Éomer his sister Éowyn were adopted by their uncle Théoden, king of the Rohirrim. He first appears in "The Two Towers" as the leader of the "éored" who attacked and killed the Uruk-hai who had kidnapped the hobbits Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took. He helps Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas by providing them two horses, Hasufel and Arod, and guiding them to the spot where the attack had taken place. On his return to Edoras, Éomer reports this meeting to Théoden, and is promptly imprisoned on the orders of Gríma Wormtongue, Théoden's sinister advisor. Gríma kept the king in a sickly stupor
Meriadoc Brandybuck was Drogo Took. He was later renamed Vigo, and the name Drogo reassigned to Frodo's father. After that, he was renamed Marmaduke, and finally Meriadoc Brandybuck. Frodo and Merry are first cousins once removed. Their common ancestors are Gorbadoc Brandybuck and Mirabella Took Brandybuck. Merry was born T.A. 2982 (or, in the Shire-reckoning, in 1382), in Buckland. He is the only child of Saradoc Brandybuck (T.A. 2940-F.A. 11), who was a Master of Buckland, and Esmeralda Brandybuck (née Took) (T.A. 2936- ?), the younger sister of Paladin Took II (T.A. 2933–3034), making him first cousin to Paladin's son Peregrin Took.