Peregrin Took
| House / Order | The Fellowship; the Tooks of Tuckborough |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Hobbit |
| Status | Departed |
| Origin | Tuckborough, the Shire |
| Born | T.A. 2990 |
| Died | Fourth Age, in Gondor (by tradition, with Merry) |
| Weapon | A barrow-blade of Westernesse; sword and mail of Gondor |
| Fate | Saved Faramir from the pyre; slew a troll at the Black Gate; became Thain of the Shire |
| Portrayed by | Billy Boyd |
Peregrin Took, called Pippin, was the youngest of the four Hobbits of the Fellowship of the Ring, heir to the Thain of the Shire, and the closest companion of his cousin Merry. Heir of the great Took family, he began the Quest as the most heedless and boyish of the company, and grew through its trials into a Knight of Gondor and a leader of his people.
His curiosity twice changed the course of events — once for ill, when he looked into the palantír of Orthanc, and once for great good, when his swift action saved Faramir from being burned alive by his maddened father. He took service with Denethor as a Guard of the Citadel, fought at the Black Gate, and returned home to become Thain.
Origins
Pippin was born in T.A. 2990, son of Paladin Took II, the Thain, and so heir to the foremost family of the Shire and its hereditary office. The youngest of the hobbit companions by some years, he was lively, irrepressible, and given to mischief and appetite. He was one of the "conspirators" who uncovered Frodo's secret and insisted on sharing his journey, and was inseparable from his elder cousin Merry.
Biography
Out of the Shire
Pippin set out with Frodo, Sam, and Merry, passing through the Old Forest, the barrow-downs — where he too was given an ancient blade of Westernesse — Bree, and Rivendell, where Elrond reluctantly allowed the young hobbit to join the Fellowship of the Ring, saying that friendship might serve better than wisdom. In Moria it was Pippin's careless dropping of a stone into a well that may have first alerted the enemy to the company's presence.
The palantír and Gondor
- Main article: Palantír
After the breaking of the Fellowship, Pippin and Merry were carried off by the Uruk-hai and escaped into Fangorn, helping to rouse Treebeard and the Ents against Isengard. At the ruin of Orthanc, Pippin's curiosity overcame him: he stole and gazed into the palantír of Orthanc, and was briefly caught in the gaze of Sauron himself — a perilous folly, though it revealed to Gandalf something of the Enemy's mind and haste. For his safety Gandalf bore Pippin swiftly to Minas Tirith on Shadowfax.
Guard of the Citadel
In Gondor, moved by gratitude for Boromir's sacrifice, Pippin offered his service to the Steward Denethor and was made a Guard of the Citadel, donning the black-and-silver of the Tower. The men of the city, marvelling at a Halfling in arms, named him Ernil i Pheriannath, "the Prince of the Halflings." During the Siege of Gondor, when the despairing Denethor prepared to burn himself and the wounded Faramir alive, Pippin alone raised the alarm, fetching Gandalf and the guard Beregond in time to drag Faramir from the pyre — saving the life of the future Steward and Prince of Ithilien. He marched with the host to the Black Gate, where he slew a great troll and was buried beneath its body, found alive only afterward.
Thain of the Shire
Returning home grown tall in his Gondorian mail, Pippin was among the leaders of the Scouring of the Shire and the Battle of Bywater. He later succeeded his father as the thirty-second Thain of the Shire, and with Merry kept the Shire's friendships with Rohan and Gondor alive. In old age, after the passing of King Elessar, Pippin rode south with Merry to end his days in Gondor, and the two were laid to rest among the great in the city they had served.
Character
Pippin begins as the most childlike of the company — impulsive, curious, hungry, and apt to land himself in trouble — but he is also warm-hearted, brave, and quick to grow. His rashness with the palantír is balanced by the decisiveness that saves Faramir, and by manhood he stands as a leader of the Shire. His arc, like Merry's, is one of maturing: the youngest and least likely of the hobbits becomes a knight, a hero, and a Thain.
Relationships
- Merry — his elder cousin and constant companion.
- Gandalf — who chastened and protected him after the palantír.
- Denethor — the Steward he served, and whose madness he helped thwart.
- Faramir — whose life he saved from the funeral pyre.
- Beregond — the Gondorian guard who became his friend.
- Frodo and Sam — his fellow hobbits of the Quest.
Appearances
In Peter Jackson's film trilogy (2001–2003), Pippin was portrayed by Billy Boyd, who also sang the lament before Denethor in The Return of the King. The films cut the Scouring of the Shire and compress Pippin's growth, though his theft of the palantír and his rescue of Faramir are kept.
Quotes
Of course, it is likely enough, my friends, that we are going to our doom: the uttermost end of the world. And there we shall stay, in waiting, until all things are accomplished.
I am a hobbit no less brave than you... I will not stay behind.