Meriadoc Brandybuck a.k.a Merry

A hobbit of the Shire, Meriadoc Brandybuck a.k.a. Merry, born in T.A. 2982, was the son of Saradoc Brandybuck. He belonged to the most respectable family in the Shire. In 710, according to the chronology of the Shire, his ancestors populated Buckland and began to built their estate, using their personal budget they had worked so hard for, they were able to accommodate all the members of the family.

Merry is a great friend of Pippin, Frodo and Sam. Along with them he sets out to Rivendell, where thanks to his persistence Pippin and he were allowed to join the Fellowship of the Ring. If it were not for Gandalf who believed that the loyalty of a true friend was of more value than the might of a warrior, Pippin and Merry would have never done their feat of arms and would never have become famous in Middle-earth.

Merry is rather an agile and brave hobbit. When in Bree, in an old inn, which is called The Prancing Pony, he, for a while, finds himself to be in a completely unknown place. Because of that Pippin even calls him a fool. But Merry brings an important tiding about the Black Riders whom he traced on a night rendezvous. It should be noted that Merry loves having a walk. He had his walks not only in Bree but also in the Shire, Rivendell and many other places.

When at home, Meriadoc Brandybuck is an excellent host and loves to entertain his guests. He often cooks excellent meals for them — mushrooms are always on the menu as they are loved by every hobbit.

Merry travelled with the company to Parth Galen, where he and Pippin were captured by the orcs. He didn’t surrender and managed to escape from Sauron’s servants. Were it not for a wrangle among the orcs and an order not to kill the captives, the escape would never have taken place. But luck was on Pippin and Merry’s side.

Held captive, Merry didn’t lose his courage. Although the orcs did not taunt him, as they would have done with an ordinary prisoner, there were enough tortures without that. To heal the wounds Brandybuck was given an awful-tasting medicine and a strange-looking balm was rubbed onto the wound on his head. At first, Merry felt great pain and resisted in every possible way but eventually the medicine did its trick and had a wholesome effect on him.

After visiting Fargorn, Merry became a great friend of Treebeard. Together with Pippin he managed to gain Treebeard’s favour. If they hadn’t convinced Treebeard to raise the Ents and attack Isenguard, Theoden with his people wouldn’t have won in the battle with Saruman and his orcs, Uruk-hai. So Merry and Pippin played a crucial role in the War against Evil.

As to Merry’s appearance it could be noted that he, along with Pippin, came into the history of Hobbiton as the tallest hobbits ever. Thanks to a magic drink made by the Ents their height reached 4 ? feet.

In Hobbiton Meriadoc was a hobbit of high standing. During the War of the Ring he took service with Theoden of Rohan. In the battle of the Pelennor Fields Merry fought with the Nazgul Lord. Together with Eowin he won over the dark forces but received a nasty wound which could be healed only by Aragorn.

He wrote “Herblore of the Shire”, “The Reckoning of Years” and other scholarly works. Back in the Shire, he was one of the leading forces in its scouring. The last pages of “the Lord of the Rings” tell us the following: …Meriadoc and Pippin lived together for some time at Crickhollow, and there was much coming and going between Buckland and Bag End. The two young Travellers cut a great dash in the Shire with their songs and their tales and their finery, and their wonderful parties. “Lordly” folk called them, meaning nothing but good; for it warmed all hearts to see them go riding by with their mail-shirts so bright and their shields so splendid, laughing and singing songs of far away; and if they were now large and magnificent, they were unchanged otherwise, unless they were indeed more fairspoken and more jovial and full of merriment than ever before.”

In F.A.12 he became the Master of Buckland and two years later he was appointed Advisor in the Northern Kingdom. Together with Pippin he travelled to Rohan and Gondor, leaving his wife, Estella Bolger, at home.

Merry, called by the hobbits Kalimac, died in F.A.65 and together with Pippin was buried in Rath Dinen.

If there were medals or orders in Middle-earth, Merry would undoubtedly have had a huge collection of them. Probably, the most valuable ones would have been “for defeating Nazguls” and “to Rohan’s honoured hobbit”.