Among the diverse characters introduced in Prince Caspian during Caspian's tour of the Old Narnians are three bears known as the "Bulgy Bears". What exactly does it mean for them to be bulgy? It's not a word I've seen used very much, but presumably they bulge somehow - in what way do they bulge? What does this tell us about the characters?
asked Aug 27, 2017 at 0:58
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1Probably that they are overweight.– user111Commented Aug 27, 2017 at 1:03
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1 Answer
If you google "algy met a bear" you will get thousands of hits on the traditional "Algy met a bear, the bear met Algy. The bear was bulgy, the bulge was Algy". If you look up pre-1940 bulgy bear in Google books you get hits, such as this one in Everybody's Magazine with some version of a bear meeting Benjy, with predictable results.
Not that our Narnian bears would do such a thing: I'm sure their bulge came from eating too much honey.
From which I conclude: when Prince Caspian was written, "Bulgy bear" was a known thing, appropriated & repurposed by CSL.
answered Aug 27, 2017 at 15:06
