124-556: Meriadoc Brandybuck , usually called Merry , is a Hobbit , a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien 's Middle-earth legendarium , featured throughout his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings . Merry is described as one of the closest friends of Frodo Baggins , the main protagonist. Merry and his friend and cousin, Pippin , are members of the Company of the Ring . They become separated from
248-531: A Warwickshire village of about the period of the Diamond Jubilee [of Queen Victoria, in 1897] ". Shippey described hobbit culture, complete with tobacco and potatoes, as a "creative anachronism" on Tolkien's part. In his view, anachronism is the "essential function" of hobbits, enabling Tolkien to "bridge the gap" by mediating between readers' lives in the modern world and the dangerous ancient world of Middle-earth. Fimi comments that this applies both to
372-451: A hobbit , known as Merry, was the only child of Saradoc Brandybuck, a Master of Buckland , and Esmeralda (née Took), the younger sister of Paladin Took II, making him a cousin to Paladin's son, his friend Pippin . His grandfather Rorimac Brandybuck's sister Primula was the mother of Frodo Baggins, the main protagonist of the book. Merry and Frodo were thus first cousins once removed. Hobbits of
496-461: A leap year , to ensure that the calendar remained in time with the seasons. Hobbits traditionally live in "hobbit-holes", or smials , underground homes found in hillsides, downs, and banks, though others lived in houses. It has been suggested that the soil or ground of the Shire consists of loess and that this facilitates the construction of hobbit-holes. Loess is a yellow soil, which would explain
620-479: A background of forest and distant mountains. He dies with the work incomplete, undone by his imperfectly generous heart: "it made him uncomfortable more often than it made him do anything". After discipline in Purgatory , however, Niggle finds himself in the very landscape depicted by his painting which he is now able to finish with the assistance of a neighbour who obstructed him during life. The picture complete, Niggle
744-532: A blank piece of paper: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit". The term "hobbit", however, has real antecedents in modern English. One is a fact that Tolkien admitted: the title of Sinclair Lewis 's 1922 novel Babbitt , about a "complacent American businessman" who goes through a journey of some kind of self-discovery, facing "near-disgrace"; the Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey observes that there are some parallels here with Bilbo's own journey. According to
868-722: A century after the Harfoots did, and settled in the pre-existing Harfoot villages of the Bree-land. Never very numerous, the Fallohides intermixed with and were largely absorbed by the Harfoots during this time, though several prominent families such as the Tooks and the Masters of Buckland had a substantial Fallohide descent, unlike many of the people that they led. After about four centuries, a large expedition of hobbits migrated westward from Bree-land led by
992-426: A cheerful prankster full of fun and practical jokes. Hobbit Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien . About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, they live barefooted, and traditionally dwell in homely underground houses which have windows, built into
1116-596: A destructive process of industrialization. Saruman governs the Shire in secret under the name of Sharkey until the events of The Scouring of the Shire ". In that penultimate chapter, Frodo and his companions return and lead a rebellion, defeating the intruders and exposing Saruman's role. Even after Saruman attempts to stab Frodo, Frodo lets him go; but Wormtongue, whom Saruman continues to taunt and physically abuse, finally snaps and murders him. Consistent accounts of Saruman's earlier history appear in Appendix B to The Lord of
1240-582: A field); have a very simple sense of humour (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much. In their earliest folk tales , hobbits appear to have lived in Rhovanion , in the Valley of Anduin , between Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains . According to The Lord of the Rings , they had lost the genealogical details of how they are related to
1364-510: A half centuries before the founding of the Shire in Third Age 1601). Tolkien coined the term "Harfoot" as analogous to "hairfoot". The Fallohides were the least numerous, and the second group to enter Eriador. They were generally fair-haired, and taller and slimmer than other Hobbits. While the other two types of hobbit were on average about three and a half feet tall, Fallohides were closer on average to four feet. They were more adventurous than
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#17328594944281488-552: A letter from Tolkien to W. H. Auden , one "probably ... unconscious" inspiration was Edward Wyke Smith 's 1927 children's book The Marvellous Land of Snergs . Tolkien described the Snergs as "a race of people only slightly taller than the average table but broad in the shoulders and [who] have the strength of ten men." Another possible origin emerged in 1977 when the Oxford English Dictionary announced that it had found
1612-477: A list of ghostly beings in The Denham Tracts (1895), though these bear no similarity to Tolkien's Hobbits. Scholars have noted Tolkien's denial of a relationship with the word " rabbit ", pointing to several lines of evidence to the contrary. Hobbits are modern, unlike the heroic ancient-style cultures of Gondor and Rohan , with familiar things like umbrellas, matches, and clocks. As such they mediate between
1736-418: A noble kind that we should not dare raise our hands against" but decays as the book goes on. Patricia Meyer Spacks calls him "one of the main case histories [in the book] of the gradual destructive effect of willing submission to evil wills". Paul Kocher identifies Saruman's use of a palantír , a seeing-stone, as the immediate cause of his downfall, but also suggests that through his study of "the arts of
1860-502: A party of Dwarves seeks to recover an ancient treasure from the hoard of a dragon. They are again central to The Lord of the Rings , an altogether darker tale, where Bilbo's younger cousin Frodo sets out from the Shire to destroy the Ring that Bilbo had brought home. The Tolkien critic Paul H. Kocher notes that Tolkien's literary techniques require readers to view hobbits as like humans, especially when placed under moral pressure to survive
1984-462: A plausible name from which a nickname meaning "happy" could be derived. The name given to Merry in the language of Rohan , Holdwine , is based on the Old English for "faithful friend". The Tolkien scholar Jane Chance discusses the role of Merry and his friend Pippin in illuminating the contrast between the "good and bad Germanic lords Théoden and Denethor ". She writes that both leaders receive
