Meriadoc Brandybuck
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Born in 2982 of the Third Age, Merry was the only child (and therefore the heir-apparent) of Saradoc Brandybuck (2940–F.A. 11), Master of Buckland, and Esmeralda Took (2936–?), the younger sister of Paladin Took, making him first cousins to their son Pippin, who is clearly his closest friend.
A lover of boats and maps of Middle-earth, Merry is one of Frodo's closest friends and also related to him several times over.
Biography
Merry is often considered, and is described by Tolkien as, the most perceptive and intelligent of the hobbits: for example, even before Bilbo Baggins leaves the Shire, he knew of the One Ring and its great power. He guards Bag End after Bilbo's party, protecting Frodo from the various and often unwanted guests. He also is a force behind "the Conspiracy" of Sam, Pippin, Fredegar Bolger (more commonly known as "Fatty", due to his very plump form), and himself to help Frodo. Thus, at the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring, Merry is well prepared and organised—he assembles their packs and brings ponies. His shortcut through the Old Forest does not serve them well, though by luck they were saved by Tom Bombadil, and were not pursued by the Nazgûl. At the Barrow-downs, he acquires his sword, a work of Westernesse.At Bree, he is actually not present in the Prancing Pony when Frodo foolishly puts on the ring; instead, he is outside taking a walk, and is nearly overcome by the Nazgûl who arrive. At Rivendell, he is seen studying maps and plotting their path. His approval to the Fellowship comes with only a little less reluctance than Pippin's; they are the two youngest members, and Elrond had planned on sending them back to the shire. At Amon Hen, he is captured, along with Pippin, by a band of Saruman's Orcs, although he makes a good account for himself, and was valiantly defended by Boromir.
Escaping with Pippin into Fangorn Forest he is met by Treebeard and the newly risen Gandalf the White. Along with Pippin, he drinks significant amounts of Ent-draught and gains much height. Accompanying Treebeard to the Entmoot and later to Isengard, he and Pippin are set as the guardians following Saruman's fall. It is here that he first encounters King Théoden of Rohan, and is reunited with the four of the remaining members of the Fellowship.
Separated by Pippin and Gandalf's journey to Gondor after Pippin looks into the palantír, he swears fealty to Théoden and becomes his esquire. Without permission from his liege, he rides to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in the care of young Dernhelm. As the Riders of Rohan are attacked by the Nazgûl and Théoden is injured, Merry and Dernhelm face the Witch-king of Angmar alone. Here, Merry's companion is revealed to be Éowyn, White Lady of Rohan. Battling both fell beast and the Nazgûl alone, Éowyn is well assisted by Merry's crucial move: his sword, originally made for this very purpose, is one of the few weapons able to break the age old spell of the Witch-king. He stabs the Witch-king in the leg, wounding the Lord of the Ringwraiths and leaving him vulnerable to further attack, but at great expense to himself. This is enough to allow Éowyn to finish off the Witch-king. Merry hears Théoden's last words, but is, as is seemingly common luck with hobbits, unnoticed by the honour escort of Riders and is found wandering in the city by Pippin. He is saved by the healing of Aragorn and recovers fully, and quicker than Éowyn.
For his bravery in battle, Merry is knighted by King Éomer as a Knight of the Mark. During the scouring of the Shire, he effectively leads the hobbits in the Battle of Bywater, and personally slays the leader of the opposing forces.
Upon his return, he and Pippin are clearly seen as being the tallest of hobbits, taller even than the legendary Bullroarer Took (as Sam said at the Field of Cormallen, he was 3 inches taller than he ought to be). Merry married Estella Bolger sometime after the end of the Third Age. He inherited the title Master of Buckland in 11 of the Fourth Age. Although he is not recorded as having any children within the family trees, he clearly has at least one son. At the age of 102, he returns to Rohan and Gondor with Pippin, dying there around the year F.A. 64. After his death he and Pippin were laid with the Kings of Gondor in Rath Dínen.
Portrayal in adaptations
In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings, Merry was voiced by Simon Chandler. In the live-action recordings Bakshi used for rotoscoping, Billy Barty was the model for several of the hobbits, but it is not clear whether Barty modelled for Merry.In the 1980 animated version of The Return of the King, made for television, the character was voiced by radio personality Casey Kasem, also known for voicing the character of Shaggy in Scooby-Doo.
In the 1981 BBC radio serial of The Lord of the Rings, Merry was played by Richard O'Callaghan.
In Peter Jackson's film adaptations of the series, Merry was played by Dominic Monaghan. His role underwent minor changes to make him more actively involved in the story. In the book, he travels ahead of Frodo, Sam and Peregrin Took to prepare Frodo's new house in Buckland. He is therefore not present for the other hobbits' first encounter with a Black Rider, in which they are forced to hide under a treeroot near Bamfurlong, the land of Farmer Maggot. Since this subplot does not appear in the film, Merry is introduced at the same time as Pippin, and both of them are present in this scene. Ralph Bakshi's film also made this change. He is also left inside, to witness Frodo's accidental use of the Ring at the Prancing Pony. In The Two Towers, he and Pippin are present at the Entmoot called by Treebeard, but the Ents decide on their own to attack Isengard. In the film, the Ents refuse to get involved, and it takes the persuasion of Merry and Pippin to convince them otherwise. In The Return of the King, he wounds his arm defending Éowyn during the Battle of Pelennor Fields, and is therefore in no condition to accompany Aragorn to the Black Gate of Mordor. In the film his injuries are less serious, so he is still included in this final battle.
On Stage.
In Canada, Merry was portrayed by Dylan Roberts in the 3-hour Toronto stage-production of The Lord of the Rings, which opened in 2006.
In the United States, Merry was portrayed by David Hyden in the Cincinnati production of The Return of the King (2003) for Clear Stage Cincinnati. At Chicago's Lifeline Theatre, Merry was played by Heath Corson in The Two Towers (1998).
Trivia
- It should be noted that Meriadoc Brandybuck is only a translation of the original Westron Kalimac Brandagamba. In keeping with the conceit that The Lord of the Rings was derived from the translated Red Book of Westmarch, Tolkien translated all its Westron words into English — including the names of characters. See Westron for more information.
See also
| The Fellowship of the Ring |
| Frodo · Sam · Merry · Pippin · Gandalf · Aragorn · Legolas · Gimli · Boromir |
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