# Giddy over Giles!



## HLGStrider (Dec 13, 2002)

I read The Smith of Wooten Major and Farmer Giles of Ham...

They are amazing. I'd been looking for them forever and finally found a six dollar paper back at a local book store. My favorite is the description (and accompanying picture) of Crysophylax carrying back the booty! Amazing. That was a great story... leaves me laughing.


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## Ithrynluin (Dec 13, 2002)

I read them once but they didn't leave a big impression...I'll read them again and see if it is any different the second time around. I doubt it though, because they are not the kind of fantasy that Tolkien's ME writing is.


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## HLGStrider (Dec 13, 2002)

No... they are more on the level of the Hobbit... but they are so fun.

And very beautiful and lighthearted and a little sarcastic...


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## klugiglugus (Jan 9, 2003)

The story of farmer Giles of Ham and his dog garn or garm or somthing?

Yer rather good.


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## HLGStrider (Jan 10, 2003)

Garm... yes.

I felt it was hilarious! I WANT TO WRITE LIKE THAT! MUST TRY MUST TRY MUST TRY!

THE HUNGRY COWS ARE COMING!

Elgee shrieks then faints.


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## 33Peregrin (Feb 2, 2003)

I found Smith and Giles in a box of old books my dad had from his child hood. I really loved Smith of Wootton Major. I don't know why. I read it in an hour, and it was one of my best hours. I found Giles rather enjoyable too. I didn't like it as much as Smith, but I loved it all the same!!!!!!!!


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## FoolOfATook (Feb 24, 2003)

I positively adore _ Farmer Giles_. I have the 50th anniversary edition, which has incredibly well done endnotes, explaining a lot of the philology humour in the book, plus an earlier version of the story and the notes for the sequel. I particularily love Giles' non-aggression pact with the dragon, Sunny Sam, and the joke about Garn not being able to speak Dog Latin.


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## Frodorocks (Mar 1, 2003)

I've never read Smith of Wootton Major, but Farmer Giles of Ham was very good. It was so cute and fun and rustic. It made me think of something written by hobbits.


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## tookish-girl (Mar 6, 2003)

I too love Farmer Giles, and his coat made of many rings sewn together!

The fact that whenever anything mildly surprising happens Garn then runs around going "Help! Help! Help!" always amused me so much. What a great bunch of stories!


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## Niniel (Apr 4, 2003)

*Farmer Giles*

I just read Farmer Giles of Ham; I thought it was a really nice read. The person Giles remined me a bit of Sam Gamgee; a simple guy form the countryside who is called upon, a bit unwilling, to do great things, and then grows enourmously as a person during his adventures. What do you think?


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## Aulë (Apr 5, 2003)

Yes, FGoH is my all time favourite non-MiddleEarth story written by Tolkien. 
Some people even rate it above The Hobbit.


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## Niniel (Apr 5, 2003)

I just read Farmer Giles and Smith of Wootton Major yesterday. I think I liked Smith better, but Giles was good too. Unfortunately I didn't have an edition with notes, but many jokes were understandable without that, and very funny.


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## Eledhwen (Apr 19, 2003)

Tailbiter! I love the way ordinariness is thrown into Tolkien's stories. The sword is given to Giles in much the same way that a particularly awful cruet set ends up being given as a prize to the next raffle, by the person who won it in the previous one. And the neighbour who wanted to see Giles taken down a peg or two. I think Tolkien's ability to tell these little tales so well shows an understanding of human nature (not to mention dog nature) that few possess, not to mention a gift in storytelling.


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## Gildor Eglorion (May 1, 2003)

ya, its a great book, but not better that the Hobbit.....


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## Lantarion (May 2, 2003)

Hmm, no probably not. 
H reminded me of Sam too; except I can't really see Sam kicking a dog or being generally nasty!


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## Inderjit S (May 2, 2003)

> Sam kicking a dog or being generally nasty!



Sam was very nasty to Gollum but I really can't see him accidentally shooting a giant in the face though......


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## jallan (May 7, 2003)

Sam almost accidently stabbed Shelob.


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## HLGStrider (May 7, 2003)

Were these threads merged? Because I liked my old title better. . .Giddy Over Giles is much sweeter than just Farmer Giles. . .

Elgee pouts.

[color=sky blue]teehee... -ithy[/color]


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## Arvedui (May 8, 2003)

> _Originally posted by HLGStrider _
> *Were these threads merged? Because I liked my old title better. . .Giddy Over Giles is much sweeter than just Farmer Giles. . .
> 
> Elgee pouts.
> ...



