Character Bios
Fredegar Bolger
Other Names: Fatty Bolger
Location(s):
Budgeford
Race/Species: Hobbit
Dates:
born III 2980 (1380 SR)
Parents:
father: Odovacar Bolger
mother: Rosamunda Took
Siblings:
Estella Bolger
Description:
Fredegar "Fatty" Bolger is the son of Odovacar Bolger and Rosamunda Took and the brother of Estella Bolger. He is a friend of Frodo Baggins, and conspired with Merry, Pippin, and Sam to keep tabs on Frodo after Bilbo left the Shire.
[Frodo]... had a good many friends, especially among the younger hobbits (mostly descendants of the Old Took 1) who had as children been fond of Bilbo and often in and out of Bag End. Folco Boffin and Fredegar Bolger were two of these....
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 2, The Shadow of the Past
Bag End began to be busy. Some of Frodo's friends came to stay and help him with the packing: there was Fredegar Bolger and Folco Boffin, and of course his special friends Pippin Took and Merry Brandybuck.
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 3, Three Is Company
The next morning they were busy packing another cart with the remainder of the luggage. Merry took charge of this, and drove off with Fatty (that is Fredegar Bolger). 'Someone must get there and warm the house before you arrive,' said Merry.
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 3, Three Is Company
They had supper in the kitchen on a table near the fire. 'I suppose you three won't want mushrooms again?' said Fredegar without much hope....
'They're mine!' said Frodo. 'Given to me by Mrs. Maggot, a queen among farmers' wives. Take your greedy hands away, and I'll serve them.'
Hobbits have a passion for mushrooms, surpassing even the greediest likings of Big People.... On this occasion there was plenty for all, even according to hobbit standards. There were also many other things to follow, and when they had finished even Fatty Bolger heaved a sigh of content.
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 5, A Conspiracy Unmasked
'I have made up my mind,' [Frodo] said finally. 'I am starting tomorrow.... But I am not going by road....'
'But that can only mean going into the Old Forest!' said Fredegar horrified. 'You can't be thinking of doing that. It is quite as dangerous as Black Riders.'
'Not quite,' said Merry. It sounds very desperate, but... [it] is the only way of getting off without being followed.... With luck we might get a considerable start.'
'But you won't have any luck in the Old Forest,' objected Fredegar. 'No one ever has luck in there. You'll get lost. People don't go in there.'
'Oh yes they do!' said Merry. 'The Brandybucks go in.... I have been in several times....'
'Well, do as you think best!' said Fredegar. 'I am more afraid of the Old Forest than of anything I know about: the stories about it are a nightmare; but my vote hardly counts, as I am not going on the journey. Still, I am very glad someone is stopping behind, who can tell Gandalf what you have done, when he turns up, as I am sure he will before long.'
Fond as he was of Frodo, Fatty Bolger had no desire to leave the Shire, nor to see what lay outside it. His family came from the Eastfarthing, from Budgeford in Bridgefields in fact, but he had never been over the Brandywine Bridge. His task, according to the original plans of the conspirators, was to stay behind and deal with inquisitive folk, and to keep up as long as possible the pretence that Mr. Baggins was still living at Crickhollow. He had even brought along some old clothes of Frodo's to help him in playing the part. They little thought how dangerous that part might prove.
'Excellent!' said Frodo.... '[If] Fatty is willing to hold the fort, and I can be sure of Gandalf knowing the way we have gone, that decides me. I am going into the Old Forest first thing tomorrow.'
'Well, that's that,' said Pippin. 'On the whole I would rather have our job than Fatty's — waiting here till Black Riders come.'
'You wait till you are well inside the Forest,' said Fredegar. 'You'll wish you were back here with me before this time tomorrow.'
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 5, A Conspiracy Unmasked
After riding for about an hour..., they saw the Hedge looming suddenly ahead.... 'How are you going to get through this?' asked Fredegar.
'Follow me!' said Merry, 'and you will see.'.... A cutting had been made.... It... formed a tunnel that dived deep under the Hedge and came out in the hollow on the other side.
Here Fatty Bolger halted. 'Good-bye, Frodo!' he said. 'I wish you were not going into the Forest. I only hope you will not need rescuing before the day is out. But good luck to you — today and every day!'
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 6, The Old Forest
'Are the stories about [the Old Forest] true?' asked Pippin.
'I don't know what stories you mean,' Merry answered. 'If you mean the old bogey-stories Fatty's nurses used to tell him, about goblins and wolves and things of that sort, I should say no.'
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 6, The Old Forest
Fatty Bolger opened the door cautiously and peered out. A feeling of fear had been growing on him all day, and he was unable to rest or go to bed: there was a brooding threat in the breathless night-air. As he stared out into the gloom, a black shadow moved under the trees; the gate seemed to open of its own accord and close again without a sound. Terror seized him. He shrank back, and for a moment he stood trembling in the hall. Then he shut and locked the door....
Fatty Bolger had not been idle. As soon as he saw the dark shapes creep from the garden, he knew that he must run for it, or perish. And run he did, out of the back door, through the garden, and over the fields. When he reached the nearest house, more than a mile away, he collapsed on the doorstep. 'No, no, no!' he was crying. 'No, not me! I haven't got it!' It was some time before anyone could make out what he was babbling about. At last they got the idea that enemies were in Buckland.... And then they lost no more time.
FEAR! FIRE! FOES!
The Brandybucks were blowing the Horn-call of Buckland....
The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 11, A Knife in the Dark
The day after the battle Frodo rode to Michel Delving and released the prisoners from the Lockholes. One of the first that they found was poor Fredegar Bolger, Fatty no longer. He had been taken when the ruffians smoked out a band of rebels that he led from their hidings up in the Brockenbores by the hills of Scary.
'You would have done better to come with us after all, poor old Fredegar!' said Pippin, as they carried him out too weak to walk.
He opened an eye and tried gallantly to smile. 'Who's this young giant with the loud voice?' he whispered. 'Not little Pippin! What's your size in hats now?'
The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 9, The Grey Havens
Notes
1 Fredegar and Estella's mother Rosamunda Took is the great-granddaughter of Gerontius, the Old Took, through his eighth son Hildibrand. In addition, their father Odovacar is the great-grandson of the Old Took through his tenth child and middle daughter, Donnamira.
The Lord of the Rings, Appendix C, Family Trees
Contributors:
~Nessime 26Jan04
Elena Tiriel 25Jan10
