Meriadoc Brandybuck
Encyclopedia
Meriadoc Brandybuck, usually referred to as Merry, is a fictional character
from J. R. R. Tolkien
's Middle-earth
legendarium
, featured throughout his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings
.
A lover of boats and maps, Merry was described as one of Frodo Baggins
' closest friends and also related to him several times over.
left The Shire
, he knew of the One Ring
and its power of invisibility. He guarded Bag End after Bilbo's party, protecting Frodo from the various and often unwanted guests. He had a knowing manner and an innocent, teasing sense of humour. In one incident, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins accused Frodo of being a Brandybuck and no true Baggins; Merry assured Frodo, "It was a compliment; and so, of course, not true".
Merry also was a force behind "the Conspiracy" of Sam
, Pippin
, Fredegar Bolger
and himself to help Frodo. Thus, at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring
, Merry was well prepared and organized — he assembled their packs and brought ponies. His shortcut through the Old Forest
distanced them from the Nazgûl
for a time, though they had to be rescued from Old Man Willow
by the enigmatic Tom Bombadil
. At the Barrow-downs, he acquired his sword, actually a long dagger forged in the kingdom of Arnor
.
At Bree
, Merry was actually not present in the Prancing Pony when Frodo put on the Ring; instead, he was outside taking a walk, and was nearly overcome by a Nazgûl. At Rivendell
, he was seen studying maps and plotting their path. He was admitted to the Fellowship only a little less reluctantly than Pippin; they were the two youngest members, and Elrond
had planned on sending them back to the Shire.
At the entrance to Moria
, he asked Gandalf
the meaning of the door inscription "Speak, friend, and enter". When Gandalf discovered the true interpretation, he said, "Merry, of all people, was on the right track".
At Amon Hen, he was captured, along with Pippin, by a band of Saruman
's Uruk-hai
, although he gave a good account of himself, and was valiantly defended by Boromir
. Escaping with Pippin into Fangorn forest, Merry was rescued by Treebeard
. Along with Pippin, he drank significant amounts of Ent-draught and grew taller, despite being a fully-grown adult Hobbit. Accompanying Treebeard to the Entmoot and later to Isengard
, he and Pippin took up residence in an Isengard gate-house. It was here that he first encountered King Théoden
of Rohan
, and was reunited with four of the remaining members of the Fellowship.
Separated from Pippin after his friend looked into the palantír
and was whisked off to Gondor
by Gandalf, Merry swore fealty to Théoden and became his esquire. Without permission from his liege, he rode to Gondor with a disguised Éowyn
. In the Battle of the Pelennor Fields
, while the Witch-king of Angmar
was preoccupied with Éowyn, Merry stabbed the Nazgûl in the sinew behind his knee. His sword was made by the Dúnedain of Arnor, and was made for combat against the Nazgûl. Thus, the Black Captain was stricken down by Merry, his protective enchantments broken, and his crown was knocked to the ground by Éowyn, where it fell lifelessly. As a result, the prophecy was fulfilled as he was not killed "by the hands of Men," but rather by that of a Hobbit and a woman. Merry heard Théoden's last words, but went unnoticed by the honour escort of Riders; Pippin found him wandering in the city. Aragorn
healed him and he recovered fully; more quickly than Éowyn.
For his bravery in battle, Merry was knighted by King Éomer
as a Knight of the Mark. During the scouring of the Shire, he led the Hobbits in the Battle of Bywater, and personally killed the leader of the opposing forces.
Upon his return, he and Pippin were clearly seen to be the tallest of Hobbits, taller even than the legendary Bullroarer Took (as Sam said at the Field of Cormallen, Merry was three inches taller than he ought to have been). Merry went on to marry Estella Bolger sometime after the end of the Third Age
. He inherited the title Master of Buckland in year 11 of the Fourth Age
. He retained his links with Rohan and became expert in Rohan's language and traditions, which he discovered to his surprise to have close affinity to the early history of the Hobbits. Although he was not recorded as having any children within the family trees, he is noted as having at least one son. At the age of 102, he returned to Rohan and Gondor with Pippin, dying there around the year . After his death he and Pippin were laid with the Kings of Gondor
in Rath Dínen.
