Everything about Peregrin Took totally explained
Peregrin Took (–), better known to his
friends as
Pippin, or even
Pip, is a
fictional character from
J. R. R. Tolkien's
universe of
Middle-earth, a
Hobbit, and one of
Frodo Baggins's youngest but dearest friends.
Peregrin was the only son of
Paladin Took II and wife
Eglantine Banks, and therefore inherited Paladin's title of
Thain of the
Shire upon his death in . He had three older sisters,
Pearl Took,
Pimpernel Took, and
Pervinca Took. His best friend
Meriadoc Brandybuck was his cousin, son of Paladin's sister
Esmeralda Brandybuck.
The hair on his head and his feet (which were exceptionally hairy, even for a
Hobbit) was almost all golden and curly. At the beginning of
The Fellowship of the Ring he was smaller than the rest of the Hobbits because he was the youngest and because he was a
Fallohide hobbit. Fallohides are described as more fleet and light-footed than other strains of hobbit.
Biography
Pippin was the only hobbit who hadn't yet reached his 'coming of age' when the Fellowship set out (being eight years younger than Merry, while Frodo himself was 50 years of age) and was therefore still in his 'tweens'. He was a worthy accomplice to Merry's plans, but showed his age as well; he was still a cheerful, if occasionally thoughtless Hobbit, and was first to miss the comforts of Hobbit life. At
Rivendell, Pippin was nearly denied the chance to accompany Frodo by
Elrond, who seriously considered using the youngest Hobbit as a messenger to the Shire.
Gandalf, however, supported his and Merry's claims of friendship and loyalty, and they were chosen as the last members of the
Fellowship.
Remaining with the Fellowship until its breaking at
Amon Hen, Pippin was captured along with Merry by an Orc-band, which included some of
Saruman's evil
Uruk-hai. While held captive by the Orcs, he purposefully dropped his elven brooch (a gift from
Lórien) as a sign for
Aragorn,
Legolas, and
Gimli, who were in pursuit. During a skirmish amongst his captors, Pippin managed to cut his bonds using a sword held fast by a dead Uruk. In the land of
Rohan, Pippin and Merry managed to escape when the Orcs were attacked by a company of
Rohirrim, the local people. Upon their escape, he and Merry befriended
Treebeard, leader of the
Ents. They roused the other Ents to fight against Saruman and they attacked his stronghold of Isengard, partially crippling his power. Due to a special "Ent-draught" that Treebeard made him and Merry drink, Pippin and his cousin became the tallest Hobbits ever in history at four and a half feet, surpassing Pippin's ancestor,
Bullroarer Took, who was four feet and five inches tall.
It was Pippin who picked up the
palantír of
Orthanc after
Gríma Wormtongue foolishly threw it as a missile; later, in an almost equally foolish act, Pippin actually
stole it out of Gandalf's hands while the wizard slept, putting a rock in its place. Looking into the stone, he'd a terrifying encounter with
Sauron himself. Because of this, Gandalf separated him from his friends and brought him to the city of Minas Tirith. Meeting
Denethor,
Steward of Gondor, he volunteered for service to repay him for the death of Denethor's son
Boromir, who had died trying to defend Merry and Pippin from the orcs. This amused Denethor, who accepted the Hobbit's offer and made him one of the elite Guards of the Citadel. Later, it was Pippin who rushes to fetch Gandalf when Denethor, driven to despair by seeing in the
palantír of
Minas Anor, the Tower of the Setting Sun, which was then named Minas Tirith, the Tower of the Guards, a great force seemingly bringing the doom of Gondor, set out to burn his son
Faramir and himself alive.
Pippin was part of the Army of the West led by Aragorn, the descendent of the kings of Gondor that assaulted the
Black Gate in a desperate gambit. During the final parley with the
Mouth of Sauron, Gandalf instructed that members of each race that opposed Sauron be present at the parley, including Gimli son of Gloin for
Dwarves, Legolas prince of Mirkwood,
Elladan and Elrohir (Elrond's twin sons) for
Elves, and Pippin for Hobbits. During the
last battle before the Morannon, Pippin managed to slay a
troll before being knocked unconscious when the dying troll fell on him. Gimli later recognised his Hobbit feet under the troll and dragged him out of the battle, saving his life. After the restoration of the monarchy he was knighted by King
Elessar, who then granted him indefinite leave to return home. Later he and Merry were instrumental in overthrowing Saruman's forces during
the Scouring of the Shire.
