Short Description

Farmer Giles of Ham did not look like a hero. He was fat and red-bearded and enjoyed a slow, comfortable life. Then one day a rather deaf and short-sighted giant blundered on to his land. More by luck than skill, Farmer Giles managed to scare him away. The people of the village cheered: Farmer Giles was a hero. His reputation spread far and wide across the kingdom. So it was natural that when the dragon Chrysophylax visited the area it was Farmer Giles who was expected to do battle with it!
 

"Farmer Giles of Ham" bears the distinction of being the only one of Tolkien's fairy tales to have been placed in a known region and an approximate time frame.

"Of the history of the Little Kingdom few fragments have survived: but by chance an account of its origin has been preserved: a legend, perhaps, rather than an account; for it is evidently a late compilation, full of marvels, derived not from sober annals, but from the popular lays to which its author frequently refers. For him the events that he records lay alreday in a distant past; but he seems, nonetheless, to have lived himself in the lands of the Little Kingdom...." ¹

With this curious explanation, J.R.R. Tolkien suggests that we are about to read a work which arises from the same traditions as the tales of Arthur and Robin Hood. "Giles" is a bit of forgotten English folklore celebrating that half-imagined, mostly-forgotten time after the Saxons came and before they drove the Celts into the mundane woods and hills. The Latin names and references make it clear that Giles is a Briton, a late generation remnant of the old empire after the decline of the western authority of the Romans.

Tolkien throws in a mysterious reference to a larger compendium, now lost to us, when he concludes his Introduction to "Giles" with:

"...There are indications in a fragmentary legend of Georgius son of Giles and his page Suovetaurilius (Suet) that at one time an outpost against the Middle Kingdom was maintained at Farthingho. But that situation does not concern this story, which is now presented without alteration or further comment, though the original grandiose title has been suitably reduced to Farmer Giles of Ham."²

Giles was a farmer living in Ham who gained a small measure of fame when he accidentally shot a giant in the nose with his blunderbuss. The presence of the blunderbuss in the story is a quaint anacronism, of course, and to be construed as an embellishment by some later author. Giles was rewarded by the King of the Middle Kingdom, Augustus Bonifacius, with a sword named Caudimordax. The sword was more well known as "Tailbiter", and it was a powerful weapon against dragons.

The giant, who had blundered into Ham only because he'd gotten lost on one of his walks through the countryside, eventually spread a few tall tales among his friends and relatives to cover up his embarrassment. And he didn't realize he had been shot with a blunderbuss, but instead thought he had been stung by horseflies. Word reached the ears of the dragon Chrysophylax that there were no more dragon-slaying knights in the lands to the east of his mountains, so he went off to enjoy the fruits of the giant's imagination.

Which brought him up against Giles, now armed with Tailbiter. Giles like everyone else in Ham expected the King to dispatch a few knights to take care of the dragon, but the knights were afraid the dragon would dispatch them, so they found excuses not to take up the quest. And so Giles was left to cope with the dragon in what became a battle of wits -- a battle for which Giles was not well armed.

In the end Giles accepted a promise of ransom from the dragon and he let Chrysophylax go. This of course led to King Augustus' hearing about treasure and wanting his fair share (or his Kingly share, which would be more than fair). So Giles eventually had to help hunt down Chrysophylax after the dragon failed to return with his promised ransom, and once again Tailbiter gave him an edge. But Giles was finally beginning to see the light of day and instead of being greedy or overly loyal to the King, he made an alliance with the dragon and took only part of the treasure home with him.

The story makes light of the great dragon-slaying traditions. The knights who are supposed to do the job cannot, and they are useless fops more intent on discussing "precedence and etiquette" than on noticing dragonsign (huge 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 who stand in the way of giants are bound to be made into heroes.

The sloth and greed of kings is counterbalanced by the courage and everyday practicality of the common, who give rise to kings and kingdoms. "Giles" provides us with an example of how anyone can become king if he sees an opportunity and takes advantage of it. Of course, it helps to have a magic sword and a reasonably dutiful flame-breathing dragon by your side