Meriadoc Brandybuck

Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck was a Hobbit of the Shire and one of Frodo Baggins 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 II Took. 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 and himself to help Frodo. Thus, even before the Quest of the Ring began, Merry was well prepared and organized; he assembled their gear and brought ponies. As a Brandybuck he also had a key to the gate in the High Hay. This 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.
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 selected 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.
After being captured by the Uruks, Uglúk crudely tried to bandage Merry's head wound. Despite this, a scar would remain on Merry's head forever. The Uruks then gave to them an Orc drink, which would keep the Hobbit alive during the fast march towards Isengard. When they neared Fangorn Forest, Grishnákh began searching them, attempting to find the One Ring, which he believed they carried. Before he was able to escape with the hobbits, Éomer's éored attacked and all of the Orcs, including Grishnákh, were slain. During the confusion of the battle Merry and Pippin were able to escape into Fangorn Forest.
Escaping with Pippin into Fangorn Forest, Treebeard and the newly risen Gandalf the White met him. Along with Pippin, he drank significant amounts of Ent-draught, 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).
Separated from Pippin when Gandalf took the latter to Gondor, Merry swore fealty to Théoden and became his squire. Without permission from his liege,Théoden never directly forbade Merry from joining the battle; however, one of his last commands to Merry was for the hobbit to remain behind. he rode to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in the care of young Dernhelm (who, unbeknownst to Merry, was actually Théoden's niece Éowyn). When the 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 Fellbeast and the Nazgûl alone, Éowyn was well assisted by Merry's crucial move: his sword, was one of the few weapons able to pierce the Ringwraith's form, but at a great expense to himself. He stabbed the Witch-king behind the knee as he was about to kill Éowyn. This was enough to allow Éowyn to finish off the Witch-king. Merry heard Théoden's last words, but went unnoticed by the honor escort of Riders and was found wandering the city by Pippin. He was saved by the healing of Aragorn and recovered fully, leaving Minas Tirith to tend to the wounded Pippin at the Field of Cormallen.
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.
=== Later life ===
Upon their return he and Pippin both married. 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 Ent-draught. Merry married Estella Bolger some time after the end of the Third Age. He became the Master of Buckland in SR 1432 (FA 11), living at Brandy Hall and Crickhollow. He wrote Old Words and Names in the Shire. Although he was not recorded as having any children within the family trees, he had at least one son. At the age of 102, Merry returned to Rohan and Gondor with Pippin, dying there some time after the year FO 63. He was laid to rest in Gondor, and when Elessar died in FO 120, he and Pippin were entombed beside the great king.The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, "Later Events Concerning the Members of the Fellowship of the Ring"
== In adaptations ==
=== In Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings ===
thumb|Meriadoc Brandybuck (1978)
Simon Chandler voiced Meriadoc, in Ralph Bakshi’s (1978 film).
thumb|Meriadoc Brandybuck (1980)
=== In Rankin/Bass's Return of the King ===
Casey Kasem voiced the character of Meriadoc in Rankin/Bass's 1980 animated short of . 
=== In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy ===
Meriadoc Brandybuck was played by Dominic Monaghan in all three of Peter Jackson's . Merry is very close with Pippin, having almost the same relationship as Sam and Frodo do with each other. Merry is mostly used for comedic relief, along with Pippin. His role stays mostly similar to the role he plays in the book. 
=== 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
=== In radio ===
* Michael Collins voiced the character in the of The Lord of the Rings.
* Pat Franklyn voiced the character in the of The Lord of the Rings.
* Richard O'Callaghan voiced the character in the 1981 BBC Radio serial of .
* Tobias Lelle voiced the character in the 1991-1992 German radio serial adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.Der Herr der Ringe (hörspiel). (German: "The Lord of the Rings (radio play)". Ardapedia.org (German-language wiki of Tolkien's Legendarium). Retrieved/cited 30 May 2021.
* Miroslav Noga voiced the character in the 2001-2003 three-season Slovak radio serial adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.Pán prsteňov. (Slovak: "The Lord of the Rings) Slovak 2001-2003 radio play. Tolkien Gateway.net (English-language wiki of Tolkien's Legendarium). Retrieved/cited 30 May 2021.
=== In video Games ===
* In the 1994 SNES game J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Volume 1, Merry will join your party as a supporting player after you cross the other side of the river.
== Gallery ==
== Translations ==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Amharic 	መሪኣዶች ብራንድይቡችክ
Arabic 	ميريادوك برانديبوك
Armenian 	Մերիադոծ Բրանդյբուծկ
Azerbaijani 	Meriyadok "Meri" Brendibuk
Belarusian Cyrillic 	Меріадоц Брандыбуцк
Bengali 	মেরিয়াডক "মেরি" ব্র্যান্ডিবাক
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Мериадок Брендифук
Burmese 	မယ်ရီဒေါ့(က်) "မယ်ရီ" ဘရန်ဒီဘပ်က်
Catalan 	Meriadoc Brandiboc
Chinese (Hong Kong) 	梅里·烈酒鹿
Czech 	Smělmír "Smíšek" Brandorád
Danish 	Meriadoc "Merry" Brændebuk
Dutch 	Meriadoc "Merijn" Brandebok
Estonian 	Ilomac Kangepukk
Faroese 	Meriadok Brannbukk
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 	मेरियाडॉक "मॅरी" ब्रैन्डीबक
Hungarian 	Borbak "Trufa" Trufiádok
Italian 	Meriadoc "Merry" Brandibuck
Japanese 	メリアドク・ブランディバック
Kannada 	ಮೆರಯಡೊಕ್ "ಮೆರಿ" ಬ್ರಾಂಡಿಬಕ್
Kazakh 	Меріадоц Брандйбұцк (Cyrillic) Meriadoc Brandybuck (Latin)
Kurdish 	Merîyadok "Merî" Birandîbûk (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Мериадок "Мерри" Брэндибак
Latvian 	Meriadoks Brendibuks
Lithuanian 	Meriadokas "Meris" Brendibakas
Macedonian Cyrillic 	Мериадоц Брандyбуцк
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Мэриадок "Мэрри" Брэндибак
Nepalese 	मेरियाडक ब्रैन्डीबक
Norwegian 	Muntiadok "Munti" Brennibukk
Persian 	مریادوک برندی‌باک
Polish 	Meriadok "Merry" Brandybuck (Skibniewska tr.)
Radostek Gorzaleń (Łoziński tr.)
Portuguese 	Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck (Portugal) Meriadoc "Merry" Brandebuque (Brazil)
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 	میریاڑوک (میری) برینڈیبک
Uzbek 	Мериадоч Брандйбучк (Cyrillic) Meriadoch Brandybuchk (Latin)
Yiddish 	מעריאַדאָש בראַנדיבושק
== References ==
Category:Brandybucks
Category:Characters in The History of Middle-earth
Category:Fellowship members
Category:Hobbits
Category:The Lord of the Rings characters
Category:The Fellowship of the Ring (film) characters
Category:The Two Towers (film) characters
Category:The Return of the King (film) characters
Category:Major characters (The Lord of the Rings)
Category:Masters of Buckland
de:Meriadoc Brandybock
es:Meriadoc Brandigamo
fr:Meriadoc Brandebouc
he:מריאדוק ברנדיבאק
it:Meriadoc Brandibuck
nl:Meriadoc Brandebok
pl:Meriadok Brandybuck
pt-br:Meriadoc Brandebuque
ru:Мериадок Брендибак
tr:Meriadoc Brandybuck
uk:Меріадок Брендіцап