Monday, March 2, 2009

How do we know Humpty Dumpty was an egg?


Age old question, I know. But seriously, why is Humpty always depicted as an egg? Nowhere in the rhyme is it mentioned that the little bugger was an egg. In fact, it doesn't say what he was at all.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again


So all the kings men and all the kings horses couldn't put him back together again? So what? Doesn't mean he had to have been an EGG. Why couldn't he have been... made of porcelain or something? Why an egg (of all things)?

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Bored. Nothing better to write.
Image courtesy Wikipedia.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it's one of those creepy rhymes that's got some history in it...

Like a prince who committed suicide and there was no Egor to sew back his splattered blood drenched remains!

Paparé Boy said...

Yeah... perhaps.

Makuluwo said...

It was originally a riddle, dahling.
So the answer was never for sure but the majority assumed their answer to the riddle (it's an egg!) had to be right.

Many historical conspiracies following this bugger around though, like MoM said.
Some say he's a parody of how when King Richard was abandoned at war, he fell off his horse and was hacked to death by his enemies!

Anonymous said...

I read (somewhere) that ‘Humpty Dumpty’ was the name of a large cannon during the English Civil War. I think both explanations are listed on Wikipedia.

Who knows what the real explanation is... at least it’s not as creepy as some other nursery rhymes. I once read that “Ring-a-ring a Roses” was about the bubonic plague!

TheWhacksteR said...

And to think we were so naive as kids. this is a sign of maturity it is! Humpty could just as wel have been made out of flesh. Depending on how tall the wall was.

Paparé Boy said...

Interesting thoughts, guys. I Googled Humpty Dumpty and came across this:

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/humpty_dumpty.htm

Check it out. Insightful stuff.