2108-515: A quest to destroy the One Ring , a powerful and evil talisman created by the Dark Lord Sauron to control the nine rings of men, the remaining rings of the dwarves (originally seven) and the three of the elves, the most powerful, thus furthering Sauron's dominion over Middle-earth . Sauron lost the Ring in battle thousands of years before the beginning of the story, and it is now held in secret in
2232-560: A simple desire for power. Treebeard describes Saruman as having "a mind of metal and wheels". Evil in The Lord of the Rings tends to be associated with machinery, whereas good is usually associated with nature. Both Saruman's stronghold of Isengard and his altered Shire demonstrate the negative effects of industrialization and Isengard is overthrown when the forests, in the shape of the Ents, literally rise against it. Patrick Curry says Tolkien
2356-526: A small town called Hobbiton, which in The Lord of the Rings is identified as being part of a larger rural region called the Shire , the homeland of the hobbits in the northwest of Middle-earth. Some also live in a region east of the Shire, Bree-land , where they co-exist with Men . The origins of the name and idea of "Hobbits" have been debated; literary antecedents include Sinclair Lewis 's 1922 novel Babbitt , and Edward Wyke Smith's 1927 The Marvellous Land of Snergs . The word "hobbit" also appears in
2480-589: A unique manuscript, the Red Book of Westmarch , and that his stories of Middle-earth derived from that. In this guise of translator, he maintained that the character's real name was not Meriadoc Brandybuck , 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 pretended that he was transliterating to English. The nickname "Merry" then represented his actual nickname Kali , meaning "handsome, happy", and "Meriadoc" served as
2604-401: A war that threatens to devastate their land. Frodo becomes in some ways the symbolic representation of the conscience of hobbits, a point made explicitly in the story " Leaf by Niggle " which Tolkien wrote at the same time as the first nine chapters of The Lord of the Rings . Niggle is a painter struggling against the summons of death to complete his one great canvas, a picture of a tree with
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#17328594944282728-485: Is hostile to industrialism , linking this to the widespread urban development that took place in the West Midlands where Tolkien grew up in the first decades of the 20th century. He identifies Saruman as one of the key examples given in the book of the evil effects of industrialization, and by extension of imperialism . John R. Holmes writes that there is a philological link between "a perverted will to power with
2852-599: Is 'real change'?" Shippey contrasts this modern speech pattern with the archaic stoicism and directness, the Northern courage , that Tolkien employs for other characters such as the Dwarven King Dáin , which Shippey believes represent Tolkien's view of heroism in the mould of Beowulf . Saruman has been identified by critics as demonstrating the fall of an originally good character who has distinctively modern connections with technology. Tolkien writes that The Lord of
2976-583: Is elsewhere described as having been black when he first arrived in Middle-earth. He is referred to as 'Saruman the White' and is said to have originally worn white robes, but on his first entry in The Fellowship of the Ring they instead appear to be "woven from all colours [, they] shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered" and he names himself 'Saruman of Many Colours'. The power of Saruman's voice
3100-507: Is free to journey to the distant mountains which represent the highest stage of his spiritual development. Thus, upon recovery from the wound inflicted by the Witch-King of Angmar on Weathertop , Gandalf speculates that the hobbit Frodo "may become like a glass filled with a clear light for eyes to see that can". Similarly, as Frodo nears Mount Doom he casts aside weapons and refuses to fight others with physical force: "For him struggles for
3224-588: Is noted throughout the book. Jonathan Evans calls the characterisation of Saruman in the chapter The Voice of Saruman a "tour de force". The early critic Roger Sale wrote of the same chapter in 1968 that "Tolkien valiantly tried to do something worth doing which he simply cannot bring off." Tom Shippey writes that "Saruman talks like a politician ... No other character in Middle-earth has Saruman's trick of balancing phrases against each other so that incompatibles are resolved, and none comes out with words as empty as 'deploring', 'ultimate', worst of all, 'real'. What
3348-519: Is offered. The name Saruman ( pronounced [ˈsɑrumɑn] ) means "man of skill or cunning" in the Mercian dialect of Anglo-Saxon ; he serves as an example of technology and modernity being overthrown by forces more in tune with nature . Saruman was portrayed by Christopher Lee in Peter Jackson 's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. The Lord of the Rings describes
3472-424: Is one example of the consistent theme of nothingness as the fate of evil throughout The Lord of the Rings . Saruman has appeared in film, radio, stage and video game adaptations of The Lord of the Rings . BBC Radio produced the first adaptation in 1955 , in which Saruman was played by Robert Farquharson , and which has not survived. Tolkien was disappointed by it. BBC Radio's second adaptation of The Lord of
3596-560: Is ruined when the Riders of Rohan defeat his army and Merry and Pippin prompt the Ents to destroy Isengard. Saruman himself is not directly involved, and only appears again in chapter 10, "The Voice of Saruman", by which time he is trapped in Orthanc. He fails in his attempt to negotiate with the Rohirrim and with Gandalf, and rejects Gandalf's conditional offer to let him go free. Gandalf casts him out of
3720-412: Is the hair on their heads) and have leathery soles, so Hobbits hardly ever wear shoes. Hobbits are not quite as stocky as the similarly sized dwarves , but still tend to be stout, with slightly pointed ears. Tolkien clarified their appearance in a 1938 letter to his American publisher: I picture a fairly human figure, not a kind of 'fairy' rabbit as some of my British reviewers seem to fancy: fattish in
3844-437: Is to remain of good courage when strong men start to doubt whether victory is possible, as when Merry encourages Théoden when even he seems to be succumbing to "horror and doubt". Another purpose, writes the Tolkien critic Paul Kocher , is given by Tolkien himself, in the words of the wizard Gandalf : "the young hobbits ... were brought to Fangorn, and their coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in
Merry Brandybuck - Misplaced Pages Continue
