Banna

A Woodwoman named Banna greeted the company on the edge of Rhosgobel. She is tall and gangly, and while her features could not be called pretty, there is a merry glint in her eye. She says that Radagast asked her to accompany the companions to the River, where they can take boats upriver and then travel west to Mountain Hall.

Banna is one of Radagast’s aides and messengers. She is eternally optimistic and positive, and loves tramping through the forest and the vales of Anduin more than anything else. She is curious about other folk, but has no desire to leave the lands she knows and loves – maybe one day, when she has seen all the forest and walked every valley from the Forest Gate to the Mountain Pass, but not yet. While she is a good shot with a bow and can handle a knife, she only fights in defence of her homeland. She knows little about the outside world, but knows everything about the lands of the Woodmen, down to the smallest piece of gossip or the best-hidden path through the woods of the Western Eaves.

Banna is cheery and upbeat. She asks questions of any who are not Woodmen or Beornings; Banna has never seen a Dwarf or a Hobbit, or even a house that was made out of anything other than wood. She tilts her head as if listening to the wind every few minutes. She addresses animals as ‘Master Rabbit, Mistress Cow, Lord Bear’ and so on – treating them as people.