FARMER GILES OF HAM by JRR Tolkien

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“‘So knights are mythical!’ said the younger and less experienced dragons. ‘We always thought so.’

     ‘At least they may be getting rare,’ thought the older and wiser worms; ‘far and few and no longer to be feared.’”

title: Farmer Giles of Ham

author: JRR Tolkien

published: 1937

publisher: George Allen & Unwin

genre: comic medieval fable

setting: the Middle Kingdom

main themes/subjects: children’s fantasy / mock charter myth / a local legend featuring a brave farmer & his cowardly dog & his determined mare, a comic & light-hearted narrative voice, mock etymologies of actual place-names, a silly giant, an inconvenienced dragon, a selfish king, a vindictive miller, a morose blacksmith, & a bunch of useless knights, also puns

summary/blurbs/premise: a plucky farmer finds himself the hero of an unlooked for confrontation with a trespassing giant & before he knows it, he’s sent off by his village & the king to fight a dragon!

my thoughts:

This charming little fable is such a beautiful example of Tolkien’s light-hearted, whimsical, & indescribably clever way with words. Combining influences from medieval fables, children’s stories, fairy tales, heroic legends, charter myths, & place folklore, Tolkien weaves a story that is equal parts humor, adventure, & moral to such subtle & well-crafted effect that you will wish he’d spent ten times as much ink on the antics of Giles, his mare, & his little dog.

i would recommend this book to readers who enjoy lighthearted, wholesome, hilarious adventure stories. this book is best read aloud, & with all the proper voices. Or you could just listen to Derek Jacobi’s audiobook narration as it is *brilliant.*

final note: In our bookclub discussion for this book one of the readers pointed out that Saint Giles is traditionally the patron saint of the poor & Giles is certainly the everyman hero, standing up for justice in the face of a selfish & inept king, supplanting him, & ensuring that the rewards from his adventures benefit the whole community. Tolkien’s class consciousness is always on point. 💅🏻

“The song and tales of his deeds were many, and if forgotten at court, were still remembered in the villages.”

CW // some stressful situations with the dog

season: Spring

music pairing: medieval English folk music

further reading:

• THE HOBBIT by JRR Tolkien (1937) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

• BEOWULF: A TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY, by JRR Tolkien

• “The Panther’s Tale” by Mahsuda Snaith in HAG: FORGOTTEN FOLKTALES RETOLD edited by Carolyne Larrington (2019) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

• https://dc.swosu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=mythlore

• https://antigonejournal.com/2022/01/farmer-giles-tolkien-latin/

Tolkien’s bookshelf—

• “The Sword in the Stone” (part one of THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING), by TH White

• The Dragon Tamers, by Edith Nesbit

• The Reluctant Dragon, by Kenneth Grahame

• “Saint George and the Dragon”

For more works by & about JRR Tolkien, check out this post:

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