3968-486: Is with rabbit , one that Tolkien "emphatically rejected", although the word appears in The Hobbit in connection with other characters' opinions of Bilbo in several places. Bilbo compares himself to a rabbit when he is with the eagle that carries him; the eagle , too, tells Bilbo not to be "frightened like a rabbit". The giant bear-man Beorn teases Bilbo and jokes that "little bunny is getting nice and fat again", while
4092-600: The Big People . Still, Tolkien clearly states in "Concerning Hobbits" that hobbits are not technically a distinct race from Men, the way that Elves or Dwarves are, but branched off from other humans in the distant past of the Elder Days. Many eons later, but still early in the Third Age, the ancient hobbits lived in the valley of the Anduin River , close by the Éothéod , the ancestors of the Rohirrim. This led to some contact between
4216-516: The Elven -smiths. Shortly afterwards, Gandalf breaks an arrangement to meet Frodo and guide him out of the Shire to Rivendell to keep the Ring safe from Sauron's agents. Frodo and Gandalf are reunited at Rivendell midway through The Fellowship of the Ring . The wizard explains why he failed to join Frodo: he had been summoned to consult with Saruman but had been held captive. Saruman initially had proposed that
4340-606: The Entmoot and later to the wizard Saruman 's fortress of Isengard , which the Ents destroyed, they took up residence in a gate-house, meeting King Théoden of Rohan , and were reunited with the Fellowship. Merry swore allegiance to Théoden and became his esquire. Against Théoden's orders, he rode to Gondor with the King's niece Éowyn , who disguised herself as a common soldier. In the Battle of
4464-465: The Ents , protectors of the trees, who are outraged at the widespread felling of trees by Saruman's Orcs. Meanwhile, Saruman prepares to invade the kingdom of Rohan , which has lain exposed ever since he had his servant Gríma Wormtongue render Théoden , Rohan's king, weak and defenceless with "subtle poisons". Gandalf frees Théoden from Wormtongue's control just as Saruman's army is about to invade. Saruman
4588-549: The Indonesian island of Flores in 2004. The fossils, of a species named Homo floresiensis after the island on which the remains were found, were informally dubbed "Hobbits" by their discoverers in a series of articles published in the scientific journal Nature . The excavated skeletons reveal a hominid that (like a Hobbit) grew no larger than a three-year-old modern child and had proportionately larger feet than modern humans. Saruman Saruman , also called Saruman
4712-488: The Mercian dialect of Old English used by Tolkien to represent the Language of Rohan in the book, the word saru means "clever", "skilful" or "ingenious". This has associations with both technology and treachery that are fitting for Tolkien's portrayal of Saruman, the "cunning man". He also writes of Saruman's distinctively modern association with Communism in the way the Shire is run under his control in " The Scouring of
4836-929: The Music of the Ainur , the divine plan for Arda , and was often ambiguous. Thus, Glorfindel's prophecy "not by the hand of man will [the Lord of the Nazgûl] fall" did not lead the Lord of the Nazgûl to suppose that he would die at the hands of a woman and a hobbit (Merry). Shippey states that the prophecy, and the Witch-king's surprise at finding Dernhelm to be a woman, parallel the witches' statement to Macbeth that he may "laugh to scorn / The power of man, for none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth" (Act 4, scene 1), and Macbeth's shock at learning that Macduff "was from his mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd" (as Macduff
4960-410: The allegiance of a hobbit, but very differently: Théoden, King of Rohan, treats Merry with love, which is reciprocated, whereas Denethor, Steward of Gondor, undervalues Pippin because he is small, and binds him with a harsh formal oath. The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey notes that Tolkien uses the two hobbits and their low simple humour as foils for the much higher romance to which he was aspiring with
5084-618: The 16th century, so Tolkien invented a calque made of English words. Donald O'Brien, writing in Mythlore , notes, too, that Aragorn 's description of Frodo 's priceless mithril mail -shirt, "here's a pretty hobbit-skin to wrap an elven -princeling in", is a "curious echo" of the English nursery rhyme " To find a pretty rabbit-skin to wrap the baby bunting in ." Tolkien has King Théoden of Rohan say "the Halflings, that some among us call
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5208-601: The 19th century caricaturist John Leech 's "wildly unflattering" depictions of the Irish in Punch magazine . The comic horror rock band Rosemary's Billygoat recorded a song and video called "Hobbit Feet", about a man who takes a girl home from a bar only to discover she has horrifying "hobbit feet". According to lead singer Mike Odd, the band received over 100 pieces of hate mail from angry Tolkien fans. The skeletal remains of several diminutive paleolithic hominids were discovered on
5332-664: The Angle formed by the rivers Mitheithel and Bruinen , the divisions between the hobbit-kinds began to blur. Shippey explains that the name "Angle" has a special resonance, as the name "England" comes from the Angle (Anglia) between the Flensburg Fjord and the River Schlei , in the north of Germany next to Denmark, the origin of the Angles among the Anglo-Saxons who founded England. Further,
5456-463: The Breton name had any connection with his fictional kingdom. The name Meriadoc is Brittonic (for example, Welsh); Tolkien stated that he had given characters from Bree and Buckland names with a "Celtic cast", so that they appear different from plainly English names in the Shire. In the prefaces and appendices to The Lord of the Rings , Tolkien employed the conceit that he was the modern translator of
5580-621: The Fallohide brothers Marcho and Blancho, who settled and founded the Shire in TA 1601. Bilbo and three of the four principal hobbit characters in The Lord of the Rings ( Frodo , Pippin , and Merry ) had Fallohide blood through their common ancestor, the Old Took. The one physical description given for Frodo matches this, as Gandalf identifies him as "taller than some, and fairer than most". Tolkien created
5704-657: The Fallohides did, but instead of settling in Bree-land they headed farther south to Dunland by Third Age 1300, finally migrating to the newly founded Shire in Third Age 1630, the last of the three groups to arrive. The Stoors mostly settled along the banks of the River Brandywine in the east of the Shire, thus many hobbits of Buckland and the Marish were of Stoor descent. Due to the time the Stoors spent living in Dunland before migrating to
5828-481: The Fellowship at Parth Galen , and in carrying off two of the hobbits initiate a series of incidents that lead to his ruin. In turn this frees the Rohirrim to intervene at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and then together with the men of Gondor to assault Sauron's stronghold of Mordor and distract him from Frodo's final effort to destroy the Ring. Shippey says that this demonstrates the value of persistence in