s. The Hobbits found several long Dúnedain
daggers in the wight's treasure. These served as short-swords for the Hobbits, and Merry used his to stab the Witch-king in the back of the knee at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields
. Upon doing so, the dagger was destroyed, as all blades that touched the unseen flesh of the Witch-king suffered this fate. The blade had been enchanted in such a way as to be quite deadly to the Witch-king, specifically, by the unnamed weaponsmith of Arnor
who forged it. This power was said to be what destroyed the head Nazgûl. It was as a result of his bravery in this battle that Merry subsequently gained the soubriquet "The Magnificent".
At the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring
, Merry was dressed as a typical Hobbit: knee breeches, jacket, waistcoat, cloak. After being waylaid by the barrow-wights, he lost his lighter, summer-weight clothes and was left in a burial shift. He was forced to wear heavier woollen clothing packed on his pony the rest of the way to Rivendell
. Later, he was presented an Elven cloak in Lórien, which gave him an ability to blend into natural surroundings. Merry offered his services to Théoden
, King of Rohan, and was equipped with mail, a light leather helmet, and a small green shield with a white horse emblem. He also received the horn of Rohan from Éowyn
, sister to Éomer
, the king of Rohan.
Upon returning to the Shire, Merry was described as wearing chain-mail and presumably had a new sword of Gondor or Rohan-make. Later, he and his friend Pippin Took were known to ride about the Shire dressed in their Lórien cloaks with distinctive leaf-shaped clasps.
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 2001-2003 film trilogy
adaptation of the books, Merry was portrayed by Dominic Monaghan
. In Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Merry accompanied the army of the West to the Black Gate, while in the book he remained in Minas Tirith
to heal from the wound he received when attempting to kill the Witch-king of Angmar
and was instrumental in the romance between Faramir
and Éowyn
.
, and that his stories of Middle-earth derived from that. In this guise of translator, he maintained that Meriadoc Brandybuck was not the character's real name, but rather Kalimac Brandagamba. This was said to be an actual phonetic transcription of the name in Tolkien's invented language
of Westron
, which Tolkien said he transliterated
to English
as follows: The nickname "Merry" represents his actual nickname Kali which meant "handsome, happy", and "Meriadoc" serves as a plausible name from which a nickname meaning "happy" could be derived.
Théoden called Merry Holdwine, and the Hobbit was thus known as such in the records of Rohan
. It most probably derives from the Old English words hold and wine, respectively meaning "faithful" and "friend". Tolkien used Old English to represent Rohirric
, another of his fictional languages, so Holdwine, like Meriadoc Brandybuck, is not what the character was actually called. Tolkien does not give Merry's real Rohirric name.
It has been asserted that the name Meriadoc could be in itself an allusion to the British
nobleman Conan Meriadoc
, legendary founder of the house of Rohan
in Brittany
, since the character Meriadoc is closely associated with Tolkien's kingdom of Rohan.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
legendarium
Legendarium
Legendary may refer to:*A hagiography, or study of the lives of saints and other religious figures**The South English Legendary, a Middle English legendary*A legend-Entertainment:*Legendary, an album by Kaysha*Legendary...
, featured throughout his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
.
A lover of boats and maps, Merry was described as one of Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
' closest friends and also related to him several times over.
Literature
In The Lord of the Rings, Merry was often considered, and was described by Tolkien as, the most perceptive and intelligent of the Hobbits: for example, even before Bilbo BagginsBilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...
left The Shire
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...
, he knew of the One Ring
One Ring
The One Ring is a fictional artifact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy novels. It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit , as a magic ring of invisibility. The sequel The Lord of the Rings describes its powers as being more encompassing than...
and its power of invisibility. He guarded Bag End after Bilbo's party, protecting Frodo from the various and often unwanted guests. He had a knowing manner and an innocent, teasing sense of humour. In one incident, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins accused Frodo of being a Brandybuck and no true Baggins; Merry assured Frodo, "It was a compliment; and so, of course, not true".
