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Character Bios

Fatty Lumpkin

Location(s): Old Forest

Race/Species: Beasts & Monsters

Dates: end of Third Age

Description:

A fat old pony belonging to Tom Bombadil:
Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander?
Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder?
Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin,
White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 8, Fog on the Barrow-downs

[Tom Bombadil] reappeared, hat first, over the brow of the hill, and behind him came in an obedient line six ponies: their own five and one more. The last was plainly old Fatty Lumpkin: he was larger, stronger, fatter (and older) than their own ponies. Merry, to whom the others belonged, had not, in fact, given them any such names, but they answered to the new names that Tom had given them for the rest of their lives.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 8, Fog on the Barrow-downs

'Where does that other old animal, that Fatty Lumpkin, come from?' asked Frodo.

'He's mine,' said Tom. 'My four-legged friend; though I seldom ride him, and he wanders often far, free upon the hillsides. When your ponies stayed with me, they got to know my Lumpkin; and they smelt him in the night, and quickly ran to meet him. I thought he'd look for them and with his words of wisdom take all their fear away. But now, my jolly Lumpkin, old Tom's going to ride. Hey! he's coming with you, just to set you on the road; so he needs a pony.'

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 8, Fog on the Barrow-downs

It was a merry journey with Tom Bombadil trotting gaily beside them, or before them, on Fatty Lumpkin, who could move much faster than his girth promised.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 8, Fog on the Barrow-downs

Then he turned, tossed up his hat, leaped on Lumpkin's back, and rode up over the bank and away singing into the dusk.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 8, Fog on the Barrow-downs

Merry's ponies had escaped [the raid on the Prancing Pony] altogether, and eventually (having a good deal of sense) they made their way to the Downs in search of Fatty Lumpkin. So they came under the care of Tom Bombadil for a while, and were well-off.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 11, A Knife in the Dark

Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 24Jun08

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