Meriadoc Brandybuck

Dominic Monaghan portrays Meriadoc Brandybuck in the Motion Picture trilogy
Meriadoc Brandybuck
Biographical information
Other names	Merry, Holdwine, Kalimac Brandagamba
Titles	Master of Buckland, Esquire of Rohan
Birth	TA 2982 (SR 1382)
Death	FO 65 (SR 1485)
Spouse	Estella (Bolger) Brandybuck
Weapon	Barrow-blade, Noldorin dagger (film)
Physical description
Race	Hobbit
Gender	Male
Height	1.38m (4'6")
Hair	Golden yellow (film)
Eyes	Blue (film)
Culture	Shire-hobbits, Bucklanders
Media portrayal
Actor	Dominic Monaghan
Voice	Michael Collins; Pat Franklyn; Richard O'Callaghan; Simon Chandler; Casey Kaseem

"But, but, lord, I offered you my sword. I do not want to be parted from you like this, Théoden King. And as all my friends have gone to the battle, I should be ashamed to stay behind."

—Merry addressing King Théoden

Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck (later known as Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck I, due to his grandson's birth) was a Hobbit and one of Frodo's cousins and closest friends. He loved boats and ponies and had a great interest in the maps of Middle-earth. He was also one of the nine companions of the Fellowship of the Ring, and later became the eighth Master of Buckland.

Biography

Merry was born in TA 2982. He was the only child of Saradoc Brandybuck (TA 2940 - FO 11) the Master of Buckland, and Esmeralda Took (TA 2936 - ?), the younger sister of Paladin Took II. This made him first cousin to Paladin's son Pippin, who was also his closest friend.

War of the Ring

Merry was often considered the most perceptive and intelligent of the hobbits, for example, knowing of the One Ring and its power even before Frodo Baggins left the Shire. He guarded Bag End after Bilbo's party, protecting Frodo from the various and often unwanted guests. He also was the force behind "the Conspiracy" of Sam, Pippin, Fredegar Bolger (more commonly known as "Fatty", due to his plump form) and himself to help Frodo. Thus, even before the Quest of the Ring begins, Merry was well prepared and organized; he assembled their gear and brought ponies. His shortcut through the Old Forest served them well, because they avoided the Black Riders and met Tom Bombadil, who helped them. At the Barrow-downs, Merry acquired his sword, a work of Westernesse.

Merry back to back with his good friend Pippin

At Bree, he was not present in the Prancing Pony when Frodo foolishly put on the ring; but was outside taking a walk, and was nearly killed by the Nazgûl who arrived. At Rivendell, he was seen studying maps and plotting their path. His approval to the Fellowship came with only a little less reluctance than Pippin's; they were the two to relay news to the people of the Shire about Frodo's journey, but in the end Gandalf, believing in the friendship and loyalty shown to Frodo and Sam, requested that Elrond allow the two hobbits to come along. At Amon Hen he was captured along with Pippin by a band of Saruman's fighting Uruk-hai, but he made a good account for himself, and Boromir valiantly defended him, though Boromir died in the attempt.

Escaping with Pippin into Fangorn Forest, Treebeard and the newly risen Gandalf the White met him. Along with Pippin, he drank significant amounts of Entwash, which contributed to speedy gains in height and hair growth. Accompanying Treebeard to the Entmoot, and later to Isengard, he and Pippin were set as guardians following Saruman's fall. It was here that Merry encountered King Théoden of Rohan, and was reunited with the remaining members of the Fellowship (save Frodo and Sam).

“All my friends have gone to battle, I would be ashamed to be left behind”

Separated from Pippin when Gandalf took the latter to Gondor, Merry swore fealty to Théoden and became his squire. Without permission from his liege, he rode to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in the care of young Dernhelm (who was actually Éowyn, though Merry didn't know it). When Nazgûl attacked the Riders of Rohan and Théoden was injured, Merry and Éowyn faced the Witch King of Angmar alone. Here, Merry's companion revealed herself to be Éowyn. Battling both fell beast and the Nazgûl alone, Éowyn was well assisted by Merry's crucial move: his sword, built for this very purpose, was one of the few weapons able to pierce the Ringwraith's form, but at a great expense to himself. He cut the Witch King behind the knee as he was about to kill Eowyn. This was enough to allow Éowyn to finish off the Witch-king. Merry heard Théoden's last words, but went unnoticed by the honour escort of Riders and was found wandering the city by Pippin. He was saved by the healing of Aragorn and recovered fully.

For his bravery in battle, King Éomer, as the new King of Rohan, knighted him and gave him the name of "Holdwine". During the Scouring of the Shire, he was in the forefront of the Battle of Bywater, using the Horn of Rohan presented to him by Éowyn.

Legacy

Upon their return he and Pippin both got married to beautiful hobbit women. They were also the tallest of hobbits - Meriadoc being the slightly taller of the two - taller even than the legendary Bandobras "Bullroarer" Took, due to their having drunk large amounts of Entwater. Merry married Estella Bolger some time after the end of the Third Age. He became the Master of Buckland in SR 1432 (FA 11). He wrote Old Words and Names in the Shire. Although he was not recorded as having any children within the family trees, he clearly had at least one son. At the age of 102, he returned to Rohan and Gondor with Pippin, dying there around the year FO 64. He was laid to rest in Gondor, and when Elessar died in the Fourth Age 120, he and Pippin were entombed beside the great king.

