[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

I now have some unsavoury ideas of things to do with Lego and davem's stop-motion film camera android app thingie

It's now very important that the most unsavoury of these becomes film as soon as possible. It's nice to see these moots continue to spawn inappropriate art projects weeks after they end.

Originally Posted by zigûr

I detect a Red Dwarf reference!

I like to refer to popular culture occasionally to dispel rumours that I am a stuffy old fuddy-duddy who has done several crosswords too many.

As Aganzir pointed out, Bombur is one of the few dwarves to put up a decent fight anywhere on their adventures, so there's probably a bit more to him than appears on the surface. Given that Thorin is reasonably intelligent, I would guess that an ability to fold hoods or make soup would not be a sole requirement for members of his company. I never picked up any class distinctions between the dwarves in The Hobbit other than Thorin's status as the leader, and as John Rateliff mentions in The History of the Hobbit, here 'attendants' is more likely to mean courtiers or an honour guard - hardly traditionally working-class occupations. Of course, even using terms like 'working class' suggests an anachronistic social structure: Thorin and his companions form something more like a comitatus, which would normally suggest a similar status for all, much as Thorin's company appears on the page.

Originally Posted by Heren Istarion

I have another point to make (as I've pondered the issue the very day I raised my doubts with regards multitude of instances of mentioning Bombur as fat. For it seems to me it's well-reasoned (as I've mentioned in my comment to Squatter's post on FB) - based on my own experience of bedtime reading to my kids - you have to constantly remind them about certain facts - even if they do seem already well established to yourself - so I see the reason of constantly stressing that particular fat guy's fat

This is a good point, but it's still very striking that almost every time Bombur appears his fatness is singled out for special mention. I think that Tolkien overdoes it, but I have less experience than he (or you) in reading stories to children. It's a good explanation, but that doesn't detract from the humour to be derived from saying that fat Bombur, who was stout for a dwarf and even inclined to be somewhat tubby, was sometimes regarded by his companions as being a little overweight.

Interestingly enough, I was reading The Hobbit this week and found another reference to Bombur that I missed before. It comes as the party has just descended the loose scree in Out of the frying-pan and into the fire (p. 88 of my edition).

'Well, that has got us on a bit,' said Gandalf; 'and even goblins tracking us will have a job to come down here quietly.'
'I daresay,' grumbled Bombur; 'but they won't find it difficult to send stones bouncing down on our heads.'

Although here we have Bombur engaging in his usual role of grumbler, I note that here there is no mention either of food or his weight. Also he makes a valid tactical observation, which does slightly deflate my original contention that his only purpose is to supply comic relief of the bumbling, oafish variety. Never mind, though: there are still a lot of mentions of the poor chap's waistline.