“Farmer Giles of Ham, like Roverandom, was invented by J.R.R. Tolkien to entertain his children, and was originally an oral tale. . . . Tolkien’s eldest son, John, has recalled that the tale was first told when the family was caught in a rainstorm after a picnic and took shelter under a bridge.” (Introduction to Farmer Giles of Ham by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond)

“Farmer Giles had a dog. The dog’s name was Garm. . . . Neither of them gave much thought to the Wide World outside their fields, the village and the nearest market.” The story of how Farmer Giles gets drawn into the affairs of the wide world, to the extent of dealing with a marauding giant and fighting a dragon, parallels that of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, the hobbits who become entangled in world affairs, too, somewhat against their will. But Farmer Giles is not a hobbit, although he may be something of a proto-hobbit, with a hobbit’s desire for both comfort and adventure and a hobbit’s knack for blundering his way into and out of trouble.

Giles accidentally scares off the giant with his blunderbuss, and “all seemed set fair–until the dragon came.” The dragon, Chrysophylax Dives, is not quite so easy to deter as the giant had been, but the people of the village think that since Giles was able to deal with the giant, surely he can get rid of a dragon, too. And Giles does have a secret weapon, an old sword, Tailbiter, that the king of that land gave him. So the story continues through the interactions between Giles and Chrysophylax and Garm and the village people and the King, as the dragon is hounded and harried and blackmailed and eventually tamed.

As a bedtime (or picnic-time) story, I would recommend Farmer Giles of Ham for any family looking for a read aloud for all ages. Tolkien said that the published version was not a story for children, although children might enjoy it, but it did start out as a tale told to amuse the children. And it retains that childlike, fairy tale feel. So, read it as an amusing fairy tale, or like Farmer Giles himself, dig in to find the deeper treasures, but do read it, if you’re a Tolkien fan. And why would you be here, reading this blog post. if you were not?