Farmer Giles of Ham :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

A Rich Guardian of Gold

2008-03-17
"Farmer Giles of Ham" was written by JRR Tolkien in 1937, and was first published in 1949. It's set in Ham, a small village in England - sometime after the arrival of the Romans, but before Arthur's time. The book was originally illustrated by Pauline Baynes, who also illustrated CS Lewis' Narnia books.

Giles in married to Agatha, has a dog called Garm and is fond of his ale. Nothing of note had happened in Ham for a long time, something that Giles was perfectly happy about - neither Giles, nor his dog had ever given any thought to life beyond their borders.

Unfortunately , there is a troublesome giant living nearby. He doesn't appear to be a deliberately malicious sort - but he is larger and ruder than most of his fellow giants, as well as being short-sighted and deaf. Unsurprisingly, he manages to cause a lot of - quite possibly inadvertent - damage when he goes out for a walk. One day, he gets lost when he goes out for a walk and finds himself in Ham - a trip that sees him accidentally squashing Giles' favourite cow, Galathea. The giant is first spotted by Garm, who naturally runs off to tell his master all about it. (Although somewhat lacking in courage, Garm can apparently talk). Giles luckily has a blunderbuss, a top-of-the-range weapon for the time - he loads it up and manages to shoot the giant in the face. It doesn't do the thick-skinned giant any great damage, but - thinking he's stumbled across an unhealthy area and that he's been stung by a nasty dragonfly - turns around and leaves.

Giles as a result becomes a bit of a celebrity and - when the King hears of it - he receives a regal letter, a belt and what turns out to be a very famous sword called Tailbiter. Initially, Giles enjoys his fame - though it later comes to rue it a little. Nevertheless, the sword comes in useful when a dragon called Chrysophylax arrives. The dragon's arrival had, in part, been caused by the giant's tales of the easy pickings there were in Ham. A hard winter led to a lot of hungry dragons...and Chrysophylax becomes hungry enough to put the stories to the test. With the King's Knights coming up with one excuse after another, the villagers inevitably look towards Giles...

A short and easily read book - it's one, I think, that will appeal to more than just the Middle-Earth fans.

In the vulgar tongue: Cute

2004-11-30
"Farmer Giles of Ham" (in the vulgar tongue) is an entertaining little tale, maybe the first real comic fantasy novel (actually, more like novella). It's certainly not on par with his tales of hobbits and elves, but it's still cute, funny and very well-written.

Aegidius de Hammo (or in the "vulgar tongue," as Tolkien archly tells us, Farmer Giles of Ham) is a pleasant, not-too-bright farmer (a bit like Barliman Butterbur) who leads a fairly happy life. Until the day his excitable dog Garm warns him that a giant (deaf and very near-sighted) is stomping through and causing mayhem. Giles takes out his blunderbuss and takes a shot at the giant, and inadverantly drive him off.

Naturally, Giles is hailed as a hero. Even the King is impressed, and sends him the sword Caudimordax (vulgar name: Tailbiter), which belonged to a dragonslaying hero. By chance, the not-so-fierce dragon Chrysophylax Dives has started pillaging, destroying and attacking the nearby areas. Can a not-so-heroic farmer drive off a not-so-frightening dragon?

It's a fast, fun little adventure story with blundering giants, greedy dragons and unlikely heroes (the last one is what Tolkien always does best). It's not epic and it's not deep, but it is entertaining, especially for people who enjoy comic fantasies. You'll like this if you enjoyed the cuter moments of "The Hobbit" and stories like "Roverandum."

Tolkien's writing always seems to be winking at the reader. There are a lot of in-jokes for people who know Latin (the "vulgar tongue" comments) and a lot of cute moments, like the young dragons exclaiming that they always knew "knights were mythical!" And the illustrations resemble old tapestries and paintings, but they usually have a funny sort of twist to them.

"Farmer Giles" is not the deepest or most riveting of Tolkien's works, but it's a straightforward, cute little adventure that kids, adults, fans and non-fans of Tolkien will enjoy.

Brilliant!

2000-07-29
Farmer Giles of Ham is one of the best short stories I've ever read. It is about Giles, a Farmer from the village of Ham, who aquires Tailbiter, a magic sword, his talking dog (animals had speech way back then, you know), dragons, and giants. The whole thing has a wonderful humorous touch that I love. While this book isn't as monumental as The Lord of the Rings, I'm sure anyone will enjoy this book.