5952-621: The Gladden River met the Anduin, and were broader and heavier in build; and the Fallohides preferred to live in the woods under the Misty Mountains. They were described as fairer of skin and hair, as well as taller and slimmer than the rest of the hobbits. In the Third Age , hobbits undertook the arduous task of crossing the Misty Mountains - a migration period they refer to as the "Wandering Days",
6076-457: The Holbytlan". Tolkien set out a fictional etymology for the word "Hobbit" in an appendix to The Lord of the Rings , that it was derived from holbytla (plural holbytlan ), meaning "hole-builder". This was Tolkien's own new construction from Old English hol , "a hole or hollow", and bytlan , "to build". Tolkien describes hobbits as between two and four feet (0.6–1.2 m) tall, with
6200-451: The King begins roughly where Bakshi's film ends but does not include Saruman's character. Saruman is played by Matti Pellonpää in the 1993 television miniseries Hobitit produced and aired by Finnish broadcaster Yle . In Peter Jackson 's film trilogy (2001–2003), Saruman is significantly more active in the first two films than in the corresponding books, and he appears in several scenes that are not depicted in Tolkien's work. He
6324-667: The Marish, who founded the Oldbuck family. However, the Oldbuck family later crossed the Brandywine River to create the separate land of Buckland and the family name changed to the familiar "Brandybuck". Their patriarch then became Master of Buckland. With the departure of the Oldbucks/Brandybucks, a new family was selected to have its chieftains be Thain: the Took family (Pippin Took was son of
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#17328594944286448-603: The Old English word stor or stoor , meaning "strong". In his writings, Tolkien depicted hobbits as fond of an unadventurous, bucolic and simple life of farming, eating, and socializing, although capable of defending their homes courageously if the need arises. They would enjoy six meals a day, if they could get them. They claimed to have invented the art of smoking pipe-weed . They were extremely "clannish" and had strong "predilections for genealogy "; accordingly, Tolkien included several Hobbit family trees in The Lord of
6572-440: The Old Took are described as living to the age of 130 or beyond, though Bilbo's long lifespan owes much to his possession of the One Ring . Hobbits are considered to "come of age" on their 33rd birthday, so a 50-year-old hobbit would be regarded as entering middle-age. Tolkien devised a fictional history with three types of hobbits, with different physical characteristics and temperaments: Harfoots , Fallohides , and Stoors . By
6696-453: The Pelennor Fields , while the leader of the Nazgûl was preoccupied with Éowyn, Merry stabbed him behind his knee. The Black Captain stumbled, enabling Éowyn to kill him. This fulfilled the prophecy that he would not be killed "by the hand of man" , as it was a hobbit and a woman that ended his life. Éomer made Meriadoc a Knight of the Mark for his bravery, and gave him the name Holdwine. After
6820-483: The Ring and part of The Two Towers , Saruman is voiced by Fraser Kerr . He has only one major scene—his attempt to persuade Gandalf to join him. He appears again briefly before the Battle of Helm's Deep , speaking to his army. The character is dressed in red and is called 'Saruman' and 'Aruman' at different points. Smith and Matthews suggest that the use of 'Aruman' was intended to avoid confusion with 'Sauron'. The 1980 Rankin/Bass TV animated version of The Return of
6944-522: The Ring directly for himself and therefore could not hope to truly rival Sauron. Shortly after arriving in Rivendell, Gandalf informs the Council of Elrond about Saruman's betrayal. In The Two Towers , the second volume of the story, Orcs from Saruman's army attack Frodo and his companions, and carry off two of Frodo's closest friends, Merry and Pippin . The two escape into Fangorn Forest , where they meet
7068-431: The Ring; he was outside taking a solitary walk, and was nearly overcome by a Nazgûl . At Rivendell , he was seen studying maps and plotting their path. Elrond reluctantly admitted him and Pippin to the Company of the Ring . Halted at the entrance to Moria , Merry asked Gandalf the meaning of the door inscription "Speak, friend, and enter". When Gandalf, having unsuccessfully tried many door-opening spells, discovered
7192-564: The Rings and The Hobbit made extensive use of prosthetics . Wētā Workshop spent a year creating hobbit feet to look like large, furry feet, yet act as shoes for the actors. In total, 1,800 pairs were worn by the four lead hobbit actors during production. In addition, actors went in for face casts to create pointed ears and false noses. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power , a series screened from 2022, has attracted "fierce debate" about its handling of race, and racism aimed at
7316-406: The Rings , from 1981, presents Saruman much as in the books. Smith and Matthews report Peter Howell 's performance as Saruman as "brilliantly ambiguous ..., drifting from mellifluous to almost bestially savage from moment to moment without either mood seeming to contradict the other". In Ralph Bakshi 's 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings , which corresponds to The Fellowship of
7440-606: The Rings was often criticized for portraying all characters as either good or bad, with no shades of grey, a point to which he responds by proposing Saruman, along with Denethor and Boromir , as examples of characters with more nuanced loyalties. Marjorie Burns writes that while Saruman is an "imitative and lesser" double of Sauron, reinforcing the Dark Lord's character type, he is also a contrasting double of Gandalf, who becomes Saruman as he "should have been", after Saruman fails in his original purpose. Saruman "was great once, of
7564-554: The Rings , first published in The Return of the King , and in the posthumously published The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales . All were written in the mid-1950s. Saruman, like Gandalf and Radagast the Brown , is one of five 'wizards', known as the Istari , who begin to arrive in Middle-earth some two thousand years before the beginning of The Lord of the Rings . They are Maiar , envoys of
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#17328594944287688-457: The Rings , that describe Saruman's attempts to frustrate Sauron's chief servants, the Nazgûl , in their search for the Ring during the early part of The Fellowship of the Ring ; in one version he considers throwing himself on Gandalf's mercy. There is also a description of how Saruman becomes involved with the Shire and of how he gradually becomes jealous of Gandalf. Another brief account describes how
