Merry and Pippin, the two youngest Hobbits in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, are best friends and inseparable through most of the trilogy. Since one is rarely mentioned without the other, it's easy to think of them as interchangeable. But while they share some qualities, Merry and Pippin are certainly not the same character. Pippin, the younger of the two, is constantly getting into trouble—sometimes life-threatening trouble. After all, he's just a "tween" (between the ages of 20 and 33 for Hobbits) when he gets swept up in the greatest battle between good and evil that Middle-earth has seen in thousands of years. Faced with terror, danger, and impossible choices, Pippin matures over the course of the books. The young Hobbit who leaves the Shire because he loves his friends and wants to help them is not the Hobbit who returns a year later, wiser and a bit somber but still hopeful.

Who is Pippin?

Peregrin Took, known best as Pippin, is a Hobbit from the esteemed Tooks of Tookborough. He is the youngest member of the Company that sets out with Frodo and at 29, not yet of age (for Hobbits, adulthood begins at 33) during the events of the War of the Ring. His inquisitiveness and impulsiveness often get him into trouble. Yet despite his many dangerous scrapes, he comes into his own over the course of the books and returns to the Shire a knight of Gondor, having done many valiant deeds.

Pippin is generally good-natured and cheerful; he often sings or hums while he walks. He's quick to offer jokes in almost any circumstance, and he's always on the lookout for a good meal. His quips provide levity throughout the books, though his humor is significantly played up in the movies. He's also cunning, resourceful, thoughtful, and courageous in times of need.

Pippin Family Tree: The Tooks of Tookborough

Pippin is the son of Paladin II, the Thain of the Shire, and Eglantine Banks. He has three older sisters, Pearl, Pimpernel, and Pervinca, though none of them appear in The Lord of the Rings. His father's sister, Esmerelda Took, is the mother of his best friend Merry, making Merry and Pippin first cousins. He is more distantly related to Frodo; the two Hobbits are second cousins once removed on Pippin's father's side.

The Tooks are among the preeminent families of the Shire, and the head of the Tooks has held the office of Thain for centuries—though by Pippin's time, the title had become largely ceremonial. Still, as Tolkien writes in the prologue to The Fellowship of the Ring: "The Took family was still, indeed, accorded a special respect, for it remained both numerous and exceedingly wealthy, and was liable to produce in every generation strong characters of peculiar habits and even adventurous temperament."

Hobbits generally avoid all forms of adventure, thus the term "Tookish" has come to mean a Hobbit who displays an unusual desire to travel and a knack for getting into trouble. Pippin is certainly a very Tookish Took. His willingness to accompany Frodo on such a perilous quest, not to mention his involvement in the War of the Ring, mark him as one of those "strong characters of peculiar habits and adventurous temperament."

Pippin’s Weapons and Abilities 

Like most Hobbits, Pippin isn't a natural fighter. During their flight from the Shire, the Hobbits are trapped by a Barrow-wight just outside the village of Bree. They're rescued by Tom Bombadil, who finds four ancient blades in the barrow, which he gives to the Hobbits. Pippin carries this barrow-blade throughout the rest of The Fellowship of the Ring. He finally has a chance to put it to good use when he kills a troll in the final battle before the Black Gates of Mordor in The Return of the King.

Pippin’s Key Relationships

Merry

Merry and Pippin are best friends and first cousins. Though not much is said about their childhoods in the books, it's clear that Merry and Pippin have been best friends their whole lives. They joke often, teasing and bickering in the manner of those deeply familiar with each other.

Throughout The Fellowship of the Ring, Merry and Pippin stick close together. After the Company breaks up, they're captured by Orcs, manage to escape, and have a series of adventures of their own in Fangorn Forest. After the fall of Isengard—which they help to bring about, thanks to their meeting with the Ent Treebeard—Merry and Pippin are separated for a time, though not by choice. Throughout their various trials, they take care of each other, look out for each other, and in several cases, save each other's lives.

Their friendship continues until the end of their days. Many years after the events of The Lord of the Rings, Pippin and Merry spend their last years together in Gondor, visiting with Aragorn, the King Elessar, before their eventual deaths.

Gandalf

Because of Pippin's tendency to get into trouble, he has several spats with the wise Gandalf over the course of the trilogy. During the Company's journey through Moria, Pippin curiously and impulsively drops a stone down a hole in the floor. A few minutes later, everyone hears the sound of a hammer tapping far below them—a foreshadowing of the Orcs that will soon emerge from the depths. Gandalf scolds Pippin, calling him a "Fool of a Took!"

Gandalf is similarly harsh with Pippin in The Two Towers when Pippin steals the palantír, an ancient seeing stone, so that he can look into it while Gandalf sleeps. Pippin doesn't know that the Dark Lord controls the stone—looking into it could put them all in grave danger. Gandalf speaks to him sternly, forcing Pippin to recall exactly what he told Sauron before forgiving him.

Despite his sometimes harsh words, Gandalf is gentle with Pippin afterwards in both instances. He treats Pippin like the not-quite-grown man he is, scolding him when necessary and offering him wisdom and advice so that he won't make the same mistake twice—though sometimes, Pippin does so anyway. Pippin looks up to Gandalf as a guide and mentor.

