Bombur/His Wife
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Bombur/His Wife |
| Alternative name(s): | |
| Gender category: | Het |
| Fandom: | The Hobbit |
| Canonical?: | Yes, movies only |
| Prevalence: | Rare[1][2][3] |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | Implied canonical in the movie but not the book |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Bombur/His Wife is a semi-canonical ship from The Hobbit movieverse. In the extra material surrounding the movie, Bombur has 14 children.[4] Movie materials don't name the mother of his children, and fandom has not given her a common fanon name yet. This ship is almost always a very minor background to other works, but sometimes one or more of Bombur's children play a significant role in a work.[5]
Depictions in Fanworks
Sometimes Bombur's large family is treated as a source of humor:
‘Are ye knocked up again?!’ Bofur’s eyes bulged out of his head as he gave a significant glance to the brood of dwarflings surrounding the wedded couple.‘He means “Congratulations”.’ Bilbo said as he raised his cup in a mute salute to the obvious love between the two, between Bombur and…
Actually, Bilbo still hadn’t gotten her name. The cook had only referred to his wife as ‘darling’, ‘sweetheart’, and something in Khuzdul which sounded like a curse, but it was said while kissing her cheek for the umpteenth time that evening.
Bombur caressed his wife’s hand as he said, ‘Yes, we’re very happy.’ He didn’t seem to be able to stop himself smiling, his round cheeks bulging even more than usual.[6]
This quote also lampshades the lack of canon or standard fanon name for Bombur's wife.
Other times, the issues of trying to support such a large family are treated seriously:
Eight children are a blessing to a dwarven family, but Father and Mother were not well off, and the apprenticeship fees for her older brothers had not been kind to the family finances.[7]
Bombur and his wife are generally depicted as being very much in love, even though he doesn't talk about her as much as Glóin does. The few works that focus on this relationship generally describe how they met and fell in love or focus on their children. Bofur and Bifur are generally very supportive of Bombur's relationship and help care for the children, if the children are portrayed in the work.
In some fanworks, some of Bombur's 14 children are adopted.[8] In these cases, they're not always all dwarves.
Example Fanworks
Archives and Resources
Fanart
- Bombur's Children by elenorasweet
Fanfiction
- A Ladle and Some Stew by Thorinsmut
- Family Is What Matters by vix_spes
- A Pleasant Surprise at Home by GreenSorceress
- Babies by DragonsQuill
- Prolific by AislingKaye
- Break Fast by lowbudgetcyborg
References
- ^ The first Bombur/His Wife work on AO3 was posted around April 16, 2013. By December 15, 2013, the ship had about 17 works tagged there. By December 15, 2014, it had about 26 works.
- ^ Many works that mention Bombur and his wife aren't tagged with the ship, since it's usually a minor mention. For example, A Most Sensible Idea by HildyJ includes a scene introducing Bombur's wife and children, but the work is not tagged with that ship.
- ^ There were 43 Bombur/His Wife works tagged on AO3 as of March 24, 2015. In most of those, it was a background ship.
- ^ "Incidentally, only two of the dwarves have children. Glóin, who has Gimli. And Bombur, who has 14. We decided that for dwarf women Bombur is the most sexy!" ~Phillippa Boyens The Deconstruction of Smaug article in Empire Magazine, written by Nick de Semlyan.
- ^ For example, in The Line of Durin by imaginary_golux, one of Bombur's daughters becomes a queen.
- ^ A Most Sensible Idea by HildyJ, posted between October 28 and November 3, 2014. Like many works that include a brief scene of Bombur with his wife, this work is not tagged with that ship.
- ^ The Line of Durin by imaginary_golux, accessed March 24, 2015.
- ^ For example, Bombur's Children by elenorasweet and the fics based on this fanart.