7812-520: The Rings . Most hobbits married and had large families, although Bilbo and Frodo were exceptions to this general rule. The hobbits of the Shire developed the custom of giving away gifts on their birthdays, instead of receiving them, although this custom was not universally followed among other hobbit cultures or communities. The term mathom is used for old and useless objects, but which hobbits are unwilling to throw away. Mathoms are invariably given as presents many times over, sometimes returning to
7936-546: The Shire by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins , who passes it on to Frodo Baggins , one of the story's protagonists. Early in the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring , the wizard Gandalf describes Saruman as "the chief of my order" and head of the White Council that forced Sauron from Mirkwood at the end of Tolkien's earlier book The Hobbit . He notes Saruman's great knowledge of the Rings of Power created by Sauron and by
8060-465: The Shire saw Bucklanders as "peculiar, half foreigners as it were"; the Bucklanders were the only hobbits comfortable with boats; and living next to the Old Forest , protected from it only by a high hedge, they locked their doors after dark, unlike hobbits in the Shire. Merry learned of the One Ring and its power of invisibility before Bilbo Baggins left the Shire . He guarded Bag End after Bilbo's party, protecting Frodo from unwanted guests. Merry
8184-476: The Shire ": goods are taken "for fair distribution" which, since they are mainly never seen again, Shippey terms an unusually modern piece of hypocrisy in the way evil presents itself in Middle-earth. Saruman is in part the architect of his own downfall. Kocher, Randel Helms and Shippey write that Saruman's actions in the first half of The Two Towers , although intended to further his own interests, in fact lead to his defeat and that of Sauron: his orcs help split
8308-467: The Shire, their names have a slight Celtic influence. A small group of Stoors did not go as far south as Dunland but settled in the wetlands of the Angle in southern Rhudaur, between Dunland and Bree. When the evil power of Angmar rose in the north many of these Stoors joined their kin in Dunland, but some fled back east over the mountains and settled in the marshes of the Gladden Fields: Déagol and Sméagol/Gollum both belonged to this group. Tolkien used
8432-427: The Thain and would later become Thain himself). The Thain was in charge of Shire Moot and Muster and the Hobbitry-in-Arms, but as the hobbits of the Shire generally led entirely peaceful, uneventful lives the office of Thain came to be seen as something of a formality. Hobbits first appear in The Hobbit as the rural people of the Shire; the book tells of the unexpected adventure that happened to one of them, Bilbo, as
8556-429: The War of the Ring, Merry and Pippin returned home as the tallest of hobbits, only to find that Saruman had taken over the Shire. Merry and Pippin roused the hobbits to revolt. During the resulting Scouring of the Shire , Merry commanded the hobbit forces, and killed the leader of Saruman's "ruffians" at the Battle of Bywater. Sometime afterwards, Merry married Estella Bolger. Merry inherited the title Master of Buckland at
8680-476: The White , later Saruman of Many Colours , is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien 's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings . He is the leader of the Istari , wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron , the main antagonist of the novel. He comes to desire Sauron's power for himself, so he betrays the Istari and tries to take over Middle-earth by force from his base at Isengard . His schemes feature prominently in
8804-482: The White Council and the order of the wizards, and breaks Saruman's staff . Saruman makes his final appearance at the end of the last volume, The Return of the King (1955), after Sauron's defeat. After persuading the Ents to release him from Orthanc, he travels north on foot, apparently reduced to begging. He is accompanied by Wormtongue, whom he beats and curses. When they reach the Shire, Saruman's agents—both Hobbits and Men —have already taken it over and started
8928-467: The White" or "Saramund the Grey", who has fallen under the influence of Sauron, lures Gandalf to his stronghold and traps him. The full story of Saruman's betrayal was later added to the existing chapters. Several of Saruman's other appearances in the book emerged in the process of writing. Christopher Tolkien believes that the old man seen by Aragorn , Legolas and Gimli at the edge of Fangorn forest near
9052-431: The actors playing the Harfoots. The fantasy author Neil Gaiman , defending the casting, commented that "Tolkien described the Harfoots as "browner of skin" than the other Hobbits. So I think anyone grumbling is either racist or hasn't read their Tolkien." Commentators have observed that the hobbit-like Harfoots speak in Irish accents, behave as friendly peasants, and are accompanied by Celtic music ; and that they resemble
9176-412: The average height being three feet six inches (1.1 m). They dress in bright colours, favouring yellow and green. They are usually shy, but are nevertheless capable of great courage and amazing feats under the proper circumstances. They are adept at throwing stones. For the most part, they cannot grow beards, but a few Stoor hobbits can. Their feet are covered with curly hair (usually brown, as
9300-411: The beginning of The Two Towers is in the original drafts intended to be Gandalf. In the finished version he is Saruman. Similarly, in the first drafts of the chapter The Scouring of the Shire , Sharkey is successively a ruffian met by the hobbits, and then that man's unseen boss. It is only in the second draft of the chapter that, as Christopher Tolkien puts it, his father "perceive[d]" that Sharkey
9424-454: The bridges and roads in repair. During the final fight against Angmar at the Battle of Fornost, the hobbits maintain that they sent a company of archers to help but this is nowhere else recorded. After the battle, the kingdom of Arnor was destroyed, and in the absence of the king, the hobbits elected a Thain of the Shire from among their own chieftains. The first Thain of the Shire was Bucca of
9548-640: The character of Saruman to that of Satan in John Milton 's Paradise Lost in his use of rhetoric and in this final refusal of redemption, "conquered by pride and hatred". In the end, the diminished Saruman is murdered, his throat cut, and Shippey notes that when he dies his spirit "dissolved into nothing". He identifies Saruman as the best example in the book of "wraithing", a distinctive 20th-century view of evil that he attributes to Tolkien in which individuals are "'eaten up inside' by devotion to some abstraction". Referring to Saruman's demise, Kocher says that he