Merry also was a force behind "the Conspiracy" of Sam
Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee, later known as Samwise Gardner and commonly as Sam, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. Samwise is one of the chief characters in Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, in which he fills an archetypical role as the sidekick of the protagonist, Frodo...
, Pippin
Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took, more commonly known as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. Pippin is introduced as a Hobbit who plays a major role as one of the companions of Frodo Baggins, in his quest to destroy the One Ring.Peregrin was the only son of...
, Fredegar Bolger
Fredegar Bolger
Fredegar "Fatty" Bolger is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings.-Profile:Fredegar was one of the small group of Hobbits who knew that Frodo had the Ring. 'Fatty' was a descendant of Hildibrand Took , one of the many sons of the Old Took...
and himself to help Frodo. Thus, at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It takes place in the fictional universe Middle-earth. It was originally published on July 29, 1954 in the United Kingdom...
, Merry was well prepared and organized — he assembled their packs and brought ponies. His shortcut through the Old Forest
Old Forest
In J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Old Forest is a small forested area which lies east of the Shire in Buckland....
distanced them from the Nazgûl
Nazgûl
The Nazgûl are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium...
for a time, though they had to be rescued from Old Man Willow
Old Man Willow
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Old Man Willow is a fictional character, appearing in The Lord of the Rings. He was a willow tree in the Old Forest from which much of the Forest's hatred of walking things came. He is portrayed in the story as a tree, though a sentient and evil one with various...
by the enigmatic Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil
Tom Bombadil is a supporting character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in Tolkien's high fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, published in 1954 and 1955. In the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo Baggins and company meet Bombadil in the Old Forest...
. At the Barrow-downs, he acquired his sword, actually a long dagger forged in the kingdom of Arnor
Arnor
Arnor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. Arnor, or the Northern Kingdom, was a kingdom of the Dúnedain in the land of Eriador in Middle-earth. The name probably means "Land of the King", from Sindarin Ara- + dor...
.
At Bree
Bree (Middle-earth)
Bree is a fictional village in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, east of the Shire and south of Fornost Erain. It is thought to have been inspired by the Buckinghamshire village of Brill, which Tolkien visited regularly in his early years at Oxford...
, Merry was actually not present in the Prancing Pony when Frodo put on the Ring; instead, he was outside taking a walk, and was nearly overcome by a Nazgûl. At Rivendell
Rivendell
Rivendell is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth, a fictional realm created by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was established and ruled by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth...
, he was seen studying maps and plotting their path. He was admitted to the Fellowship only a little less reluctantly than Pippin; they were the two youngest members, and Elrond
Elrond
Elrond Half-elven is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is introduced in The Hobbit, and plays a supporting role in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.-Character overview:...
had planned on sending them back to the Shire.
At the entrance to Moria
Moria (Middle-earth)
In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Moria was the name given by the Eldar to an enormous underground complex in north-western Middle-earth, comprising a vast network of tunnels, chambers, mines and huge halls or 'mansions', that ran under and ultimately through the Misty Mountains...
, he asked Gandalf
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
the meaning of the door inscription "Speak, friend, and enter". When Gandalf discovered the true interpretation, he said, "Merry, of all people, was on the right track".
At Amon Hen, he was captured, along with Pippin, by a band of Saruman
Saruman
Saruman the White is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the tale, but later on aims at gaining...
's Uruk-hai
Uruk-hai
The Uruk-hai are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth. They are introduced in The Lord of the Rings as an advanced breed or breeds of Orcs that serve Sauron and Saruman...
, although he gave a good account of himself, and was valiantly defended by Boromir
Boromir
Boromir is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings , and is mentioned in the last volume, The Return of the King....
. Escaping with Pippin into Fangorn forest, Merry was rescued by Treebeard
Treebeard
Treebeard is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. The eldest of the species of Ents, he is said to live in the ancient Forest of Fangorn and stands fourteen feet in height and is tree-like in appearance, with leafy hair and a rigid structure. Fangorn Forest...
