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Not explained, but presumably a reference to Rorimac's wealth and his age1
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  • Updated 24 November 2022
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Goldfather

The nickname of Rorimac Brandybuck

There was a tradition among the Masters of Buckland that each Master in turn had a title or sobriquet added to their name. This tradition went back at least as far as Gormadoc Deepdelver, who had greatly extended the tunnelling of Brandy Hall within Buck Hill. Gormadoc's great-great-grandson was Rorimac Brandybuck, who became known, at least in his later life, as 'Goldfather'.

The Masters of Buckland were always wealthy, but Rorimac's name implies that under his Mastership the wealth of the Brandybucks expanded even farther. Rorimac was born in the late years of the Third Age; he attended Bilbo's Farewell Party, but was already an old Hobbit at that time (being ninety-nine years old, and commonly known as 'Old Rory'). He died seven years later, and evidently passed his fortune on to his son Saradoc, whose own title as Master would be 'Scattergold'.


Notes

1

In early versions of the Brandybuck genealogy (given in volume XII of The History of Middle-earth) the Masters of Buckland were given titles in Latin, and there 'Sagramor' Brandybuck (who would become Rorimac) has the Latin surname Aureus (literally 'golden', but also translatable figuratively as 'splendid'). This is the ultimate origin of the Gold- in 'Goldfather', while the -father element (not present in the original Latin name) seems to refer to his great age (Rorimac was also known as 'Old Rory').

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  • Updated 24 November 2022
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