9672-466: The characters of the good and bad lords Théoden and Denethor , Steward of Gondor , while their simple humour acts as a foil for the higher romance involving kings and the heroic Aragorn . Merry appeared in Ralph Bakshi 's animated film Lord of the Rings , the animated version of The Return of the King by Rankin/Bass , and in the live action film series by Peter Jackson . Meriadoc,
9796-517: The colour of the Brandywine River, and the nature of the bricks made at Stock, the main Shire brickyard. Hobbit architecture favours round doors and windows. Tolkien likened his own tastes to those of hobbits in a 1958 letter: I am in fact a Hobbit in all but size. I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of
9920-493: The dwarf Thorin shakes Bilbo "like a rabbit". Shippey writes that the rabbit is not a native English species, but was deliberately introduced in the 13th century, and has become accepted as a local wild animal. Shippey compares this "situation of anachronism -cum-familiarity" with the lifestyle of the Hobbit, giving the example of smoking "pipeweed". He argues that Tolkien did not want to write " tobacco ", as it did not arrive until
10044-520: The earliest remembered time in their history. Reasons for this trek are unknown, but they possibly had to do with Sauron 's growing power in nearby Greenwood, which later became known as Mirkwood as a result of the shadow that fell upon it during his search of the forest for the One Ring. Hobbits took different routes in their journey westward, but as they began to settle together in Bree-land , Dunland , and
10168-408: The early stages of the creation of The Lord of the Rings proceeded in a series of waves, and that having produced the first half of The Fellowship of the Ring , Tolkien rewrote the tale from the start three times. Saruman first appeared during a fourth phase of writing in a rough narrative outline dated August 1940. Intended to account for Gandalf's absence, it describes how a wizard titled "Saramond
10292-412: The end of the Third Age most hobbits outside The Shire could be found in their village of Staddle on the southeastern slopes of Bree-hill. However, some also lived with Men in the village of Bree itself and in nearby Archet and Combe. Originally the hobbits of the Shire swore nominal allegiance to the last Kings of Arnor, being required only to acknowledge their lordship, speed their messengers, and keep
10416-457: The enemy", Saruman was drawn into imitation of Sauron. According to Jonathan Evans and Spacks, Saruman succumbs to the lust for power , while Shippey identifies Saruman's devotion to goals of knowledge, organization and control as his weakness. Tolkien writes that the Istari's chief temptation (and that to which Saruman fell) is impatience, leading to a desire to force others to do good, and then to
10540-418: The face of despair, even if a way out cannot be seen; Kocher and Helms write that it is part of a pattern of providential events and of the reversed effects of evil intentions throughout the book. After the defeat of his armies, having been caught in the betrayal of Sauron, Saruman is offered refuge by Gandalf, in return for his aid, but having chosen his path, is unable to turn from it. Evans has compared
10664-499: The first two films, the scenes involving Saruman that were shot for use in the third film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King , were not used in the cinematic release, a decision which "shocked" Lee. Jackson reasoned that it would be anticlimactic to show Saruman's fate in the second movie (after the Battle of Helm's Deep ) and too retrospective for the third one. The cut scenes end with Saruman falling to his death from
10788-463: The five Istari were chosen by the Valar for their mission. Tolkien had been writing The Lord of the Rings for several years when Saruman came into existence as the solution to a long-unresolved plot development, and his role and characteristics continued to emerge in the course of writing. Tolkien started work on the book in late 1937 but was initially unsure of how the story would develop. Unlike some of
10912-517: The godlike Valar sent to challenge Sauron (who was regaining his strength following his defeat at the end of the second age) during the third age by inspiring the people of Middle-earth rather than by direct conflict. Tolkien regarded them as being somewhat like incarnate angels . Saruman initially travels in the east; he is later appointed head of the White Council and eventually settles at Gondor 's outpost of Isengard. However, studying Sauron and
11036-582: The hall of Bilbo's home, Bag End , shows both a clock and a barometer (mentioned in an early draft), and he had another clock on his mantelpiece . To arrange a party, hobbits rely on a daily postal service . The effect, the scholars agree, is to bring the reader comfortably into the ancient heroic world. Dungeons & Dragons began using the name halfling as an alternative to hobbit for legal reasons. Fantasy authors including Terry Brooks , Jack Vance , and Clifford D. Simak use races of halflings. Peter Jackson 's films of The Lord of
11160-459: The human race, or a "variety" or separate "branch" of humanity. In Tolkien's fictional world, hobbits and other races are aware of the similarities between humans and hobbits (hence the colloquial terms for each other of " Big People " and "Little People"); nevertheless, hobbits consider themselves a separate people. The race's average life expectancy is 100 years, but some of Tolkien's main Hobbit characters live much longer: Bilbo Baggins and
11284-429: The lore of the Rings of Power makes him desire to possess the ring for himself, eventually leading to his betrayal. Fifty years before The Lord of the Rings , after his studies reveal that the One Ring might be found in the river Anduin near Sauron's stronghold at Dol Guldur , he helps the White Council drive out Sauron in order to facilitate his search. Unfinished Tales contains drafts, not included in The Lord of
11408-572: The love of machines we see in Isengard". The etymologies of English "magic", Latinized Greek magia , "the power of causing physical change in the real world", and English "machine", Greek mekhane or makhana "device", are both from Old Persian maghush "sorcerer", from Proto-Indo-European *magh , "to have power". Thus, Holmes writes, Tolkien was following an ancient cultural connection in making Saruman think in this way, using magic . Shippey notes that Saruman's name repeats this view of technology: in
11532-604: The migrations of the three types of hobbit mirror those of England's founders. In the year 1601 of the Third Age (year 1 in the Shire Reckoning), two Fallohide brothers named Marcho and Blanco gained permission from the King of Arnor at Fornost to cross the River Brandywine and settle on the other side. The new land that they founded on the west bank of the Brandywine was called The Shire. Many hobbits followed them, and by