. Along with Pippin, he drank significant amounts of Ent-draught and grew taller, despite being a fully-grown adult Hobbit. Accompanying Treebeard to the Entmoot and later to Isengard
Isengard
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Isengard , a translation of the Sindarin Angrenost, was a large fortress. Both names mean "Iron fortress" In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, Isengard , a translation of the Sindarin Angrenost, was a large fortress....
, he and Pippin took up residence in an Isengard gate-house. It was here that he first encountered King Théoden
Théoden
Théoden is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings. He appears as a major supporting character in The Two Towers and The Return of the King.-Appearances:...
of Rohan
Rohan
Rohan is a realm in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy era of Middle-earth. It is a grassland which lies north of its ally Gondor and north-west of Mordor, the realm of Sauron, their enemy . It is inhabited by the Rohirrim, a people of herdsmen and farmers who are well-known for their horses and cavalry....
, and was reunited with four of the remaining members of the Fellowship.
Separated from Pippin after his friend looked into the palantír
Palantír
A palantír is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír A palantír (pl. palantíri) is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír A palantír (pl. palantíri) is a magical artifact from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy legendarium. A palantír...
and was whisked off to Gondor
Gondor
Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth by the end of the Third Age. The third volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, is concerned with the events in Gondor during the War of the Ring and with...
by Gandalf, Merry swore fealty to Théoden and became his esquire. Without permission from his liege, he rode to Gondor with a disguised Éowyn
Éowyn
Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who describes herself as a "shieldmaiden".-Literature:...
. In the Battle of the Pelennor Fields
Battle of the Pelennor Fields
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy fiction, the Battle of Pelennor Fields is the battle for the city of Minas Tirith between the forces of Gondor and its allies, and the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron...
, while the Witch-king of Angmar
Witch-king of Angmar
The Witch-king of Angmar, also known as the Lord of the Nazgûl and the Black Captain among other names, is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. In Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, he is the chief of the Nazgûl , the chief servants...
was preoccupied with Éowyn, Merry stabbed the Nazgûl in the sinew behind his knee. His sword was made by the Dúnedain of Arnor, and was made for combat against the Nazgûl. Thus, the Black Captain was stricken down by Merry, his protective enchantments broken, and his crown was knocked to the ground by Éowyn, where it fell lifelessly. As a result, the prophecy was fulfilled as he was not killed "by the hands of Men," but rather by that of a Hobbit and a woman. Merry heard Théoden's last words, but went unnoticed by the honour escort of Riders; Pippin found him wandering in the city. Aragorn
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
healed him and he recovered fully; more quickly than Éowyn.
For his bravery in battle, Merry was knighted by King Éomer
Éomer
Éomer is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in The Two Towers and The Return of the King, the second and third volumes of Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings....
as a Knight of the Mark. During the scouring of the Shire, he led the Hobbits in the Battle of Bywater, and personally killed the leader of the opposing forces.
Upon his return, he and Pippin were clearly seen to be the tallest of Hobbits, taller even than the legendary Bullroarer Took (as Sam said at the Field of Cormallen, Merry was three inches taller than he ought to have been). Merry went on to marry Estella Bolger sometime after the end of the Third Age
Third Age
The Third Age is a time period from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. The history of Middle-earth is to be taken fictionally as a history of the real Earth....
. He inherited the title Master of Buckland in year 11 of the Fourth Age
Fourth Age
In the fictional world of middle earth "'the fourth age'" and the ages that preceded it, are time periods from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth, described in his fantasy writings...
. He retained his links with Rohan and became expert in Rohan's language and traditions, which he discovered to his surprise to have close affinity to the early history of the Hobbits. Although he was not recorded as having any children within the family trees, he is noted as having at least one son. At the age of 102, he returned to Rohan and Gondor with Pippin, dying there around the year . After his death he and Pippin were laid with the Kings of Gondor
Kings of Gondor
This is a list of kings of Gondor from the fictional universe of Middle-earth by J. R. R. Tolkien.The kings of Gondor through Amandil claimed descent from the Lords of Andúnië, and from there to Silmariën and the Kings of Númenor....
in Rath Dínen.
