What river to the Brandybuck hobbits live next to?

The Brandybuck hobbits live next to the Brandywine River. In J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, the Brandybucks are associated with Buckland, a region of the Shire located on the eastern bank of the river.

The Brandywine forms an important geographic boundary between the main part of the Shire and Buckland. The Brandybucks’ ancestral home is Brandy Hall, a large family residence near the town of Bucklebury. Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck, one of Frodo’s companions, comes from this prominent Hobbit family.

The river’s Elvish name is Baranduin, meaning “golden-brown river,” while “Brandywine” is the Hobbit form of the name. Readers sometimes confuse it with the Anduin, the great river farther east, or with Sirannon and Bruinen, which are rivers associated with other regions of Middle-earth. The Brandywine is therefore the specific river linked to the Brandybucks and their homeland in the Shire.