18 Most Important & Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

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In this article, you can find the top most important Hobbits in all of Middle-earth. There will be some well-known to you, but there will also be some that you are probably not familiar with, but we will introduce you to them as well.

The most important Hobbits in Middle-earth are Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, Samwise “Sam” Gamgee, Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck, Peregrin “Pippin” Took, Fredegar “Fatty” Bolger, Otho and Lotho Sackville-Baggins, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, Old Took, Bullroarer Took, Sméagol (later Gollum), Déagol, Isumbras Took the First, Bucca of the Marish, Elanor Gamgee (Elanor the Fair), Rose Cotton, Tobold “Old Toby” Hornblower, and Blanco and Marcho.

Though in The Hobbit it is mentioned that Gandalf “was responsible for so many quiet lads and lasses going off into the Blue for mad adventures,” no female Hobbits are depicted in Tolkien’s stories doing so; however, Hobbit women do appear in his works, such as the formidable Lobelia Sackville-Baggins and Sam’s wife Rose Cotton.

List of Top most important Hobbits in Middle-earth

1. Bilbo Baggins

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Bilbo Baggins was a Hobbit who lived in The Shire during the final years of the Third Age. His adventure with the dwarves Thorin and the company earned him a fortune and brought the One Ring of Sauron back into knowledge.

Before his adventures, Bilbo was considered a very prim and respectable Hobbit for his polite disposition and aversion to anything out of the ordinary. He had strict culinary and hygienic principles and is often less than thrilled with the rough conditions of travel at first. But, being the son of Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took, Bilbo had blood from two important Hobbit families, the Bagginses and the Tooks.

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Because of his adventurous “Tookish side” (which was sometimes conflicting with his stay-at-home “Baggins side”), Baggins was rather restless and “strange” for a Hobbit. After his return from Erebor, he was regarded as much less fondly than before by his fellow Hobbits but paid them no mind. Though considering himself happily retired from adventures, he often left his home for many days to meet with old friends and strangers, including Dwarves.

Bilbo was noteworthy as the first ring-bearer in the history of Middle-earth to give up the One Ring voluntarily; he surrendered the ring to Frodo Baggins at Gandalf’s request.

2. Frodo Baggins

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Frodo Baggins was a hobbit of the Third Age, the most famous of all Hobbits in the histories for his leading role in the Quest of the Ring. During this epic quest, he bore the One Ring to Mount Doom and there destroyed it, giving him renown like no other Halfling throughout Middle-earth. He is also peculiar for being, as a Ring-bearer, one of the three Hobbits who sailed from Middle-earth to Aman, there to die in peace.

The only real description of Frodo’s appearance was given only once by Gandalf in his letter to Barliman Butterbur, in which he was declared a “stout fellow with red cheeks, taller than some (hobbits), and fairer than most”, with a cleft chin, a bright eye, and a perky personality. Although Frodo was apparently fairly stout before his journey, he seemed to have lost a significant amount of weight on his trip from Hobbiton to Rivendell. Also, at a later point, Sam remarked that Frodo was “too thin and drawn” for a hobbit.

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Frodo carried a small Elven sword called Sting and wore a coat of Dwarven mail made of mithril under his clothes, both given to him by Bilbo. In Lothlórien, Galadriel gave him an Elven cloak that helped him blend in with his natural surroundings and a vial carrying the light of the Star of Eärendil to aid him on his quest.

Before Frodo returned to the Shire after the Quest of the Ring was completed, Arwen Evenstar, wife of Aragorn and daughter of Elrond, gave Frodo a white stone to wear around his neck.

3. Samwise Gamgee

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Samwise “Sam” Gamgee (6 April T.A. 2980[note 1] – Fo.A. 61; Shire Reckoning: 1380 – 1482; 102 years old when he sailed into the West) was Frodo Baggins’ servant and the only original member of the Fellowship of the Ring to remain with him till the very end of the journey to Mount Doom.

Sam has brown eyes. At some points, his hands are mentioned as brown. If taken literally, he could be brown-skinned, as the Harfoots.

4. Meriadoc Brandybuck

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck, called The Magnificent, was a Hobbit, the son of Saradoc Brandybuck. Merry (as he was often called), was the heir of the Brandybucks to Brandy Hall, and, after his participation in the War of the Ring, eventually became the Master there.

