film trilogy[]
In The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Butterbur's father appears as The Prancing Pony's owner, named Barney Butterbur, along with his wife Betsy.
Barliman as he appears in The Lord of the Rings Online
Video games[]
- Butterbur appears in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(video game) and The Lord of the Rings Online, as a non-playable character.
- In LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game, he is included in a DLC pack.
Voice dubbing actors[]
| Foreign Language | Voice dubbing artist |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Yamil Atala |
| Spanish (Spain) | Eduardo Muntada |
| Portuguese (Brazil) (Television/DVD) | Mauro Castro |
| German | Wolfgang Völz |
| Italian (Italy) | Sandro Pellegrini |
| Czech | Martin Zahálka |
| Hungarian | Szélyes Imre |
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Пиволей Мажирепей |
| Czech | Ječmínek Máselník |
| Danish | Bygmand Smørblomst |
| Dutch | Gersteman Boterbloem |
| Finnish | Viljami Voivalvatti |
| French | Prosper Poiredebeurré |
| German | Gerstenmann Butterblume |
| Hebrew | בארלימן החמאוני |
| Hungarian | Papsajt Ászok |
| Italian | Omorzo Cactaceo |
| Norwegian | Byggelmann Balderbrå |
| Portuguese | Cevado Carrapicho (Brazil)
Cervejeiro Carrapiço (Portugal) |
| Russian | Барлиман Баттербур |
| Serbian | Јечмар Маслочвор (Cyrillic) Ječmar Masločvor (Latin) |
| Slovak | Žito Maslík |
| Spanish (Spain and Latin America) | Cebadilla Mantecona |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Барліман Баттербур |
| Polish | Chmielko Maślak |
References[]
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter IX: "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony"
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter X: "Strider"