Meriadoc Brandybuck (See "The Lord of the Rings", Appendix C.) Merry later married Estella (Bolger) Brandybuck (T.A. 2985–?), the younger sister of Fredegar Bolger, who helped Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin on the first leg of their quest journey. Meriadoc and Estella had at least one son. The Council of Elrond convened on 25 October, T.A. 3018 in Rivendell. In "The Lord of the Rings", Merry is often considered, and was described by Tolkien as, the most perceptive and intelligent of the hobbits. Even before Bilbo Baggins left the Shire, Merry knew of the One Ring and its power of invisibility. He
Samwise Gamgee a number of essays on the Old English poem "The Battle of Maldon". Likewise, Sam's rejection of the Ring is a rejection of power, but can also be seen as a "desire for renown which the defeat over Sauron will bring". Tolkien took the name "Gamgee" from a colloquial word in Birmingham for cotton wool. This was in turn derived from Gamgee Tissue, a surgical dressing invented by a 19th-century Birmingham surgeon named Sampson Gamgee. Tolkien originally used it as a nickname for a man living in Lamorna Cove, England before adapting it into his stories: "There was a curious