Harry Cooper[1] was one of the children who attended The Feast of Good Children when Smith Smithson ate the Fay-star that had been put in the Great Cake. Long after he had retired, the Master Cook at that occasion, Nokes, was trying to figure out who had swallowed the Fay-star and he remembered Harry, the Cooper's son. Nokes claimed that Harry was "a barrel of a boy" who had a fat mouth similar to a frog. Alf, who had been Nokes' apprentice at the time, reprovingly said that Harry was a nice boy with a large friendly grin. He had not eaten the star because he had carefully cut his slice of the Cake to pieces before eating and had found nothing.[2]
Other writings
Roverandom
In the novella, Roverandom, Harry was the manager of the toy shop who told an employee to mark Rover for sixpence before putting on the window display.[3]
Tales and Songs of Bimble Bay
In the poem, William and the Bumpus, "Harry and his father" were two inhabitants of Bimble Bay who fled for "their lives" after howling in fear upon seeing the Bumpus peeping over the walls of the market-place. In early 1961,[4] when Tolkien revised the poem for inclusion within The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, the characters of "Harry and his father" were merged into Grip, Bill Butcher's dog.[5]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Verlyn Flieger (ed.), Smith of Wootton Major: Extended edition, "Hybrid draft and transcription of 'The Great Cake'"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Verlyn Flieger (ed.), Smith of Wootton Major: Extended edition, "Smith of Wootton Major"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond (ed.), Roverandom, "[chapter] 1"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond (eds.), The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, "105. The Bumpus · William and the Bumpus · Perry-the-Winkle (?1928-61)"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Christina Scull & Wayne G. Hammond (eds), The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, "Commentary", Perry-the-Winkle