Farmer Giles of Ham review

The Rise and Wonderful Adventures of Farmer Giles, Lord of Tame, Count of Worminghall and King of the Little Kingdom
by J.R.R. Tolkien

Tolkien originally created the tale Farmer Giles of Ham to entertain his children. Before being published, he presented a version of it to a literary society at Worcester College and greatly amused the audience. Eventually, the book got published and it's a good thing because this is perhaps Tolkien's most entertaining story.

The tale begins with a rather deaf and stupid giant going for a walk in the countryside. He loses his way, but just keeps going and thinking he'll find his way soon. When he comes to Farmer Giles' farm, the farmer's dog Garm runs to the house to warn his master. Garm could talk, you see, like most dogs of that day, but only in the common tongue.

Farmer Giles (or Ægidius Ahenobarbus Julius Agricola de Hammo, as he was properly known) got and loaded his blunderbuss to see what Garm was so frightened about. Once Giles was outside, he saw the giant's head come up over the hill and he fired the blunderbuss directly into the giant's face. The giant thought it was stinging horseflies, and went off in search of more pleasant places.

But this made Farmer Giles a hero, and all the people of Ham were greatly impressed. Eventually the king heard about the tale and sent Farmer Giles an old sword that was hanging in his armoury.

Later, the dragon Chrysophylax Dives, following the giant's tales of a rich land with plenty of cows to eat, shows up. And I'm sure you've guessed that the townsfolk and the king expect Farmer Giles to be a hero once more!

Overall, this is an excellent and lighthearted tale. Tolkien throws in many allusions to popular nursery rhymes, medieval legends, and fanciful history of place names. To catch all of these, I recommend one of the annotated versions of the tale, though it's still quite entertaining if you don't notice them at all.

-- edit --

I forgot to mention that the volume I read also contained an early manuscript version as well as part of a sequel that was never finished. The early version was an interesting read, though lacking many of the really fun allusions of the final work. The sequel showed promise, but I think it would have lacked the fun and whimsy of Farmer Giles.


/ [Viking]

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