Will Whitfoot

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Will Whitfoot
Hobbit
Storn Cook - Will Whitfoot.jpg
Biographical Information
Other namesFlourdumpling
LocationMichel Delving
Physical Description
GenderMale
GalleryImages of Will Whitfoot

Will Whitfoot was the Mayor of Michel Delving during the War of the Ring.

History

Whitfoot was elected Mayor at the Free Fair late in the Third Age, at least as late as T.A. 3013.[note 1]

He was renowned as being the fattest hobbit in the Westfarthing, and was affectionately referred to as "Flourdumpling" after he emerged from the collapse of the Town Hole covered in chalk.[1]

He was one of the first victims of the new rule of Lotho Sackville-Baggins and Sharkey. He went to protest Lotho's taking down trees, but was apprehended by Ruffians on his way to Bag End. He was locked up in the Lockholes, and Lotho usurped his title.[2] He was freed after the Battle of Bywater, but was at first unfit for duty as Mayor, so Frodo Baggins served as Deputy Mayor.[3] He was officially restored as Mayor on the next Free Fair, on Midyear's Day of S.R. 1420.[4]

Will Whitfoot resigned in S.R. 1427, and was succeeded by Samwise Gamgee.[4]

Etymology

The name "Whitfoot" is derived from "White foot".[5]

Notes

  1. The date is not given by Tolkien, but since the Free Fair is septennial, Will must have been Mayor since the last Free Fair before T.A. 3020 (3020-7=3013). We are not told if this was his first term, and it's possible that he could already had been elected since T.A. 3006 or even earlier. See Robert Foster, The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, p. 428, entry "Will Whitfoot".

References