Family Trees
As A Secret Gate progresses, it's getting a little hard to remember who's who in the extended families. A reader wrote me earlier today to ask if I had a set of family trees for my OC Took and Brandybuck families, and if I'd be willing to post it. As it happens, I do have a rather extensive one, and after a crash course in LJ formatting, I offer a simplified version here. I have not included the Gamgee Gardners per se here, I am only dealing at present with Goldilocks and Tom and their marriages and children are included here. (I will be updating as more OCs arrive!) Hope this helps anybody who's starting to lose track of people over time!
I think I have explained the meanings and/or the antecedents in most of the names in previous posts, with the exception of Berry Brandybuck's, which I've dropped in at the end here just because I had so much fun figuring it out in the first place!
THE HOUSE OF TOOK
Thain Peregrin I (Pippin) Took 1390 - Diamond of Long Cleeve 1395
*Faramir (Fair) 1430 - Goldilocks Gamgee 1431
Perhael (Per) 1465
Rosarwen 1467
Glorfinniel (Glory) 1469
Gardner 1471
*Amethyst (Amy) 1433 - Wil Proudfoot
Peridot (Peri) 1468
Geron 1471
*Laurelin (Laury) 1435 - Hugo Vale
Elwing 1474
Elenna 1474
*Galen 1438 - Bryony Weaver
Elladan (Dan) 1475
Paladin (Pal) 1477
Adamanta (Addy) 1480
THE HOUSE OF BRANDYBUCK
Meriadoc the Magnificent (Merry) Brandybuck 1382 - Estella Bolger 1385
*Theodoc (Theo) 1432 - Camellia Maggot
Rory 1467
Estella (Ella) 1470
Eirien (Daisy) 1478
*Boromir (Bo) 1436 - Tansy Boffin
*Berrilea (Berry) 1444 - Tolman (Tom) Gamgee 1442
BERILEA (Berry)-Berry’s name has many connections. Beril is the Elvish translation of Rose; Estella Bolger’s mother was called Rosamunda, so Berry is named for her maternal grandmother. However, in Westron, the similarly-sounding word beryl is a crystalline formation associated with emeralds; Merry’s mother was Esmeralda, which is Spanish (and I’m guessing Hobbitish) for emerald! So Berry is named for both her grandmothers. Further, Merry Brandybuck had a cousin, Berilac, who in this story died tragically and might have been remembered with this name. And finally, Berry is a nod to her illustrious father. There are two Elvish translations of ‘Rose’ in the Epilogue in The End of the Third Age: Beril and Meril. I chose the first, so there would not be the confusion of two Merry Brandybucks (and so I could make that outrageous ‘beryl’ connection!)
I think I have explained the meanings and/or the antecedents in most of the names in previous posts, with the exception of Berry Brandybuck's, which I've dropped in at the end here just because I had so much fun figuring it out in the first place!
THE HOUSE OF TOOK
Thain Peregrin I (Pippin) Took 1390 - Diamond of Long Cleeve 1395
*Faramir (Fair) 1430 - Goldilocks Gamgee 1431
Perhael (Per) 1465
Rosarwen 1467
Glorfinniel (Glory) 1469
Gardner 1471
*Amethyst (Amy) 1433 - Wil Proudfoot
Peridot (Peri) 1468
Geron 1471
*Laurelin (Laury) 1435 - Hugo Vale
Elwing 1474
Elenna 1474
*Galen 1438 - Bryony Weaver
Elladan (Dan) 1475
Paladin (Pal) 1477
Adamanta (Addy) 1480
THE HOUSE OF BRANDYBUCK
Meriadoc the Magnificent (Merry) Brandybuck 1382 - Estella Bolger 1385
*Theodoc (Theo) 1432 - Camellia Maggot
Rory 1467
Estella (Ella) 1470
Eirien (Daisy) 1478
*Boromir (Bo) 1436 - Tansy Boffin
*Berrilea (Berry) 1444 - Tolman (Tom) Gamgee 1442
BERILEA (Berry)-Berry’s name has many connections. Beril is the Elvish translation of Rose; Estella Bolger’s mother was called Rosamunda, so Berry is named for her maternal grandmother. However, in Westron, the similarly-sounding word beryl is a crystalline formation associated with emeralds; Merry’s mother was Esmeralda, which is Spanish (and I’m guessing Hobbitish) for emerald! So Berry is named for both her grandmothers. Further, Merry Brandybuck had a cousin, Berilac, who in this story died tragically and might have been remembered with this name. And finally, Berry is a nod to her illustrious father. There are two Elvish translations of ‘Rose’ in the Epilogue in The End of the Third Age: Beril and Meril. I chose the first, so there would not be the confusion of two Merry Brandybucks (and so I could make that outrageous ‘beryl’ connection!)