11656-481: The modern world known to readers and the heroic ancient world of Middle-earth. Halflings appear as a race in Dungeons & Dragons , and the works of other fantasy authors including Terry Brooks , Jack Vance , and Clifford D. Simak . Tolkien claimed that he started The Hobbit suddenly, without premeditation, in the midst of grading a set of student essay exams in 1930 or 1931, writing its famous opening line on
11780-497: The more heroic and kingly figures of Théoden, Denethor, and Aragorn: an unfamiliar and old-fashioned writing style that might otherwise, Shippey writes, have lost his readers entirely. He notes that Merry and Pippin serve, too, as guides to introduce the reader to seeing the various non-human characters, letting the reader know that an ent looks like an old tree stump or "almost like the figure of some gnarled old man". The two apparently minor hobbits have another role, Shippey writes: it
11904-425: The most typical of the race as described in The Hobbit . They lived in holes , or smials , and had closer relations with Dwarves than other hobbits did. Harfoots tended to live in gentle rolling hill country, and were mostly agrarian. They were the first group to cross the Misty Mountains, settling in the lands around Bree starting in Third Age 1050 (about 2,000 years before the time of Bilbo and Frodo, and five and
12028-489: The mountains." Kocher observes that Tolkien is describing Merry and Pippin's role in the same terms as he spells out Gollum 's purpose and Gandalf 's "reincarnation"; in Kocher's words, the "finger of Providence" can be glimpsed: "All are filling roles written for them by the same great playwright." Julaire Andelin, in the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia , writes that prophecy in Middle-earth depended on characters' understanding of
12152-448: The name from the archaic meanings of English words "fallow" and "hide", meaning "pale skin". The Stoors were the second most numerous group of hobbits and the last to enter Eriador. They were quite different from the other two groups: they were stockier than other hobbits, though slightly shorter, and they were also the only group whose males were able to grow beards. They had an affinity for water, dwelt mostly beside rivers , and were
12276-501: The only hobbits to use boats and swim, activities which other hobbits considered dangerous and frightening. Their hands and feet were also sturdier than those of other hobbits, who generally didn't wear shoes for cushioning their steps, though because the Stoors tended to live near muddy riverbanks they often wore boots to keep their feet dry, making them the only hobbits to use footwear of any kind. Tolkien says they were "less shy of Men ". The Stoors migrated into Eriador two centuries after
12400-442: The original owner, or are stored in a museum ( mathom-house ). The hobbits had a distinct calendar : every year started on a Saturday and ended on a Friday, with each of the twelve months consisting of thirty days. Some special days did not belong to any month— Yule 1 and 2 (New Year's Eve & New Years Day) and three Lithedays in mid-summer. Every fourth year there was an extra Litheday, most likely as an adaptation, similar to
12524-508: The other breeds and preferred living in woodlands, where they became skilled huntsmen, known for their accuracy with ranged weapons. They had closer relations with Elves , who also tended to live in forests. Due to their contact with the Elves, Fallohides were the first hobbits to learn literacy, and therefore were the only ones who preserved even vague knowledge of their past before crossing the Misty Mountains. The Fallohides crossed into Eriador about
12648-480: The other characters in the book, Saruman had not appeared in Tolkien's 1937 novel, The Hobbit , or in his then-unpublished Quenta Silmarillion and related mythology, which date back to 1917. When he wrote of Gandalf's failure to meet Frodo, Tolkien did not know what had caused it and later said: "Most disquieting of all, Saruman had never been revealed to me, and I was as concerned as Frodo at Gandalf's failure to appear." Tolkien's son, Christopher , has said that
12772-419: The radio personality Casey Kasem . In the 1981 BBC radio serial of The Lord of the Rings , Merry was played by Richard O'Callaghan . He was portrayed by Sergey Shelgunov in the 1991 Russian television play Khraniteli , and by Jarmo Hyttinen in the 1993 Finnish miniseries Hobitit . In Peter Jackson 's 2001–2003 film trilogy adaptation of the books, Merry was portrayed by Dominic Monaghan as
12896-560: The rest of the group and spend much of The Two Towers making their own decisions. By the time of The Return of the King , Merry has enlisted in the army of Rohan as an esquire to King Théoden , in whose service he fights during the War of the Ring . After the war, he returns home, where he and Pippin lead the Scouring of the Shire , ridding it of Saruman 's influence. Commentators have noted that his and Pippin's actions serve to throw light on
13020-402: The right must hereafter be waged only on the moral plane". Tolkien scholars including Shippey and Dimitra Fimi have stated that the hobbits are misfits in Middle-earth's heroic cultures like Gondor and Rohan . Those have a basis in ancient societies such as ancient Rome and the Anglo-Saxons . In contrast, Tolkien placed the Shire in a society he had personally experienced, "more or less
13144-411: The scene shows similarities to the death of the 2000-year-old sorceress Ayesha in H. Rider Haggard 's 1887 novel She: A History of Adventure . "[His voice was] low and melodious, its very sound an enchantment [...] it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire woke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves ... for those whom it conquered
13268-425: The second volume, The Two Towers ; he appears briefly at the end of the third volume, The Return of the King . His earlier history is summarised in the posthumously published The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales . Saruman is one of several characters in the book who illustrate the corruption of power . His desire for knowledge and order leads to his fall, and he rejects the chance of redemption when it
13392-629: The sides of hills, though others live in houses. Their feet have naturally tough leathery soles (so they do not need shoes) and are covered on top with curly hair. Hobbits first appeared in the 1937 children's novel The Hobbit , whose titular Hobbit is the protagonist Bilbo Baggins , who is thrown into an unexpected adventure involving a dragon . In its sequel, The Lord of the Rings , the hobbits Frodo Baggins , Sam Gamgee , Pippin Took , and Merry Brandybuck are primary characters who all play key roles in fighting to save their world (" Middle-earth ") from evil. In The Hobbit , hobbits live together in
