In many cases, the names of the Hobbits given in The Lord of the Rings have been anglicised from their original Westron forms. This is the case with the old family-name 'Oldbuck', which is a translation of the actual name Zaragamba. Historically, the heads of this family were hereditary Thains of the Shire, and remained so until one of their number, Gorhendad, travelled east and founded Buckland on the Shire's borders. At that time, the family name changed to Brandagamba, meaning 'border-buck'. Tolkien suggests that 'Marchbuck' might have been an appropriate direct translation of this new name, but instead he made a connection with the Brandywine River, anglicising Brandagamba as 'Brandybuck'.
For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.
Website services kindly sponsored by Axiom Software Ltd.
Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2005, 2008. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.