Lighthearted please settle a disagreement

[Zeroperspective]

A friend and I were having a random conversation about Humpty Dumpty (cos why not 🤷🏼‍♀️) and a disagreement occurred so we are turning to you oh wise mumsnetters!

Person A believes HD is an egg.
Person B states there is no evidence to back up this assumption.
Person A agrees there is nothing factual but asserts its a widely held belief that HD is in fact an egg.
Person B will not state what they believe HD to be other than a person/object able to "sit" on a wall

So please can you vote and/or comment on what you believe Humpty Dumpty is!

YABU HD is an egg
YANBU it is unknown what HD is but I don't believe it's an egg

I'll reveal if I am Person A or B after the vote closes

I always assumed he is an egg but nowadays I'm sure he can identify as anything and if you can put an egg back together again, you can put anything back together 😂

If I remember rightly, the belief that Humpty Dumpty is an egg came from an illustration in an old book. But there's nothing in the rhyme that hints at egg. So both right really.

An egg with arms and legs

It was a cannon I believe

A person. Think the egg picture came about as easier for child to understand a broken egg rather than limbs etc!

This

YABU HD is an egg
YANBU it is unknown what HD is but I don't believe it's an egg

Neither of these - it is unknown what HD is but I've always thought he was an egg (from the pictures)

Always thought it was about a soldier who was killed in battle! Or maybe a King who led a battle? Not sure why that's in my mind...

Humpty Dumpty is believed to be a large cannon that broke. The egg image comes from the illustrations in the Lewis Carroll book and it seems to have stuck in popular culture. I always think of an egg with thin arms and legs 😀

Clearly not an egg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d7fNQt8_XEc

This controversial topic makes my brain hurt every time 😅

In the very original version the illustration is of a boy.

I believe the cannon story/theory 🤷‍♀️

Really?! Must have been one hell of a fall if they "couldn't put Humpty together again"!

I like the cannon origins, I've never heard that before. Every single illustration I've ever seen has been an egg, but we all know kids' nursery rhymes can have weird/dark origins (Ring-a-ring-a-rosies anyone?)

I think the egg is a metaphor.

Essentially the message is, sometimes something can break beyond repair. Not everything can be reversed or fixed.

It encompasses everything - people, things, relationships, eggs etc.

I knew it had an egg-shaped body, but didn’t think it was an egg.

Did wonder why all the king’s horses and all the king’s men were trying to put him back together again and thought if it was an egg, they would all be a bit thick to try to put it together again.

In the late 1700s apparently you could

He can independently sit on a wall and ride horses. Eggs can't do that.

However, this is a children's story.

It's an allegory about a cannon that blew up and possibly killed its 'own' men.

HD was made an egg man by the illustrator.

"Humpty Dumpty" was a drink in the 17th century and a term for a short clumsy person in the 18th century.

It could be idealized as so many things 😆

This

I don't know, but it reminds me of one of my favourite tweets..

Why have Kinder turned Phil Mitchell into a chocolate treat ?

😂

Humpty Dumpty is about a cannon.