Halfast Gamgee (‘Hal’)

It is far from clear whether the name Halfast is intended to be meaningful, and it may simply follow the same pattern as that of Halfast's father Halfred. However, the name is notably similar in structure to that of Sam Gamgee's father Hamfast (said to mean 'stay-at-home', or literally 'home-fast') which does tend to imply that Halfast carried some intended meaning.

Possible sources for the Hal- element might be Old English heal, 'nook, hiding-place', or heall, 'house, home', in which case Halfast would be share a similar meaning to Hamfast. There may also be a connection to healsfæst, 'obstinate' or 'stubborn', which would fit the tendency among the members of the Gamgee family towards names that were both comical and mildly disparaging.

The identity of this 'Mr. Boffin' is never stated explicitly, at least in the published text of The Lord of the Rings. He was originally named as one 'Fosco Boffin', son of Jago Boffin, but in the genealogies of the Boffin family Jago's son is named not as 'Fosco' but as 'Vigo'. The simplest assumption would be that Tolkien simply changed the character's name, so Vigo Boffin is the most likely identity of 'Mr. Boffin' of Overhill.

The patrons of the Green Dragon may have been skeptical of Halfast's account, but a recently revealed source suggests that there was at least some truth to his story. In a letter written to a young fan in 1966, Tolkien reported that Halfast's 'Tree-man' was in fact an Ent, one of a number secretly sent to watch over the Shire by Gandalf. If this is correct, then it must have been a retrospective adaptation (because we know from the history of The Lord of the Rings that the Ents had not yet been invented when Tolkien originally wrote of cousin Hal's experience).