Meriadoc Brandybuck to be an actual phonetic transcription of the name in Tolkien's invented language of Westron, which Tolkien said he transliterated to English as follows: The nickname "Merry" represents his actual nickname "Kali" which meant "handsome, happy", and "Meriadoc" serves as a plausible name from which a nickname meaning "happy" could be derived. Alternately, "The Middle-Earth Encyclopedia" writes that Meriadoc means "joyful" or "cheerful," while Merry means "having high spirits." Théoden called Merry "Holdwine", and the Hobbit was thus known as such in the records of Rohan. It most probably derives from the Old English words "hold" and "wine", respectively meaning
Conan Meriadoc the Rohans, according to the "Life of Saint Meriadoc", the protagonist of which is said to have been descended from him. Meriadoc appears in one of the genealogies from Jesus College MS 20, which traces the descent of Geraint mab Erbin, king of Dumnonia in the West Country, back to "Cynan map Eudaf Hen". In the Cornish miracle play "Beunans Meriasek", Conan is a kinsman of Saint Meriasek who tries (unsuccessfully) to dissuade Meriasek from pursuing a religious life. In the 15th century the Bretons used the Conan story as it appears in the "Life of Saint Meriadoc" to establish