The meaningful part of Fredegar Bolger’s role in “The Lord of the Rings” ends early in the story — but not until Frodo and his friends are in Bree. As the other four Hobbits are connecting with Aragorn and spending the night in the Prancing Pony, Fatty faces not one but three Black Riders who show up at Crickhollow looking for a Mr. Baggins. The terrified but clever Hobbit runs out the backdoor and then sounds the alarm as the Nazgûl break into the house. While Fatty survives the encounter, the ringwraiths do finally figure out that Frodo is gone, at which point they leave the Shire to take off for Bree, Weathertop, and the chase back to Rivendell.
After that, you’d think Fredegar could lie low and wait out the distant horrors of war, but nope. In “The Return of the King” book, Tolkien has Saruman’s ruffians invade the Shire, turning it into an industrial house of horrors. They enslave the Hobbits, and it isn’t until Frodo and Company return after the War of the Ring that the Halflings rise up, defeat, and cast out their oppressors (all of which was cut from Jackson’s films). Before the Hobbit heroes return, though, there is some scattered resistance, including a group led by none other than Fatty Bolger.
The book explains that after the fight to reclaim the Shire, Fredegar is found in “the Lockholes” — a sort of prison where many Hobbits are kept if they get too rebellious. The text explains, “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.” By this time, Fredegar is too weak even to walk, and Pippin unhelpfully comments, “You would have done better to come with us after all, poor old Fredegar!”
We don’t really get a satisfactory ending to Fredegar’s story, but there’s no bad news after this point. In fact, his sister, Estella, even ends up married to Merry! Our guess is that he lived happily ever after, along with the rest of the Shire inhabitants, as everyone enjoyed the peace that followed in the wake of the War of the Ring. Without Fatty’s help in planning the conspiracy and distracting the Black Riders, the entire “The Lord of the Rings” story could have gone very differently. Hopefully, Frodo’s cousin and hobbit companion will make it into a movie or streaming adaptation at some point soon. Heaven knows this conspiring halfling hero deserves to make the cut.
