Back from a day (or years) of cutting down orcs? Weary of the company of dwarves? Sick to tears of lembas bread? Head on over to the Green Dragon in Hobbiton, where you’ll find special-brewed ales, hearty local fare, plenty of song and dance, and above all else, “a place to rest your hairy feet”. The pub is the latest attraction to the Hobbiton set tours and was ceremoniously opened at the beginning of the month by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, himself accompanied by dwarves (or the actors that played them). The locale will conclude tours of the expansive film set, located on Alexander Farm, near Matamata, New Zealand, where fans and tourists—expected to arrive in numbers upward 100,000—can grab a pint before departing Middle Earth. Continue.

Hobbiton was originally constructed in 1999 for filming of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, after which they were dismantled. In 2011, the sets were rebuilt and expanded for The Hobbit “trilogy” and, following a tourism initiative, will be preserved for posterity’s sake and opened to the public. The building of the Green Dragon, along with the hobbit holes, bridge, mill, and gardens that make up the Shire, was overseen by the films’ art director and project manager Brian Massey, who led a workforce of 80 skilled laborers to bring the pub to life. Massey and his team outdid themselves; both the pub exteriors and interiors are exquisitely crafted and detailed, including a large wood carving of the site’s chimeric namesake.

[via my modernmet, noosanews]

by Samuel Medina

posted in Uncategorized

tagged beer, Green Dragon, Hobbiton, hobbits, lord of the rings, new zealand, pub, The Hobbit, the Shire

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