Bill Ferny
| Bill Ferny | |
|---|---|
| Man of Bree | |
 | |
| Bill Ferny from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Location | Bree |
| Affiliation | Sauron (Nazgûl & Saruman) |
| Language | Westron |
| Birth | Late Third Age |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Steed | Bill the Pony |
| Gallery | Images of Bill Ferny |
Bill Ferny was a man of Bree, known to be an associate of the Nazgûl and later, an outlaw under the corrupted Wizard Saruman.
History[edit]
Bill Ferny lived in the last house of Bree, and was an opportunistic backstabber who was little liked by respectable folk of the town. He also served as a spy for the Black Riders, and relayed information about Shire-hobbits to them.
On September 29th of 3018, Ferny and his associate were at The Prancing Pony when the two of them saw "Mr. Underhill" (Frodo Baggins) vanish into thin air. They reported the information to the Black Riders, and so the wraiths came to attack that night.[1]
After the Black Riders had raided The Prancing Pony, Bill and his allies went to the inn's stables and set all mounts loose. There was only one pony left in all of Bree: Bill's mistreated one. He sold him for twelve silver pennies to Strider and the Hobbits. As a parting gift, Samwise Gamgee threw an apple at his head.[2]
Bill Ferny's associate was spotted inside Bill Ferny's house when the company set out to Weathertop.[3]
When trouble came up the Greenway from the South, Bill Ferny and several others opened the gates to the Ruffians, and left with them after a short battle.[4] He threw in his lot with "Sharkey", an arising petty thug-lord in the Shire, and guarded the gate at the Brandywine Bridge at his behest. His command over the local Shirriffs was hard, but he was no match for the four Hobbits who tried to break in. He fled into the night, but not after his old pony had kicked him in the back.[5]
Etymology[edit]
Bill is a name Tolkien used to represent the Westron name Bil, which was a short for names as Arambil, Bildad and Bilcuzal, all of unknown meaning.[6] Ferny is a reference to the plant, as many surnames of Bree were botanical in nature.[7]
Description[edit]
Descriptions of Bill's appearance are limited to his being a "swarthy Bree-lander"[8] or a "sneery swarthy fellow."[9]
Portrayal in adaptations[edit]
| Bill Ferny in adaptations | |||||||||
| |||||||||
_-_Bill_Ferny.JPG)
1981: BBC Radio's The Lord of the Ring:
- Graham Faulkner provided the voice of Bill Ferny.
2001-2007: The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game:
- One of the men seen in Bree in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is identified as Bill Ferny.
2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game):
- Bill is one of the guests at the Prancing Pony, who doesn't want to be disturbed by Hobbits. Afterwards, he confronts Strider in the streets, and is killed.
2007: The Lord of the Rings Online:
- Bill Ferny is encountered at several points in the game, spreading mischief throughout Bree-land. At one points he attempts to forge an alliance between Sharkey's Men and a band of Orcs from Angmar that have been cut off, but that arrangement falls through due to intervention of the Dunedain Rangers.
2013: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug:
- A character credited as "Bill Ferny Sr." appears in the prologue in Bree. Along with him associate, another character credited as "Squint" (loosely based on the squint-eyed southerner), Ferny, Sr. has seemingly tracked Thorin to the Prancing Pony (presumably to collect on the bounty put out on Thorin's head by Azog). The two Men are preparing to confront Thorin when Gandalf goes over and sits and starts talking with the Dwarf. When it becomes apparent the Wizard is not going anywhere, the two Men get up and leave the inn.
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Unfinished Tales, "The Hunt for the Ring", "Concerning Gandalf, Saruman, and the Shire"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Strider"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Knife in the Dark"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "Homeward Bound"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Scouring of the Shire"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "II. The Appendix on Languages"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings" in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 757
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, "Strider"