He was a good friend of Frodo Baggins, who eventually became the Ring-bearer, and Peregrin Took, a young relative. He was one of the few (if any) who saw Bilbo Baggins, Frodo’s uncle, actually use the One Ring. He also managed to read, at least in part, Bilbo’s book: There and Back Again, where he learned about the Ring.

He can easily be recognized as a very sharp Hobbit, and his tone throughout The Lord of the Rings depicts him as practical, loyal, resourceful, and the best able to cope with the sudden happenings that drew him out of his peaceful home. He was also praised by Aragorn II as having a ‘stout heart’ and Lady Éowyn as ‘valiant’. He was apparently much trusted by Frodo, who sent him along with Fatty Bolger to Crickhollow to prepare his newly-bought home.

5. Peregrin Took

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Peregrin “Pippin” Took (Third Age 2990 – at least Fourth Age 63; 1390 – 1484 in Shire-reckoning, reaching at least 94-years-old) was one of the Hobbits in the Fellowship of the Ring. He was the youngest of the Company, being in his tweens, but grew up quickly and eventually became a Knight of Gondor. Elrond, at least, seemed to doubt his capability for the quest, but Pippin proved to be a loyal and courageous friend.

He was born in the Third Age 2990 (1390 in Shire Reckoning) to Paladin Took and Eglantine Banks, making him a great-great-grandson of The Old Took. Pippin became Thain in later years, and his father inherited the title in S.R. 1415 from Ferumbras Took III when he died without an heir. Pippin had three older sisters, Pearl Took, Pimpernel Took, and Pervinca Took.

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Through his father, Pippin was a first cousin of Merry (the future Master of Buckland), the second cousin once removed of Frodo, and the first cousin twice removed of Bilbo. He was not blood-related to Sam, but Pippin’s son Faramir married Sam’s daughter Goldilocks in 1463.

6. Fredegar Bolger

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Fredegar “Fatty” Bolger was a Hobbit of the Shire. He was one of his close friends of Frodo who knew that he had the Ring and helped him with his mission to leave the Shire.

Fatty was a descendant of Hildibrand Took (T.A. 2849 – T.A. 2934), one of the many sons of the Old Took. He was the son of Odovacar Bolger and Rosamunda Took. Fatty was born in T.A. 2980 and his family was from Budgeford in Bridgefields of the Eastfarthing. He also had a younger sister, Estella Bolger (b. T.A. 2985), who would eventually marry Meriadoc Brandybuck.

Fredegar was a good friend of Frodo Baggins. In T.A. 3001 he was a guest at Bilbo’s Farewell Party.

7. Otho and Lotho Sackville-Baggins

Otho Sackville-Baggins (T.A. 2910 – 3012, died aged 102) was the husband of Lobelia Sackville-Baggins and the founder of the short-lived Sackville-Baggins Family. He was representative of the greedy and ill-mannered traits of his family.

Otho was the only child of Longo Baggins and Camellia Sackville. Through his mother, he was the head of the Sackville Family, so he adopted the double surname out of custom. He married Lobelia Bracegirdle with whom he had a son named Lotho.

He was also second in line to the patriarchy of the Baggins Family, and would have been Bilbo Baggins’ heir were it not for his adoption of his cousin Frodo. This did not sit well with Otho and his wife, as they both dearly wanted to live in Bag End.

Nevertheless, Otho was a guest at Bilbo’s Farewell Party. After Bilbo had vanished in front of the crowd during the celebration, Otho and his wife departed in wrath. He did not live long enough to see Bag End as he died in S.R. 1412; it was six years later when Lobelia eventually did come into possession of Bag End and moved in with her son.

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Lotho Sackville-Baggins (T.A. 2964 – 3019, died aged 55) was the only child of Otho and Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. For a short time at the end of the Third Age, he assumed illegal control of the Shire.

After Lotho’s father, Otho, died in T.A. 3012, Lotho inherited his pipe-weed plantations in the Southfarthing, ensuring his status as a wealthy Hobbit.

On 23 September 3018 Lotho and Lobelia arrived at Bag End after lunch to take stock of the property and to obtain the keys. Soon thereafter they moved into the residence and Lotho began a program of buying an excessive amount of property and goods.

The goods were carted away to the south by Men (“ruffians”) from Isengard. When people began to complain about shortages the ruffians proceeded to assert Lotho’s power over the Shire. When Will Whitfoot, the rightful Mayor of the Shire, set out to protest against Lotho’s activities the ruffians captured him and incarcerated him in the “Lockholes”. With Whitfoot out of the way, Lotho began calling himself Chief Shirriff, or simply Chief. Among the Hobbits, Lotho was known as Pimple.