Weapons and attire
Merry was unarmed (except for a small pocket-knife) until the encounter with the barrow-wightBarrow-wight
Barrow-wights are wraith-like creatures in J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, based on the Old Norse Draugr. Barrow refers to the burial mounds they inhabited and wight is a Middle English word for "living being" or "creature", especially "human being"...
s. The Hobbits found several long Dúnedain
Dúnedain
In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Dúnedain were a race of Men descended from the Númenóreans who survived the sinking of their island kingdom and came to Eriador in Middle-earth, led by Elendil and his sons, Isildur and Anárion...
daggers in the wight's treasure. These served as short-swords for the Hobbits, and Merry used his to stab the Witch-king in the back of the knee at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields
Battle of the Pelennor Fields
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy fiction, the Battle of Pelennor Fields is the battle for the city of Minas Tirith between the forces of Gondor and its allies, and the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron...
. Upon doing so, the dagger was destroyed, as all blades that touched the unseen flesh of the Witch-king suffered this fate. The blade had been enchanted in such a way as to be quite deadly to the Witch-king, specifically, by the unnamed weaponsmith of Arnor
Arnor
Arnor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings. Arnor, or the Northern Kingdom, was a kingdom of the Dúnedain in the land of Eriador in Middle-earth. The name probably means "Land of the King", from Sindarin Ara- + dor...
who forged it. This power was said to be what destroyed the head Nazgûl. It was as a result of his bravery in this battle that Merry subsequently gained the soubriquet "The Magnificent".
At the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It takes place in the fictional universe Middle-earth. It was originally published on July 29, 1954 in the United Kingdom...
, Merry was dressed as a typical Hobbit: knee breeches, jacket, waistcoat, cloak. After being waylaid by the barrow-wights, he lost his lighter, summer-weight clothes and was left in a burial shift. He was forced to wear heavier woollen clothing packed on his pony the rest of the way to Rivendell
Rivendell
Rivendell is an Elven outpost in Middle-earth, a fictional realm created by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was established and ruled by Elrond in the Second Age of Middle-earth...
. Later, he was presented an Elven cloak in Lórien, which gave him an ability to blend into natural surroundings. Merry offered his services to Théoden
Théoden
Théoden is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings. He appears as a major supporting character in The Two Towers and The Return of the King.-Appearances:...
, King of Rohan, and was equipped with mail, a light leather helmet, and a small green shield with a white horse emblem. He also received the horn of Rohan from Éowyn
Éowyn
Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who describes herself as a "shieldmaiden".-Literature:...
, sister to Éomer
Éomer
Éomer is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He appears in The Two Towers and The Return of the King, the second and third volumes of Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings....
, the king of Rohan.
Upon returning to the Shire, Merry was described as wearing chain-mail and presumably had a new sword of Gondor or Rohan-make. Later, he and his friend Pippin Took were known to ride about the Shire dressed in their Lórien cloaks with distinctive leaf-shaped clasps.
Adaptations
Ralph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi is an Israeli-American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote...
's 1978
1978 in film
The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 1 - Bob Dylan's film Renaldo and Clara, a documentary of the "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour premieres in Los Angeles, California....
animated version
The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 American fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. It contains both animation and live action footage which is rotoscoped to give it a more consistent look throughout the length of the movie. It is an adaptation of the first half of the high fantasy...
of The Lord of the Rings, Merry was voiced by Simon Chandler. In the live-action recordings Bakshi used for rotoscoping
Rotoscope
Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame, for use in animated films. Originally, recorded live-action film images were projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator...
, Billy Barty
Billy Barty
Billy Barty was an American film actor.-Biography:Barty, an Italian American, was born William John Bertanzetti in Millsboro, Pennsylvania...
was the model for several of the hobbits, but it is not clear whether Barty modelled for Merry.
In the 1980
1980 in film
- Events :* May 21 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released and is the biggest grosser of the year ....
animated version of The Return of the King
The Return of the King (1980 film)
The Return of the King, also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits, is a 1980 animated television special created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft. The film is an adaptation of the third volume in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R...
, made for television, the character was voiced by radio personality Casey Kasem
Casey Kasem
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.Kasem, along with Don Bustany and...
