The Lord of the Rings Nazgûl, to seize it. The story begins in the Shire, where the hobbit Frodo Baggins inherits the Ring from Bilbo Baggins, his cousin and guardian. Neither hobbit is aware of the Ring's nature, but Gandalf the Grey, a wizard and an old friend of Bilbo, suspects it to be Sauron's Ring. Seventeen years later, after Gandalf confirms his guess, he tells Frodo the history of the Ring and counsels him to take it away from the Shire. Frodo sets out, accompanied by his gardener, servant and friend, Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, and two cousins, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck and Peregrin "Pippin" Took.
Brandybuck Clan stated to be a rendering of the original Westron (Common Speech) Brandagamba, "Marchbuck". In keeping with the conceit that "The Lord of the Rings" was derived from the translated Red Book of Westmarch, Tolkien claimed to have translated all its Westron words into English — including the names of characters. While "Marchbuck" ("march" bearing its archaic meaning of "border") is the exact representation of "Brandagamba", Tolkien rendered it "Brandybuck" to preserve the name's similarity with the River "Branda-nîn" ("Baranduin" in Sindarin), which Tolkien then rendered "Brandywine" in English to reflect an alternate name, "Bralda-hîm", meaning "heady ale", referring to the