starspray | Of Fatty Bolger

I just realized that I have some tumblr ask memes that I want to cross-post, so here's one.

Kazaera asked for a Tolkien Meta Meme:

10. Pick a character or group who you believe is unappreciated, undervalued, or undeservedly reviled by fandom and explain why they are awesome.

I answered:

I mean, the obvious answer here is Elwing, but I feel like I’d just be repeating myself at this point. So, um…

Hey, you know who no one ever talks about? Fatty Bolger. He’s part of the Conspiracy too! He’s as good a friend to Frodo as Merry and Pippin are! He doesn’t want to leave the Shire, okay, but that shouldn’t count against him because the world outside of the Shire is a very scary place, and I think the Travelers don’t really understand that–they know it intellectually, of course–but they treat their journey like a Hobbit Walking Party right up to Bree.

But anyway, when the Ringwraiths come to Crickhollow, it’s just Fatty there. He’s alone. That’s the sort of situation where the Nazgul are at their biggest advantage, trapping someone alone in the dark, and what they’re doing as they inch closer and closer to the house is bombarding it with this like, spiritual attack, using fear and despair to try to paralyze their victims. That’s what they do on Weathertop as well–it’s a spiritual battle rather than a physical one.

But it doesn’t fully work on Fatty. He’s scared out of his mind, obviously, but he doesn’t freeze. He books it as soon as he senses something’s off, and by the time the Nazgul actually reach the door he’s already gone to find help (even though this is his first time on this side of the Brandywine so he doesn’t know the land, and it’s dark, and he’s scared!), and the Nazgul can’t stand against hobbits with their horns and torches, all of them coming together, and on their home turf.

And then, and then, when Sharkey’s Big Men come and take over? Fatty leads the resistance! He gets arrested and thrown in the Lockholes, and I can’t remember if the text says anything about what he accomplished before that, but I bet he was a pain in their asses up until they caught him!

I’m very fond of Fatty. I hope he got to live a very long and happy life after all of that.