By Neville Honey
Illustrated by Neal Stepp
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Many years later wise King Alfred became ruler of the land, and the butterfly still didn't have a name. Visitors to England might ask what those flying things were called, but no one knew what to say. Instead, they would just make things up, such as 'flying flowers,' or 'oh, that's just a piece of paper in the wind,' or 'is that the time, I really must go and have tea.'
One fine spring day wise King Alfred was walking through the fields with his lords and ladies, when a butterfly fluttered overhead. One of the lords had been asked only that morning why didn't he know the name of those strange creatures that are not birds and can't even fly in a straight line.
When he saw the butterfly, he asked the king, "What is the name of these flying things?"
King Alfred didn't have the faintest idea, but he was a very wise man who knew how to speak with confidence. So, quick as a flash, he replied, "That is a flutterby."
And everyone nodded wisely and said, "Yes, yes, of course."
"I think it is a very good idea," continued the king, "if we write down the name flutterby in a letter to be sent all across England. Then the priests will read the letter out loud in all the churches of the land, so that everyone knows the name of these beautiful animals of the air. And then everyone will know what to call them."
The king told a servant to write down the name in the letter to be sent all round the country. But unfortunately, the servant was not a very good speller. When he went to write down the name of 'flutterby', he got mixed up and he wrote down 'butterfly' instead. And so the name butterfly was spread all over England.
Everyone thought this was a very odd name, as they couldn't understand what these insects had to do with butter. And everyone knows that butter can't fly, or at the most only briefly when you throw it. But because it was named by wise King Alfred, everyone was happy to call them butterflies. For the rest of his life, however, King Alfred was always slightly puzzled when he came across the name butterfly, as he was never quite sure where the name came from and what the creature was.
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