Hobbit Hobbit Hobbits are a fictional, diminutive, humanoid race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fiction. They are also referred to as Halflings. Hobbits first appeared in the novel "The Hobbit", whose titular hobbit is the protagonist Bilbo Baggins. The novel "The Lord of the Rings" includes as major characters the hobbits Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took, and Meriadoc Brandybuck, as well as several other minor hobbit characters. Hobbits are also briefly mentioned in "The Silmarillion" and "Unfinished Tales". According to the author in the prologue to "The Lord of the Rings", hobbits are "relatives"
Meriadoc Brandybuck was Drogo Took. He was later renamed Vigo, and the name Drogo reassigned to Frodo's father. After that, he was renamed Marmaduke, and finally Meriadoc Brandybuck. Frodo and Merry are first cousins once removed. Their common ancestors are Gorbadoc Brandybuck and Mirabella Took Brandybuck. Merry was born T.A. 2982 (or, in the Shire-reckoning, in 1382), in Buckland. He is the only child of Saradoc Brandybuck (T.A. 2940-F.A. 11), who was a Master of Buckland, and Esmeralda Brandybuck (née Took) (T.A. 2936- ?), the younger sister of Paladin Took II (T.A. 2933–3034), making him first cousin to Paladin's son Peregrin Took.