Peregrin Took as Merry, was his cousin; another good friend was Frodo Baggins. 'Peregrin' means 'traveller in strange countries'. Pippin indeed saw much more of Middle-earth than most Hobbits: he journeyed with Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, and fought in the War of the Ring. Late in life he travelled again to the kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor. Pippin's hair colour is mentioned as "almost golden" in "The History of Middle-earth", vol. IX, "Sauron Defeated", through the eyes of Pippin Gamgee. In the later drafts of this same section Tolkien omitted this statement, leaving the reader to envisage Pippin's appearance.
Old Forest of the Brandybucks during the War of the Ring was Meriadoc Brandybuck: Merry of the famous Fellowship of the Ring. He had been into the Old Forest "several times", and he had a key to the gate. On Merry's advice, Frodo Baggins (the bearer of the One Ring) decided to attempt a traversal of the dreadful forest in order to evade the pursuit of Black Riders: the forest was considered the lesser of two evils. The Old Forest experiences of Frodo, Merry and their companions Samwise Gamgee and Peregrin Took (and their ponies) are detailed in "The Fellowship of the