Blunderbore is a legendary Giant found in many folk tales from English folklore, specifically the Cornish section, where he is frequently noted as one of the main antagonistic Giants hunted down and slain by Jack the Giant-Killer.
As a result of the folk tales Blunderbore would become a stock figure of sorts in many later stories, the name being used to refer to numerous Giants and Ogres, many of whom would be defeated by varied incarnations of Jack.
History[]
Folk Tales[]
In old folk tales Blunderbore was said to live in a manor in the Cornish village of Ludgvan, where he would frequently attack travellers on their way to the nearby St. Ives.
Jack the Giant Killer[]
In most versions of the story Blunderbore is the second or third Giant to be faced by the legendary Jack, having made his home in Penwith he kidnapped three lords and ladies, planning to eat the men and force the women to be his brides.
A sadistic brute by nature he would punish the captive women for refusing to eat their own husbands, hanging them by their hair in his dungeon and leaving them to starve.
It would be this cruel nature that soon brought Blunderbore's demise as he would stumble across Jack, who had stopped near the area to drink and rest, Blunderbore recognized the Giant-Killer from his previous murder of Cormoran and thus captured the hero and locked him in a cell in his dungeon.
Blunderbore then left his lair to summon a fellow Giant (sometimes called his brother) Rebecks so the pair may feast upon Jack, however Jack quickly escaped and fashioned nooses with some nearby rope, managing to arm himself he waited for both Giants to return at which point he dropped the nooses around them and slit their throats.
Tom the Tinkeard[]
Another giant named Blunderbore appears in the Cornish fairy tale "Tom the Tinkeard", in this incarnation the Giant has built a large hedge over the King's Highway between St. Ives to Marazion and claimed the land as his own.
Like Blunderbore from Jack this Giant is cruel and lecherous, capturing at least twenty women to be his brides, he is also short-tempered as he attacks the hero, Tom, when he innocently woke the Giant with his wagon and oxen.
However Tom proves himself to be inventive and uses an axle from the wagon to fight and fatally wound the Giant, as he lay dying this version of Blunderbore showed some odd honor as he conferred all his wealth to Tom, requesting a proper burial.