Bill Butcher was a Hobbit inhabitant of the town of Delving who appeared in Perry-the-Winkle, a nursery rhyme[2] by Samwise Gamgee[3].[1]
In the poem, Bill Butcher was accompanied by his dog Grip when he threw a knife upon seeing the Lonely Troll peeping over the stalls of the market-place.[1]
It is possible that Bill Butcher may have been one of the Shire-folk who travelled to Faraway in order to demand food from the Lonely Troll.[1]
Background
In the first version of the poem in early 1928,[4] which was entitled The Bumpus, the butcher was unnamed, "threw his knives", and had no dog.[2] No changes to the character occurred in the second version on March 29,[2] in which Tolkien revised the poem as part[2] of his Tales and Songs of Bimble Bay series. The third version also retained the same details in relation to the butcher.[4]
In early 1961,[2] when Tolkien revised the poem for inclusion within The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, the unnamed butcher was accompanied by his dog (instead of "Harry and his father"), threw a single knife, and was given the name Bill butcher. In a later revision, Tolkien capitalized the word butcher in Bill's name[1].[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, No. 8: "Perry-the-Winkle", pgs. 41-4
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, Volume Two, no. 105: "The Bumpus · William and the Bumpus · Perry-the-Winkle (?1928–61)"
- ↑ The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, "Preface"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, commentary, No. 8: "Perry-the-Winkle"
| Living Creatures from folk-lore | |
| Animals: | Dumbledors · Gorcrows · Hummerhorns · Kine of Araw · Pards · Swans of Gorbelgod · Turtle-fish |
|---|---|
| Dragon-kind: | Sea-serpents · Spark-dragons · Were-worms |
| Other: | Badger-folk · Ettens · Giants · Great beasts · Half-trolls · Hobgoblins · Lintips · Mewlips · Nameless things · Ogres · Otter-folk · Snow-trolls · Spectres · Things of Morgoth |
| Individuals: | Badger-brock · Bill Butcher · Farmer Hogg · Fastitocalon · Fisher Blue · Fíriel · Grip · Hunter · Rider · Ûrî · Lonely Troll · Nîlû · Mrs. Bunce · Old Swan · Peeping Jack · Perry-the-Winkle · Old Pott · Talking Gurthang · Talking purse · River-woman · Tarlang · Tim · Tom · Túro · Whisker-lad · White cow · Willow-wren |