Pippin’s Key Moments from The Lord of the Rings

The Fellowship of the Ring

Throughout The Fellowship of the Ring, Pippin acts as a loyal companion to Frodo. He helps Frodo escape from the Black Riders during their flight from the Shire. In Rivendell, he insists on continuing along with Frodo, even though Elrond is strongly against it. Pippin declares that he'll follow along behind the Company if he's not allowed to go, and Elrond eventually relents. He is loyal to a fault, determined to help his friends in whatever way he can, even though he knows he doesn't fully understand the danger.

The Two Towers

Pippin truly comes into his own in The Two Towers. Separated from the rest of the Company, he and Merry are forced to look out for themselves, and they rise to the challenge. During their captivity with the Orcs, Pippin manages to escape for a few minutes, long enough to leave behind a brooch from his Elven cloak, a token that Aragorn later finds. He also manages to free his arms from their bindings, keeping the loops around his wrists only for show. Thanks in a large part to Pippin's cleverness and quick thinking, he and Merry eventually escape from the Orcs when they're overtaken by the Riders of Rohan.

Fleeing from the Orcs into Fangorn Forest, Merry and Pippin meet the old Ent Treebeard, an encounter that changes the course of the story. The Hobbits bring the Ents news of the outside world, which helps rouse Treebeard into action. In the movie, Gandalf describes Merry and Pippin's arrival in Fangorn as "the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains." It is partially because of the Hobbits’ presence that the Ents decide to go to war with Isengard and the traitorous wizard, Saruman. 

One of Pippin's most notorious moments comes near the end of The Two Towers, when he looks into the palantír and comes close to revealing everything to Sauron, who controls the stone. His honesty just barely saves him; Gandalf wrests the palantír from him before the Dark Lord can question him further. To keep Pippin away from the temptation of the palantír, Gandalf scoops him up onto his horse and rides off to Minas Tirith. There, the impetuous young Hobbit has a chance to prove himself in battle.

The Return of the King

Arriving in Minas Tirith on the eve of a great battle, Pippin is moved to swear himself into the service of the Lord and Steward of Gondor, Lord Denethor. He answers Denethor's grueling questions about the death of his son Boromir, and later becomes a Guard of the Citadel.

Pippin's most courageous and important act comes during the siege of Gondor. Lord Denethor is overcome with grief and despair; Sauron, speaking to him through a palantír, has convinced him that all hope is lost and the world of Men will soon fail. Denethor goes mad. His son Faramir is wounded and, convinced that his son will soon die, Denethor orders his men to build a fire and set both him and Faramir aflame. Pippin is the only one there who stands up to Denethor. Rushing through the city seeking help, Pippin manages to save Faramir before it's too late. Faramir goes on to become the Steward of Gondor, faithfully serving Aragorn in times of peace.

Pippin matures over the course of the book, returning home to the Shire with confidence, knowledge, and skill. As The Return of the King reaches its culmination, he truly shines. The Hobbits arrive back in the Shire to find it is not as they'd left it. Saruman, though robbed of his staff, has made himself at home, setting up ruffians to rule over the Hobbits and enact purposeless, wasteful, and cruel new laws. Together, Pippin, Merry, and Sam swiftly rouse their kinsfolk and lead the resistance that eventually overthrows the ruffians.

Pippin’s Life after the War of the Ring

Marriage and Life in the Shire

After returning from the War of the Ring, Pippin settles down in the Shire. He marries Diamond of Long Cleeve, and they have one son, whom Pippin names Faramir. Faramir marries Sam's daughter Goldilocks, cementing the friendship between the Hobbits into the next generation. After the death of his father, Pippin becomes the new Thain, an office he holds for close to 50 years.

Final Travels

Upon receiving the message that King Éomer wants to see Merry again, Merry and Pippin decide to leave the Shire together for good. As Tolkien writes in the appendix to The Lord of the Rings, which appears at the end of The Return of the King, "…they handed over their goods and offices to their sons and rode away over the Sarn Ford, and they were not seen again in the Shire." After the death of King Éomer, Merry and Pippin ride to Gondor, where they spend the last years of their lives in the company of Aragorn. After their deaths, both Merry and Pippin are laid to rest alongside Aragorn, in the halls of the kings of Gondor.

The Best Pippin Quotes

"You must go—and therefore we must, too. Merry and I are coming with you. Sam is an excellent fellow, and would jump down a dragon's throat to save you, if he did not trip over his own feet; but you will need more than one companion in your dangerous adventure." —The Fellowship of the Ring

"We Hobbits ought to stick together, and we will. I shall go, unless they chain me up. There must be someone with intelligence in the party." —The Fellowship of the Ring

"But our whole life for months has been one long meddling in the affairs of Wizards… I should like a bit of information as well as danger." —The Two Towers

"But I honor his memory, for he was very valiant. He died to save us, my kinsman Meriadoc and myself, waylaid in the woods by the soldiery of the Dark Lord; and though he fell and failed, my gratitude is none the less." —The Return of the King

"But we have no songs fit for great halls and evil times, lord. We seldom sing of anything more terrible than wind or rain." —The Return of the King

"Dear me! We Tooks and Brandybucks, we can't live long on the heights." —The Return of the King

“No, my heart will not yet despair. Gandalf fell and has returned and is with us. We may stand, if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon our knees.” —The Return of the King