In Pippin married
Diamond of Long Cleeve, when she was 32 and he was 37. They had one son, Faramir. Faramir Took later married
Samwise Gamgee's daughter Goldilocks.
In the Pippin inherited his father's title and became 32nd Thain of the Shire, a position he held for 50 years before retiring in and revisiting Rohan and Gondor with Merry. He remained in Gondor for the rest of his life.
Pippin died in the year and his body was set with Merry's in
Rath Dínen.
Portrayal in adaptations
Image:BakshiMerryPippin.JPG|Merry and Pippin (left), in Ralph Bakshi's animated version of The Lord of the Rings.
Image:Pippinprintscreen.jpg|Pippin (Billy Boyd) in Peter Jackson's live-action film trilogy.
Image:STAGE_PIPPIN.jpg|Pippin (Troy Bausch) here astride Shadowfax with Gandalf, in the 2003 Cincinnati production of The Return of the King.
In
Ralph Bakshi's
1978 animated version of
The Lord of the Rings, Pippin was voiced by
Dominic Guard. In the live-action recordings Bakshi used for
rotoscoping,
Billy Barty was the model for several of the hobbits, but it isn't clear whether Barty modelled for Pippin.
In the
1980 animated version of
The Return of the King, made for television, the character was voiced by
Sonny Melendrez.
In the
1981 BBC radio serial of The Lord of the Rings, Pippin was played by
John McAndrew.
In
Peter Jackson's
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Pippin is played by
Billy Boyd, who is from Scotland. The filmmakers originally planned for Boyd to adopt an English accent for the role, in keeping with the other hobbits; however, Jackson found that Boyd's comic timing wasn't as keen when he wasn't using his native accent.
Therefore, it was decided to allow Boyd to play the role with a Scottish accent; the decision was justified by the observation that the Took-land in which the Took clan lived was a very hilly region of the Shire and was therefore vaguely similar to Scotland (indeed, when Saruman's ruffians take over the Shire the terrain of the Took-land proves so rough and inaccessible that the Tooks are effectively able to beat the ruffians back while the surrounding counties are overtaken), as well as the observation that the Tooks invented the game of golf, just like the Scots. Tolkien's own pronunciation of "Took" was more similar to "Tuck," which is exactly as it's pronounced in the Scottish
Brogue.
In the film trilogy, the character of Pippin, the youngest of the four hobbit friends, is played by the oldest of the four actors, Billy Boyd. Surprisingly, Frodo, played by
Elijah Wood, is the oldest of the hobbits in the book, but Wood is the youngest of the four actors.
Pippin was portrayed by
Troy Bausch in the Cincinnati stage production of
The Return of the King (2003) for
Clear Stage Cincinnati. At Chicago's
Lifeline Theatre, Pippin was played by
John Ferrick in
The Two Towers (1999). (See the stage article:
The Lord of the Rings)
Weapons and attire
Pippin was unarmed (except for a small pocket-knife) until the encounter with the
barrow-wights. The Hobbits found several long
Dúnedain daggers in the wight's treasure. These served as short-swords for the Hobbits, and Pippin retained his (except when it was held by the Uruk-Hai for a few days in Rohan) throughout the
War of the Ring.
At the beginning of
The Fellowship of the Ring, Pippin was dressed as a typical Hobbit: knee breeches, jacket, waistcoat, cloak. After being waylaid by the barrow-wights, he lost his lighter, summer-weight clothes and was left in a burial shrift. He was forced to wear heavier woollen clothing packed on his pony the rest of the way to
Rivendell. Later, he was presented an Elven cloak in
Lórien, which gave him an ability to blend into natural surroundings. In Minas Tirith, he joined the Guard of the Citadel, and was fitted with a child-size suit of armour and helmet suitable for his new position.
Upon returning to the Shire, Pippin was described as wearing chain-mail and presumably still had his Dúnedain-made dagger. Later, he and his friend
Meriadoc Brandybuck were known to ride about the Shire dressed in their Lórien cloaks with distinctive leaf-shaped clasps.
Further Information
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