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Bandobras Took

Other Names:
Bullroarer

Location(s): the Shire

Race/Species: Hobbit

Dates:
III 2704 - 2806 (S.R. 1104-1206)

Parents:
father: Isumbras Took III, 23rd Thain of the Shire

Siblings:
Ferumbras Took II, 24th Thain of the Shire

Children:
the North-tooks of Long Cleeve
many other descendants

Description:

Bandobras (Bullroarer) Took, son of Isumbras III, 23rd Thain of the Shire, and younger brother of Ferumbras II, 24th Thain, is the hero of the Battle of Greenfields and the tallest known hobbit for his time:
According to the Red Book, Bandobras Took (Bullroarer), son of Isumbras the Third, 1 was four foot five and able to ride a horse. He was surpassed in all Hobbit records only by two famous characters 2 of old....

The Lord of the Rings, Prologue, Concerning Hobbits

The last battle, before this story opens, and indeed the only one that had ever been fought within the borders of the Shire, was beyond living memory: the Battle of Greenfields, S.R. 1147, in which Bandobras Took routed an invasion of Orcs.

The Lord of the Rings, Prologue, Concerning Hobbits

[In] the days of Arassuil, Orcs, multiplying again in the Misty Mountains, begin to ravage the lands, and the Dúnedain and the sons of Elrond fought with them. It was at this time that a large band came so far west as to enter the Shire, and were driven off by Bandobras Took.

The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, Annals of the Kings and Rulers: Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur: The North-kingdom and the Dúnedain

2747
Bandobras Took defeats an Orc-band in the Northfarthing.

The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B, The Tale of Years: The Third Age

[Said] Gandalf... '[Bilbo] is... as fierce as a dragon in a pinch.'....

[This] was only poetical exaggeration applied to any hobbit, even to Old Took's great-grand-uncle 3 Bullroarer, who was so huge (for a hobbit) that he could ride a horse. He charged the ranks of the goblins of Mount Gram in the Battle of the Green Fields, and knocked their king Golfimbul's head clean off with a wooden club. It sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit hole, and in this way the battle was won and the game of Golf invented at the same moment.

The Hobbit, Ch 1, An Unexpected Party

[Under Bandobras Took is listed] Many descendants, including the North-tooks of Long Cleeve

from the "Took of Great Smials" family tree The Lord of the Rings, Appendix C, Family Trees


Notes
1Editions of The Lord of the Rings prior to 2004 said that Bandobras was the son of Isengrim the Second, but later editions corrected the statement to match the Family Trees published in Appendix C.
2The "famous characters" are Merry and Pippin, after drinking the Ent-draughts given to them by Treebeard.
3According to the Family Trees later published in Appendix C (see Note 1), Bandobras was Gerontius's great-uncle, not great-grand-uncle. The Hobbit was published before The Lord of the Rings, and some family relationships were adjusted for the later book.

Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 15Sep06, 5Jun08

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