Lotho’s “reign” over the Shire ended in September 3019 when Saruman (called “Sharkey”) arrived in the Shire and took over Bag End. Soon Lotho’s mother, Lobelia, was taken to the Lockholes and Lotho was no longer seen in public. When Saruman was ousted by Frodo and his companions, he revealed that Gríma Wormtongue had stabbed Lotho in his sleep.

8. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, née Bracegirdle (T.A. 2918 – 3020, died aged 102) was the second child, and only daughter, of Primrose Boffin and Blanco Bracegirdle.

Lobelia was born in Hardbottle and was renowned in The Shire for her temper and greed. She married Bilbo Baggins’s cousin Otho Sackville-Baggins, and they had one child together, Lotho, who was born in S.R. 1364.

Her envy of Bag End was well-known; she could not wait to inherit it and was furious when Bilbo made Frodo his heir. However, when Frodo left for Crickhollow he sold Bag End to Lobelia, but unfortunately, Otho had died by then.

During the War of the Ring, Lobelia was imprisoned in Lockholes for arguing with the Chief’s Men and attacking one of them with an umbrella. When she came out, Lobelia was popular for the first time for bravely standing up to Saruman’s Men. However, she was crushed to find out her son had been murdered whilst she was in prison.

After the War of the Ring, Lobelia returned to her home village to live with the other Bracegirdles, giving Bag End to Frodo. When she died, she gave her money to Frodo to be used to help hobbits left homeless by Saruman and her son.

9. Gerontius Took (Old Took)

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Gerontius Took (S.R. 1190 – 1320, died aged 130), also known as The Old Took, was a renowned Hobbit and twenty-sixth Thain of the Shire.

Gerontius was the only son of Fortinbras I. He married Adamanta Chubb, who gave birth to twelve children: Isengrim III, Hildegard, Isumbras IV, Hildigrim, Isembold, Hildifons, Isembard, Hildibrand, Belladonna, Donnamira, Mirabella, and Isengar.

After the death of his father in 1248, Gerontius became the twenty-sixth Thain of the Shire. He was a friend of Gandalf, who gave him a pair of magic diamond studs and performed firework tricks during Gerontius’ midsummer-eve parties.

Gerontius Took reached the impressive age of 130, which made him the oldest Hobbit until his grandson Bilbo Baggins celebrated his 131st Birthday. He also held the record of most offspring, until Samwise Gamgee bested him with Tom’s birth in S.R. 1442.

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10. Bandobras Took

Bandobras “the Bullroarer” Took was the son of Thain Isumbras III of the Took line. He was distinguished by his great height (for a Hobbit), being four foot five, and thus able to ride a horse.

Bandobras was famous for averting a goblin invasion of the Shire at the Battle of Greenfields of T.A. 2747, and personally slaying the goblins’ leader, Golfimbul. He took the Golfimbul’s head off with a club. According to a legend, the goblin’s head flew through the air for 100 yards and went down a rabbit hole; it is said that this is how the game of golf was invented.

Nothing is known about Bandobras’ family, other than he had “many descendants”, some of whom were the North Tooks of Long Cleeve.

11. Sméagol (later Gollum)

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Gollum, also known as Sméagol, was a creature (originally a Stoorish Hobbit) who bore the One Ring. He lived in the Misty Mountains for most of his life. In T.A. 2941 he lost the Ring to Bilbo Baggins. For the rest of his life, he sought to recover his “precious” “birthday present”. In T.A. 3019 he followed the Fellowship of the Ring and met Frodo Baggins. After leading Frodo into Mordor and betraying him to Shelob he finally seized the Ring in Sammath Naur. In his euphoria, he died and destroyed the Ring after falling into the cracks of Mount Doom.

Sméagol was a Hobbit, but he spent long centuries (thanks to the Ring) in darkness and damp, influenced by its evil power. It is possible that thanks to his hardy Hobbitish nature that he was not reduced to a wraith. However, he was reduced to a small, extremely thin, and wiry person, with a scrawny neck, pale skin, flat feet, long thin hands with clammy fingers, and large pale eyes that seemed to glow. His sense of sight, as well as his hearing and smelling, were very good, due to the time he spent underground.

He could move and climb silently like a spider, and although he had only six teeth left, he could give deep bites, even able to bite off Frodo’s finger.