13516-406: The source that it supposed Tolkien to have used: James Hardy wrote in his 1895 The Denham Tracts, Volume 2 : "The whole earth was overrun with ghosts, boggles ... hobbits, hobgoblins." Shippey writes that the list was of ghostly creatures without bodies, nothing like Tolkien's solid flesh-and-blood hobbits. Tolkien scholars consider it unlikely that Tolkien saw the list. An additional connection
13640-418: The spell endured while they were far away and ever they heard that soft voice whispering and urging them." The Two Towers Book 3, Chapter 10 "The Voice of Saruman" Tolkien described Saruman at the time of The Lord of the Rings as having a long face and a high forehead, "...he had deep darkling eyes ... His hair and beard were white, but strands of black still showed around his lips and ears." His hair
13764-605: The start of the Fourth Age . He became a historian of the Shire. At the age of 102, Merry returned to Rohan and Gondor with Pippin; they died in Gondor, and were laid to rest among the Kings of Gondor in Rath Dínen, the street of tombs, then moved to lie next to Aragorn . His son succeeded him as Master of Buckland. When Merry first appeared in Tolkien's early drafts, his name was Drogo Took. He
13888-437: The stomach, shortish in the leg. A round, jovial face; ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish'; hair short and curling (brown). The feet from the ankles down, covered with brown hairy fur. Clothing: green velvet breeches; red or yellow waistcoat; brown or green jacket; gold (or brass) buttons; [and specifically for Bilbo, in The Hobbit ] a dark green hood and cloak (belonging to a dwarf). Tolkien presented hobbits as relatives of
14012-454: The style of language used by hobbits, and to their material culture of "umbrellas, camping kettles, matches, clocks, pocket handkerchiefs and fireworks", all of which are plainly modern, as are the fish and chips that Sam Gamgee thinks of on his journey to Mordor . Most striking, in her view, however, is Tolkien's description of the enormous dragon firework at Bilbo's party which rushed overhead "like an express train". Tolkien's drawing of
14136-409: The summit of Orthanc , Gandalf observed that Saruman had industrialized the formerly green valley of Isengard and was creating his own army of Half- Orc /Half- Man fighters and Wargs to rival Sauron. Gandalf's escape from the top of the tower on the back of a Great Eagle left Saruman in a desperate position, as he knew he would now be known as traitor to his former allies, but was unable to procure
14260-404: The time of Bilbo and Frodo, these kinds had intermixed for centuries, though unevenly, so that some families and regions skewed more towards descent from one of the three groups. The Harfoots were by far the most numerous group of hobbits and were the first to enter the land of Eriador , which contains the Shire and Bree. They were the smallest in stature, "browner of skin" in complexion, and
14384-493: The top of Orthanc after being stabbed by Wormtongue and include material transposed from the chapter " The Scouring of the Shire ". They are included at the start of the Extended Edition DVD release of the film. In Jackson's film adaptations of The Hobbit , Lee reprises his role as Saruman the White, even though Saruman does not appear in the book. In the first film, Saruman, Gandalf, Galadriel , and Elrond gather at
14508-578: The true interpretation, he said "Merry, of all people, was on the right track". At Amon Hen , the Hill of Seeing, the Company hesitated in confusion, and scattered. Merry and Pippin were captured by a band of Saruman 's Uruk-hai , despite Boromir 's defence. Escaping with Pippin into Fangorn forest, they were rescued by the leader of the Ents , Treebeard , and given an Ent-draught to drink: it made them both grow unnaturally tall for hobbits. Accompanying Treebeard to
14632-514: The two, and as a result many old words and names in "Hobbitish" are derivatives of words in Rohirric (which Tolkien "translated" into his text by presenting it as Old English). The Harfoots lived on the lowest slopes of the Misty Mountains in Hobbit-holes dug into the hillsides. They were not only smaller and shorter, but also beard- and bootless. The Stoors lived on the marshy Gladden Fields where
14756-413: The wizards ally themselves with the rising power of Sauron in order to eventually control him for their own ends, revealing himself as a traitor. Saruman went on to suggest that they could take the Ring for themselves and challenge Sauron. When Gandalf refused both options, the traitorous Saruman imprisoned him in the tower of Orthanc at Isengard , hoping to learn from him the location of the Ring. Whilst on
14880-701: Was a force behind "the Conspiracy" of Sam , Pippin , Fredegar Bolger and himself to help Frodo. He assembled the company's packs and brought ponies. His shortcut through the Old Forest distanced them from the Black Riders, the Nazgûl , for a time. In the Barrow-downs , he is given his sword, a dagger forged in the kingdom of Arthedain. Arriving at Bree , Merry was not celebrating in the Prancing Pony when Frodo put on
15004-406: Was born by Caesarean section : Act 5, scene 8). Thus, Shippey notes, despite Tolkien's stated dislike of Shakespeare 's treatment of myth, he read Macbeth closely . In Ralph Bakshi 's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings , Merry was voiced by Simon Chandler . In the 1980 Rankin/Bass animated version of The Return of the King , made for television, the character was voiced by
15128-487: Was in fact Saruman. The name used by Saruman's henchmen for their diminished leader is said in a footnote to the final text to be derived from an Orkish term meaning "old man". Saruman's death scene, in which his body shrivels away to skin and bones revealing "long years of death" and "a pale shrouded figure" rises over the corpse, was not added until Tolkien reviewed the page proofs of the completed book. John D. Rateliff and Jared Lobdell are among those to write that
15252-460: Was later renamed Vigo, and the name Drogo reassigned to Frodo 's father. After that, he was renamed Marmaduke, and finally Meriadoc Brandybuck. The name Meriadoc has sometimes been seen as an allusion to the nobleman Conan Meriadoc , legendary founder of the medieval House of Rohan in Brittany , since Tolkien's Meriadoc is closely associated with his fictional kingdom of Rohan. Tolkien denied that
15376-607: Was portrayed by Christopher Lee . In the films, Saruman is depicted presenting himself outright as a servant of Sauron and a traitor to the White Council. Smith and Matthews suggest that Saruman's role is built up as a substitute for Sauron—the story's main antagonist—who never appears directly in the book, a theory which Jackson confirms in the commentary to the DVD. They also suggest that having secured veteran British horror actor Christopher Lee to play Saruman, it made sense to make greater use of his star status. Despite this increased role in
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