The Lord of the Rings the other Rings of Power as the ultimate weapon in his campaign to conquer and rule all of Middle-earth. From quiet beginnings in the Shire, a hobbit land not unlike the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following the course of the War of the Ring through the eyes of its characters, not only the hobbits Frodo Baggins, Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck and Peregrin "Pippin" Took, but also the hobbits' chief allies and travelling companions: the Men, Aragorn, a Ranger of the North, and Boromir, a Captain of Gondor; Gimli, a Dwarf warrior; Legolas Greenleaf, an Elven
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