Took clan

In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, the Took clan ( /ˈtuːk/, not /ˈtʊk/) was one of the most famous Hobbit families.

The first recorded Took (Tûk of unknown meaning in Hobbitish Westron) was an Isumbras Took, who became the 13th Thain of the Shire after Gorhendad Oldbuck crossed into Buckland, becoming Master there.

After Isumbras, the Thain position became hereditary in the Took family, and at the end of the Third Age his descendant Peregrin "Pippin" Took became the 19^th Thain of the Took line, the 32^nd in the Shire.

The Tooks lived in the Great Smials of Tuckborough, ruling Tookland in the Westfarthing of the Shire. A smaller clan called the North-Tooks lived far up in the Northfarthing; these were descendants of the legendary hero Bullroarer Took.

Tooks were mainly of Fallohide Hobbit stock, and were more adventurous than the other Hobbits. They also had quite a reputation for unusual behavior, a quality not exactly valued by most hobbits. For this reason they were seen as less respectable, and for the same reason they were one of the richer clans. The Wizard Gandalf was a known, if disreputable, associate. Bilbo Baggins and Meriadoc Brandybuck both had Took mothers.

It is suggested by Tolkien, in the opening chapter of The Hobbit, that a distant Took ancestor took a Fairy for a wife; possibly accounting for their 'unexpected behaviors'. But it is later said, that that was ridiculous.

The Tooks of Great Smials

In reality

• Like many of Tolkien's Hobbit names, 'Took' is a real (though rare) English surname. Genes Reunited lists more than 400 of them.
• English musician Stephen Ross Porter took Peregrin Took as his stage name.

References

• "Took Family". Encyclopedia of Arda. http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/t/took.html. 
• Tolkien, J.R.R. (2002). "Anhang C, Ahnentafeln (Appendix C)" (in German). Der Herr der Ringe (The Lord of the Rings) (10th edition ed.). Klett-Cotta. ISBN 3-608-93222-4.