Pippin Took

Pippin and Merry are introduced as a pair of young hobbits of the Shire who become ensnared in their friend Frodo Baggins's quest to destroy the One Ring.

Commentators have noted that the actions of Merry and Pippin serve to throw light on the characters of the good and bad lords Théoden of Rohan and Denethor of Gondor, while their simple humour acts as a foil for the higher romance involving kings and the heroic Aragorn.

Pippin is the only son and heir of Paladin Took II, the aristocratic and independent Thain of the Shire, who farms at Whitwell near the Three Farthing Stone[a] in the Tookland, and his wife Eglantine Banks.

To keep Pippin safe from Sauron's forces, Gandalf takes him to the city of Minas Tirith, capital of Gondor, separating him from his friends.

[T 2] When Denethor despairs and sets out to burn his son Faramir and himself alive in the street of tombs, Rath Dínen, Pippin fetches Gandalf and Beregond.

[2][T 13] Pippin is the only hobbit to join the Army of the West, led by Aragorn, as it assaults the Black Gate of Mordor, in a feint to distract Sauron from the One Ring's journey towards Mount Doom.

[T 16] The critic Jane Chance discusses the role of Pippin and his friend Merry, another hobbit, in illuminating the contrast between what she calls the "good and bad Germanic lords Théoden and Denethor".

[7] The two apparently minor hobbits have another role, too, Shippey writes: it is to remain of good courage when even strong men start to doubt whether victory is possible, as when Pippin comforts the soldier of Gondor, Beregond, as the hordes of Mordor approach Minas Tirith.

That change in mood is enough to cause Beregond to react swiftly some days later, when Pippin tells him of Denethor's intention to burn Faramir alive.

[14] Indeed, very soon all who cannot fight leave the city, it grows cold, and a Nazgûl flies ominously across the sun; Rutledge remarks on the biblical echoes.

[17] In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Pippin is played by the Scottish actor Billy Boyd.

[10] In the 1991 Soviet TV adaptation Khraniteli, Pippin Took, called Pin Krol, is portrayed with sideburns, eyeglasses and a hat.