This article is about Tolkien's hobbits. For other uses of the word boffin see boffin (disambiguation)

Boffin (disambiguation)

Boffin is a British slang term for a scientist. It may also refer to:*Boffin , computer platform game for the Acorn Electron and BBC Micro systems*Boffin , fictional hobbit family in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R...

.

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In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

, the Boffin (anglicization of Bophîn, name of unknown meaning in Hobbitish Westron

Westron

Westron, or the Common Speech, is a fictional language in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien.Westron is the closest thing to a lingua franca in Middle-earth, at least at the time during which The Lord of the Rings is set. "Westron" is an invented English word, derived from West...

) family are a prominent hobbit

Hobbit

Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...

 family of the Shire

Shire (Middle-earth)

The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...

, associated with the region of the Yale in the Eastfarthing. Important members include Berylla Boffin, who was an ancestor of both Bilbo

Bilbo Baggins

Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...

 and Frodo Baggins

Frodo Baggins

Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...

, and Folco Boffin, who helped Frodo in his move from Bag End.

They were a Stoor family, and their ancestors long dwelt in Dunland before migrating northwest.

Boffins of the Yale

Buffo Boffin
= Ivy Goodenough
___________|_______________________
| | | |
Bosco Basso Briffo Berylla
| = Balbo Baggins
| :
| :
Otto the Fat Bilbo Baggins

Bilbo Baggins

Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...

= Lavender Grubb
________________|__________________________________________________
| | | |
Hugo Uffo Rollo Primrose
= Donnamira Took = Sapphira Brockhouse = Druda Burrows = Blanco Bracegirdle
____________| _________|________ | ______|______
| | | | | | |
Jago Jessamine Gruffo Gerda Sago Bruno Lobelia
= Fem = Herugar = Lila Grubb = Adalbert Bolger

Bolger family

In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Bolger family are a Hobbit family of Fallohidish origin, associated with the village of Budgeford, on the Water in the Eastfarthing of the Shire...

  = Frinella Chubb = Tolula = Otho Sackville-
Hornblower Bolger | | Goold Baggins
| | | ____|____ |
Vigo Griffo (various | | Lotho
= Tansy Proudfoot = Daisy Baggins

Baggins family

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Baggins family is known to be a remarkable and rich Hobbit family.-Family history:...

  descendants) Hugo Hilda
| | = Seredic
Folco Tosto Brandybuck

Mr. Bliss

Another, earlier work by Tolkien, the illustrated tale "Mr. Bliss

Mr. Bliss

Mr. Bliss is a children's picture book by J. R. R. Tolkien, published posthumously in book form in 1982. One of Tolkien's least-known short works, it tells the story of Mr. Bliss and his first ride in his new motor-car...

", features a comic policeman character called Sergeant Boffin.