Sackville-Baggins

The Sackville-Bagginses as shown in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring.

The Sackville-Baggins was a wealthy Hobbit family of the Shire in the late Third Age.

History

It was founded by the marriage of Longo Baggins to Camellia Sackville, heiress of the Sackville family headship. Their son, Otho Sackville-Baggins, adopted a double name, kept by his wife Lobelia (née Bracegirdle). The family was never well-liked as they were obnoxious and greedy. They were obsessed with acquiring the luxurious Bag End from their cousin Bilbo. They had almost succeeded in TA 2942 when Bilbo had disappeared a year earlier and was thought to be dead. When this was not so, the family became more and more detestable and for years denied that the Bilbo living in Bag End was the real Bilbo Baggins. They were even more envious of Bilbo's wealth when he adopted Frodo as his heir.

Frodo Baggins disliked them as they resented his inheritance. When Frodo went away in September, TA 3018, they had finally gotten Bag End. Lobelia's son Lotho had gained control of the Shire through alliance with Saruman. When he was murdered, Lobelia was the last significant member of the family and after her death the brief-lived family disappeared.

Behind the Scenes

The name Sackville was a familiar "aristocratic" name in Tolkien's day, especially in double-barrelled names such as Sackville-West, and he presumably used it (and the contrast with the more mundane Baggins) to imply the somewhat snobbish nature of the Sackville-Baggins'. Notes in the guide for translators of the LotR show Tolkien also had the "sack"/"bag" connection in mind, which is kept in most translations, e.g. in Dutch the name becomes Buul-Balings, "buul" and "baal" both being words for sack or bag.

External link

• Sackville-Baggins Family at Tolkien Gateway