12. Déagol

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Déagol was the Stoor Hobbit of the Gladden Fields.

When his friend and relative Sméagol had a birthday, Déagol gave a customary present, albeit begrudgingly, as he was a mean little soul. Later they went fishing to the Gladden River when he dove and found a gold ring. As Sméagol (being even meaner and greedier) thought that Déagol’s gift was poor and insufficient, he used his birthday as an excuse to claim the ring; and as Déagol refused to hand it over, Sméagol murdered him.

13. Isumbras Took the First

While Isumbras was not the first Took, he was the first Took to become Thain, and the title traditionally held by the Oldbuck line. However, when Gorhenhad Oldbuck decided to expand his lands beyond the Brandywine River when he left, he also left behind his title. Isumbras became the new Thain, possibly through the election, and started a new Thain trend.

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The title would now pass from father to son, whereas in the Oldbuck family, whoever was Thain changed his surname to reflect his position. Isumbras now not only hailed from the other wealthy family in the Shire but had effectively guaranteed that his family would forevermore be top dog within the Shire.

14. Bucca of the Marish

Bucca is a relatively unknown hobbit, but his contribution to hobbits is immeasurable. Without him, there would have been no Oldbuck family, and therefore no Brandybuck family, and certainly no Thain of the Shire. He and other hobbits settled down in what would later be known as the Eastfarthing after the fall of the last king of Arthedain, and all of the Dunedain were gone.

The hobbits, finding themselves without a governing authority, elected Bucca to be their leader. He became the first to take up the title Thain of the Shire. All Masters of Buckland are descended from Bucca, and as such he is the ancestor of one of the most powerful and influential families in the Shire.

15. Elanor Gamgee (Elanor the Fair)

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Elanor was the first child of Sam and Rosie Gamgee (or Gardner, although all children but one used the surname Gamgee). She was named Frodo’s suggestion for the golden flowers in Lothlorien, being blonde and exceptionally beautiful. Upon a visit from King Elessar to Sam, Queen Arwen bestowed upon Elanor the title of being her maid of honor, a position for girls too young to be ladies-in-waiting to royalty. She later married Fastred of Greenholm, and later moved to Westmarch, now officially a part of the Shire, as her husband had become the Warden of Westmarch.

Elanor’s important contribution to hobbit lore is in her guardianship of the Red Book of Westmarch which Sam entrusted to her care before he sailed away to the Undying Lands to join the other Ring-bearers. This is possibly the most important book written in the Third Age, as it is the book wherein Biblo’s tale, Frodo‘s tale, and Sam’s additions were written.

16. Rose Cotton

18 Most Important and Famous Hobbits in Middle-earth

Rose “Rosie” Gamgee (née Cotton) (T.A. 2984[1] – Mid-year’s Day Fo.A. 61[2]) was the daughter of Tolman Cotton Senior and Lily Brown. She married Samwise Gamgee at the end of the Third Age and bore him a record of thirteen children.

17. Tobold “Old Toby” Hornblower

Salt of the earth hobbit from Longbottom, Old Toby was the first of the hobbits to grow, smoke, and sell tobacco leaf, or pipe-weed as it is more commonly known in Middle-Earth. He came across the practice during an excursion in Bree when he would interact with the Men living in the town.

The South-farthing, where he lived, proved to be the best soil in the Shire for the plant, and in fact, did so well that South-farthing pipe-weed was considered to be the best in Middle-Earth and was the only thing to put hobbits on the map before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

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It was their biggest and best export and was notably popular with Saruman. He found out about it from Gandalf who would frequent the Shire for his love of the little folk, and Saruman mocked him for his taste in pipeweed until he tried it himself sometime later. So began his secret shame: South-farthing pipe-weed.

18. Blanco and Marcho

Blanco and Marcho were brothers, Fallohide hobbits from the town of Bree. In 1601, the brothers set out west from Bree to find new lands with some of their friends and family. They became enamored of the unsettled and fertile land that they found, not knowing that what they had stumbled upon was the hunting lands of King Argeleb II of Arthedain (later Arnor).

The king gave the hobbits permission to settle in his hunting grounds, on the conditions that they would be under the king’s rule, keeps all roads through the Shire usable, and aid any King’s messengers. Eventually, Stoors and later Harfoots settled in the Shire as well, and the three strains of hobbit intermingled together into the hobbits we know and love today.

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