Line of Brandybucks

Gormadoc Brandybuck

Malva Brandybuck

Hanna Goldworthy

Madoc

Sadoc

Marroc

Marmadoc

Adaldrida Bolger

Gorbadoc

Mirabella Took

Two daughters

Orgulas

Menegilda Goold

Rorimac

Five daughters

Primula

Drogo Baggins

Saradoc

Esmeralda Took

Merimac

Frodo Baggins

Meriadoc

Estella Bolger

Berilac

Weapons

Sword

Merry used a short barrow-blade for melee combat in books and video games, but in the movies he lost his barrow-blade and instead wielded a Rohirrim short sword. He also wore a helmet, shield and leather jerkin that were originally made for the young King Theoden. The Rohirrim blade dissolved during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields when it was used to stab the Witch-king of Angmar (Ringwraith, King of the Nazgûl).

Throwing Weapons

Merry could use rocks to hit opponents from a distance. In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game), he used throwing knives instead of rocks, like all other Hobbits. In his case, however, his daggers are slightly stronger.

Appearances in the Books and Films

Meriadoc

In the books

• The Fellowship of the Ring
• The Two Towers
• The Return of the King

In the movies

• The Fellowship of the Ring
• The Two Towers
• The Return of the King

Portrayal in adaptations

"... so small a thing. Such a little thing!" This article is a stub; please expand it if you can.

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy

Meriadoc Brandybuck was played by Dominic Monaghan in all three of the Peter Jackson's Film Trilogy of the The Lord of the Rings. Merry is very close with Pippin, having almost the same relationship as Sam and Frodo do with each other. Meriadoc is mostly used for comedic relief, along with Pippin. His role stays mostly similar to the role he plays in the book. 

Trivia

• He has been determined to be a member of the ENTP personality type.

Voice dubbing actors

Foreign Language	Voice dubbing artist
Spanish (Latin America)	José Gilberto Vilchis
Spanish (Spain)	Aleix Estadella
Portuguese (Brazil) (Television/DVD)	Marcelo Campos
Czech (Czech Republic)	Petr Burian
Hungarian	András Stohl
Italian (Italy)	Paolo Vivio
French (France)	Vincent Ropion
Japanese	Manabu Muraji
German	Alexander Döring
Slovak	Martin Kaprálik
Turkish	Volkan Severcan

Translations around the world

Foreign Language	Translated name
Amharic	መሪኣዶች ብራንድይቡችክ
Armenian	Մերիադոծ Բրանդյբուծկ (Meriadoç Brandybowçk)
Belarusian Cyrillic	Меріадоц Брандыбуцк
Bulgarian Cyrillic	Мериадок Брендифук
Catalan	Meriadoc Brandiboc
Chinese (Hong Kong)	梅里·烈酒鹿
Czech	Smělmír "Smíšek" Brandorád
Danish	Meriadoc Brændebuk
Dutch	Meriadoc "Merijn" Brandebok
Estonian	Ilomac Kangepukk
Finnish	Meriadoc Rankkibuk
French	Meriadoc "Merry" Brandebouc (first translation) Meriadoc "Merry" Brandibouc (second translation)
Galician	Meriadoc Brandigamo
Georgian	მერიადოკ ბრენდიბაკი (Meriadok’ Brendibak’i)
German	Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybock
Greek	Μερίαντοκ "Μέρι" Μπράντιμπακ
Hebrew	מריאדוק ברנדיבאק
Hindi	मेरिआदोक ब्रांडीबक
Hungarian	Borbak "Trufa" Trufiádok
Italian	Meriadoc "Merry" Brandibuck
Japanese	メリアドク・ブランディバック
Kazakh	Меріадоц Брандйбұцк
Latvian	Meriadoks Brendibuks
Lithuanian	Meriadokas Brendibakas
Macedonian Cyrillic	Мериадоц Брандyбуцк
Mongolian Cyrillic	Мэриадок "Мэрри" Брэндибак
Nepalese	मेरिअदोच ब्रन्द्य्बुच्क
Norwegian	Muntiadok "Munti" Brennibukk
Persian	مریادوک برندی‌باک
Polish	Meriadok "Merry" Brandybuck (Skibniewska tr.) Radostek Gorzaleń (Łoziński tr.)
Portuguese (Brazil)	Meriadoc "Merry" Brandebuque
Portuguese (Portugal)	Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck
Russian	Мериадок Брендибак
Serbian	Мериадоц Брандyбуцк (Cyrillic) Meriadoc Brandybuck (Latin)
Sinhalese	මරියාඩොක් බ්රෙන්ඩබ්බුක්
Slovak	Chicholm "Chicho" Brandylen
Slovenian	Merjadok Brendivinski
Spanish (Spain and Latin America)	Meriadoc "Merry" Brandigamo
Swedish	Meriadoc "Merry" Brännbock
Tajik Cyrillic	Мериадоч Брандyбучк
Tamil	மெரிடாக் பிராண்டிபேக்
Thai	เมอเรียด็อค แบรนดี้บั๊ก
Ukrainian Cyrillic	Меріадок Брендіцап
Urdu	مریادوک برانڈیبک
Uzbek	Мериадоч Брандйбучк (Cyrillic) Meriadoch Brandybuchk (Latin)
Yiddish	מעריאַדאָש בראַנדיבושק

Master of Buckland
Preceded by Saradoc Brandybuck	Meriadoc Brandybuck	Succeeded by Unknown
FO 10 - FO 65