Farmer Giles of Ham

From Tolkien Gateway
Farmer Giles of Ham
File:Farmer Giles of Ham 1949.jpg
AuthorJ.R.R. Tolkien
PublisherGeorge Allen & Unwin
ReleasedOctober 20, 1949

Farmer Giles of Ham (written in 1947, published in 1949) is a short story written by J.R.R. Tolkien. The story describes a series of encounters between Farmer Giles and a wily dragon named Chrysophylax. It is set in a fantasy Britain of long ago, which has mythical creatures, medieval knights, and primitive firearms.

The book was originally illustrated by Pauline Baynes.

Summary

Farmer Giles was not a hero. He was fat and red-bearded and enjoyed a slow, comfortable life. One day a rather deaf and short-sighted giant blundered on to his land. Farmer Giles managed to scare him away with a blunderbuss shot in its general direction. The people of the village cheered: Farmer Giles was a hero. His reputation spread far and wide across the kingdom. Giles was rewarded by the King of the Middle Kingdom, with a sword named Caudimordax or "Tailbiter", a powerful weapon against dragons.

The giant reported to its monstrous friends that there were no more knights, just stinging flies (actually scrap metal from Giles' blunderbuss), in the Middle Kingdom. This prompted a dragon, Chrysophylax Dives, to investigate the area — and everyone turns to the accidental hero Farmer Giles to deal with it.

The story makes light of the great dragon-slaying traditions. The knights who are supposed to do the job are useless fops more intent on "precedence and etiquette" than on noticing huge dragon footprints littering the landscape. "Giles" is also an interesting commentary on how people react to danger. Heroes aren't simply called for, they are demanded and hapless farmers can be forced to be heroes.

The Latin names and references imply that Giles is a Briton, a late generation remnant of the old empire after the decline of the western authority of the Romans. All the Giles place-names are supposed to occur relatively close to Oxford, along the Thames or on the route from London to Oxford.

Among the jokes is a question put to "the four wise clerks of Oxenford"; Tolkien then quotes from the Oxford English Dictionary, on which Tolkien had worked. The phrase 'wise clerk of Oxenford' is also a reference to Chaucer's Clerk.

Editions

Tales from the Perilous Realm

This 2008 reprint:

  • Includes a new Introduction by Tom Shippey
  • Omits Tolkien's Latin Title Page
  • Has new illustrations by Alan Lee, who draws Garm (talking dog) as a Mastiff instead of a Greyhound (as Pauline Baynes had)

50th Anniversary Edition

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 50th Anniv. edition

This special edition was published in 1999. The edition includes:

  • Tolkien's original Latin title
  • The original illustrations by Pauline Baynes
  • A map of the Little Kingdom, including Ham, Aula Draconaria, Quercetum, Oxenford, Islip and Farthingho (but not Wootton Major or Wootton Minor)
  • Tolkien's original version, previously unpublished
  • Tolkien's unpublished sketch for a sequel which he never completed
  • A new Introduction and scholarly notes by editors Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond

In December 2008, a 60th Anniversary Editon limited to 500 copies was published, having the same content as the 50th Anniversary Editon.[1][2]

Chronological list

HarperCollins 60th Anniv. edition
  • 1949: Farmer Giles of Ham: Aegidii Ahenobarbi Julii Agricole de Hammo, Domini de Domito, Aule Draconarie Comitis, Regni Minimi Regis et Basilei mira facinora et mirablis exortus, or in the vulgar tongue, The Rise and Wonderful Adventures of Farmer Giles, Lord of Tame, Count of Worminghall and King of the Little Kingdom. Embellished by Pauline Baynes. London: George Allen & Unwin, [October] 1949. 78, [1] pp., [2] plates.
  • 1966: Reprinted in The Tolkien Reader.
  • 1969: Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham. Illustrations by Pauline Diana Baynes. New York: Ballantine Books, March 1969. 156 pp.
  • 1975: Farmer Giles of Ham, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. London: Unwin Books, [30 October] 1975. 144 pp. ISBN 0-04-823125-8
  • 1980: Reprinted in Poems and Stories
  • 1983: Farmer Giles of Ham. First paperback edition.
  • 1997: Reprinted in Tales from the Perilous Realm
  • 1999: Farmer Giles of Ham (50th Anniversary edition). Edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (4 Oct 1999). ISBN-13: 978-0261103771. 144 pages, hardcover.
  • 1999: Farmer Giles of Ham (50th Anniversary edition). Edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (November 15, 1999). ISBN-13: 978-0618009367. 127 pages, hardcover.
  • 2002: Reprinted in A Tolkien Miscellany. Garden City, N.Y.: Science Fiction Book Club, [July] 2002. 369 pp. (SFBC; #51697)
  • 2008: Farmer Giles of Ham (60th Anniversary edition). Edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 1 December 2008.
  • 2014: Farmer Giles of Ham.Edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 27 February 2014.

See also

External links

References

Tales from the Perilous Realm
Farmer Giles of Ham · The Adventures of Tom Bombadil · Leaf by Niggle · Smith of Wootton Major
Roverandom (since 2008) · On Fairy-Stories (since 2008)