WWFRANK

No one said that Humpty Dumpty was an egg. At least, not a literal one

“ 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, who, or what, was Humpty

The way I see it, Humpty was probably an ally of the King in this story, ar an ally to be.

“He” was then at a crossroads between keeping allegiance with the King, or defecting, the way I see this wall.

However, the decision that Humpty made led to ‘his’ downfall, and the pieces were scattered, and not even Humpty’s friend the King, or his might, could help Humpty back up.

It is quite possible that Humpty was a village or town on the outer reaches of this king’s kingdom, thus enemies could easily test Humpty’s allegiance.

Again, it is possible that within this town of Humpty, there emerged opposing forces, some for the king, and the other side against the king., and their clashing led to the downfall of Humpty Dumpty.

Quite again, it is possible that Humpty was not a town or territory, but a person, possibly of nobility. In the olden times, that was more or less the same; Say you’re visiting Lancaster, and it could be the Duke or the Shire, all at once. If so, then the scenarios presented still may stand, but now with the understanding of a divided loyalty by a King’s man, probably a fast ally of his.

Now let’s look for Humpty through History

In literature, Humpty Dumpty was the name given to the 12th egg of the Speckled Hen, as per Frank Baum’s first children’s book, ‘Mother Goose in Prose'(1897).

Now, in the song, which turns out to have been a riddle, Humpty Dumpty indeed was an egg.

The riddle

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the King’s horses

And all the King’s men

Cannot put Humpty together again!

https://americanliterature.com/author/l-frank-baum/short-story/humpty-dumpty

was put forth to the king in the story by a suitor to the princess by the name of Master Gracington. The riddle having beat the king, to the point of response as that: “You are a humbug, sir!” he cried out at last; “there is no answer to such a riddle.”

And so Humpty, who had been a friend to the Princess, ended up being of use to him, and showing him sights that an egg seldom does.

Now, further back into history, we find out that the nursery rhyme borrows straight from military history:

Humpty Dumpty was a gigantic siege cannon! Royalists employed it during the English Civil War in 1648. They set the cannon up at the top of the St. Mary-at-the-Walls church tower, where it remained until enemy forces blew up the building and Humpty took his infamous fall.