The Green Dragon Inn

The Green Dragon Inn stands in the village of Bywater, a short distance from Bilbo Baggins's home at Bag-End under The Hill. It is a familiar landmark in the hobbit-lands, a wide respectable country inhabited by decent folk, with good roads and an inn or two. The inn represents the last outpost of the ordinary, predictable life that Bilbo is about to leave behind.

Meeting Point for the Expedition

It is at the Green Dragon Inn that Thorin and Company, having departed from Bilbo's home the night before, await the hobbit's arrival to formally begin their journey. A note left for Bilbo under his clock instructs him to meet them there at 11 a.m. sharp. When Bilbo, having overslept and rushed out without a hat, pocket-handkerchief, or any money, arrives breathless at the stroke of eleven, he finds Balin standing at the inn door looking out for him. The other dwarves then come round the corner of the road from the village, mounted on ponies laden with baggage, and a very small pony is provided for Bilbo. It is from this point that the company, with Bilbo wearing a borrowed dark-green hood and cloak from Dwalin, jogs off one fine morning just before May, leaving the familiar world behind.

Narrative Significance

The Green Dragon Inn functions as the final threshold between the Shire and the Wild. It is the last place of comfort and civilization before the company ventures into the Lone-lands, where there are no people, no inns, and the roads grow steadily worse. The inn itself is never visited again in the narrative; it is a point of departure, not return. Its role is to anchor the beginning of the adventure in a concrete, recognizable location, emphasizing the contrast between the safe, orderly life of the hobbits and the dangerous, unpredictable journey that follows. The inn's name, evoking a dragon, also subtly foreshadows the ultimate object of the quest.