Chapter Five
Bandobras 'Bullroarer' Took
Of all who shall be written about in this book, this hobbit is certainly (in my view) the greatest hero of them all. All in the Shire know his name and his story, and some in distant lands know of it too. Our home, the Shire, is not a land shaped by conflict – and only once in recorded history have the hobbits of the Shire taken up arms against an enemy. That is where Bandobras Took made his name, and became better known as Bullroarer.
Bandobras was born in the year 1104. A common misconception about him is that he himself was Thain, which is untrue. However, such a belief is not too far off the mark. He was indeed the second son of Thain Isumbras the Third (1066-1159) and younger brother to Thain Ferumbras the Second (1101-1201). Despite not being Thain himself, he would be remembered more than his father and brother. Bandobras lived in the village of Long Cleeve, in the Northfarthing. Why he chose not live in Tookland with his kin is unknown.
If his feats in battle are not what Shire-folk remember him for, then it is his great stature. The Tooks are known to possess strong Fallohide blood – which means that they are often taller than the average hobbit. But none more than Bandobras, who in his prime stood at four foot and five inches tall! With this great height, he was able to ride a horse rather than a pony. This height gave him renown in the Northfarthing well before the Battle of Greenfields.
For it was in this battle that he became undoubtedly the most legendary hobbit of all time. The year was 1147, in spring, and trouble was brewing abroad. Bandobras was forty three years old - very much in his prime. From the north a band of goblins, led by their terrible king named Golfimbul, invaded the Shire. Bandobras, who at the time was in Long Cleeve, mustered as many hobbits as he could to take up arms against this oncoming foe. His father, Thain Isumbras, called the Shire-muster and raised Hobbitry-in-arms which Bandobras took under his command. Indeed, nothing like this had been seen before and nothing has since. Bandobras, tall and mounted upon a horse, would have appeared lordly among his soldiers. Bandobras intercepted the southbound enemy in the area known as the Greenfields, which was (and still is) an open and relatively flat field that forced the hobbits and goblins into closely fought combat.
As club crashed against sword and arrows flew from bows, Bandobras Took charged the goblin ranks and felled many foes with his club. Many goblins, who had invaded this land expecting little or no resistance, were dismayed by the sheer size and courage of Bandobras. He now found the goblin king, Golfimbul, and charged at him upon his horse. At such speed and thrust of his club, Bandobras knocked the head of Golfimbul from his body. What happened next may well be a grandfather’s tale which lacks accuracy, but it is part of the legend of Bullroarer nonetheless. After knocking Golfimbul’s head off, it is said that it soared into the air and travelled a hundred feet and landed in a rabbit hole. As a result, it is claimed, the game of golf (taken from the name of the goblin king) was invented and is still played today, especially on the Greenfields. Whether or not this is true remains a point of discussion among scholars. But Bandobras Took certainly did fell the King of the Orcs of Mount Gram and without their leader, the goblins fled the Shire and never returned. From that day, Bandobras would be better known as Bullroarer Took. At the age of one hundred and two, Bullroarer died in 1206.
Bullroarer’s descendants would be known as the North-tooks, a strand of the Took family. Even today in Long Cleeve, Bullroarer’s home, you will find many North-tooks who have this hero as their ancestor. Every year during the Spring Festival, hobbits of the Shire celebrate Bullroarer Took day, where they drink a special brew (the recipe of which is said to be Bullroarer’s own) and attempt to navigate across a long fence. It is said that Bullroarer did this every morning during his life in order to keep his balance up to scratch. Whether this is entirely true or not, it is still good that folk from all over still celebrate the life of Bullroarer – and keep his deeds alive.
