Sandyman

Sandyman was the owner of the Old Mill in Hobbiton at the time of Bilbo's Birthday Party, whose first name - if he had one - is never revealed by Tolkien. He was an opinionated fellow, ready to pass on tall tales, who was unpopular with Sam's father Hamfast. His fate is slightly ambiguous, but it seems that he died sometime in the years before the War of the Ring, with his Mill being inherited by his son Ted, who sold it to Lotho Sackville-Baggins during his takeover of the Shire.

Inspiration

• Possibly the miller at Sarehole Mill, Warwickshire, England

"You shouldn’t listen to all you hear, Sandyman,’ said the Gaffer, who did not much like the miller."

― The Lord of the Rings, A Long-expected Party

"I never liked the looks of the Young miller, but his father, the Old miller, had a black beard, and he was not named Sandyman."

― The Lord of the Rings, Foreword