A Hobbit-name used in the Shire, with the meaning 'half-wise'. This was the original form of a name anglicised by Tolkien to 'Samwise' (the original form of Samwise's surname 'Gamgee' was Galpsi, so his full name in the Shire would have been Banazîr Galpsi). Just as 'Samwise' is often shortened to 'Sam', so Banazîr also had an abbreviated form, and the Hobbit we know as Sam Gamgee would actually have been addressed by his friends as Ban.