, also known for voicing the character of Shaggy
Shaggy Rogers
Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is a fictional character from the American animated television series Scooby-Doo, about the adventures of four crime-solving teenagers and Shaggy's pet great dane, Scooby-Doo. Shaggy is a cowardly slacker more interested in eating than solving mysteries. He is the only...
in Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise based around several animated television series and related works produced from 1969 to the present day. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears in 1969...
.
In the 1981 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
serial of The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)
In 1981 the UK radio station BBC Radio 4 broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo instalments...
, Merry was played by Richard O'Callaghan.
In Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
's 2001-2003 film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
adaptation of the books, Merry was portrayed by Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
. In Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
Merry accompanied the army of the West to the Black Gate, while in the book he remained in Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith , originally named Minas Anor, is a fictional city and castle in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It became the heavily fortified capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age...
to heal from the wound he received when attempting to kill the Witch-king of Angmar
Witch-king of Angmar
The Witch-king of Angmar, also known as the Lord of the Nazgûl and the Black Captain among other names, is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings. In Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, he is the chief of the Nazgûl , the chief servants...
and was instrumental in the romance between Faramir
Faramir
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, Faramir is a fictional character appearing in The Lord of the Rings. He is introduced as the younger brother of Boromir of the Fellowship of the Ring and second son of Denethor II, the Steward of the realm of Gondor...
and Éowyn
Éowyn
Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who describes herself as a "shieldmaiden".-Literature:...
.
Names and titles
In the prefaces and appendices to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien employed the conceit that he was the modern translator of a unique manuscript, the Red Book of WestmarchRed Book of Westmarch
The Red Book of Westmarch is a fictional manuscript written by hobbits, a conceit of author J. R. R...
, and that his stories of Middle-earth derived from that. In this guise of translator, he maintained that Meriadoc Brandybuck was not the character's real name, but rather Kalimac Brandagamba. This was said to be an actual phonetic transcription of the name in Tolkien's invented language
Fictional language
Fictional languages are by far the largest group of artistic languages. Fictional languages are intended to be the languages of a fictional world and are often designed with the intent of giving more depth and an appearance of plausibility to the fictional worlds with which they are associated, and...
of Westron
Westron
Westron, or the Common Speech, is a fictional language in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien.Westron is the closest thing to a lingua franca in Middle-earth, at least at the time during which The Lord of the Rings is set. "Westron" is an invented English word, derived from West...
, which Tolkien said he transliterated
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
to English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as follows: The nickname "Merry" represents his actual nickname Kali which meant "handsome, happy", and "Meriadoc" serves as a plausible name from which a nickname meaning "happy" could be derived.
Théoden called Merry Holdwine, and the Hobbit was thus known as such in the records of Rohan
Rohan
Rohan is a realm in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy era of Middle-earth. It is a grassland which lies north of its ally Gondor and north-west of Mordor, the realm of Sauron, their enemy . It is inhabited by the Rohirrim, a people of herdsmen and farmers who are well-known for their horses and cavalry....
. It most probably derives from the Old English words hold and wine, respectively meaning "faithful" and "friend". Tolkien used Old English to represent Rohirric
Rohirric
In the fictional world of Middle-earth by J. R. R. Tolkien, Rohirric is the language of the Rohirrim of Rohan.-Description:...
, another of his fictional languages, so Holdwine, like Meriadoc Brandybuck, is not what the character was actually called. Tolkien does not give Merry's real Rohirric name.
It has been asserted that the name Meriadoc could be in itself an allusion to the British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
nobleman Conan Meriadoc
Conan Meriadoc
Conan Meriadoc is a legendary British leader credited with founding Brittany. Versions of his story circulated in both Brittany and Great Britain from at least the early 12th century, and supplanted earlier legends of Brittany's foundation...
, legendary founder of the house of Rohan
Rohan (family)
The House of Rohan is a family of viscounts, later dukes and princes, coming from the locality of Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët and said to trace back to the legendary Conan Meriadoc. Through the Porhoët, the Rohan are related to the Dukes of Brittany, with...
in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, since the character Meriadoc is closely associated with Tolkien's kingdom of Rohan.