Yes, Elgee. I merged these threads a couple of days ago.


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## HLGStrider (May 8, 2003)

I had plenty of book related posts. . .before I went to seed. . .

Anyway, I think Giles has a very "Brave Little Tailor"-ish character.


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## Beleg (May 24, 2003)

Yes, Farmer Giles of Ham is a real cool book. I love it due to it's easy and witty style of writing and just because every second line made me shake with laughter. It's a very humorous book, perhaps Tolkien's most humorous.


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## Elf Goddess (Jun 3, 2003)

I've read that.


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## Elendil3119 (Jun 3, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Beleg_strongbow _
> *Yes, Farmer Giles of Ham is a real cool book. I love it due to it's easy and witty style of writing and just because every second line made me shake with laughter. It's a very humorous book, perhaps Tolkien's most humorous. *


If you think FGH is funny (which it is ), you absolutely _must_ read Roverandom. I liked FGH a lot, but Roverandom simply blew it away.


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## HLGStrider (Jun 4, 2003)

EG- You read it, but did you like it? 

What happened to the other threads in this section or am I going crazy? (Don't answer the second half of that).


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## Elendil3119 (Jun 5, 2003)

Ithy moved all the UT or UT-related topics to the HoMe forum section.


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## HLGStrider (Jun 5, 2003)

Yes, I got a pm about that. . .but I really thought there were more otherworks threads dedicated to other works than that instead of about the Unfinished Tales.


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## glirhuin (Oct 30, 2004)

*Farmer Giles of Ham*

i have readen the book: egidio el granjero de ham(i don´t know which is it´s name in english). i really didn´t like it. i want to ask you what do you think about it and why do you think Tolkien wrote it.


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## Ithrynluin (Oct 30, 2004)

*Re: egidio*

You're probably thinking of _Farmer Giles of Ham_. It's not Middle-Earth but I like it alright. 

As to _why_ he wrote it, I'm not sure he had a specific reason in mind. I suppose he was simply exercising his desire to tell a tale, and to experiment with faerie.

P.S.: I editted the title of the thread.


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## Eledhwen (Nov 6, 2004)

*Re: Farmer Giles of Ham*

Farmer Giles of Ham is a wonderful tale. A reluctant adventurer, Giles brings adventure upon himself by allowing tales of his 'bravery' in facing up to a trespassing dragon to travel unchecked. I love the way the King's knights have grown lazy, and the traditional dragon tail dinner is now a mock dish since no-one was inclined to go and kill any dragons any more. I like the way Giles ends up bargaining with the dragon, and thanks to the king's greed, Giles also ends up with his own little kingdom. This tale is so very English (even down to the dragons being in Wales) and it could have been spun out into a full length Hobbit-sized adventure book if Tolkien had the time or the inclination. Maybe a wizard could have helped there!


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## Arvedui (Jun 28, 2005)

In my opinion, Giles not only resembles Sam, but he has also quite a bit in common with Bilbo. Especially how they are both "accidental heroes."
His temper is more like that of Gandalf, though...


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## Alatar (Jun 28, 2005)

I read it a while ago, I rember the way that he is pushed into confronting the dragon.
Btw, Leaf by niggle is realy good, i think about 100 pages of essay's into the sybolic's of it is out there.


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## cupn00dles (Jul 1, 2005)

Besides the middle-earth driven books I've only read Farmer Giles of Ham and Roverandom, and enjoyed both a lot... Farmer Giles the most! The characters are simply great in their very own way... Garm and Chrysophylax are both one (or should I say two? ) of a kind! Their interactions are overall hilarious haha... I had a lot of fun reading that book.  Roverandom was great too, a very light and fun reading... I strongly recommend both!


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## AraCelebEarwen (Jul 22, 2005)

I'm rereading a little book titled 'Smith of Wootton major & Farmer Giles of Ham'!!! I LOVE it!!!!!  I just got to the part after the boy slaps the star onto his forehead! You might think it's not better then the Hobbit, and that's fine by me. I really need to go back a reread that and all the LOTR books... Any way, I can't remember a lot of the story just yet, only that when I first read it I really enjoyed myself.  It's a good place to start if (for some VERRY strange reason) you have yet to read anything by Tolkine.


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## HLGStrider (Jul 23, 2005)

My first copy of Farmer Giles had the Smith of Wooten Major with it. It was a small, $4.99 paper back that I picked up when trying to shop for someone else for Christmas (my mom, I think.). I read through it in about an hour and kept on thinking the whole time about my friend who had just recently told me he was going to join the Marines (not unusual thought for me about that time.). 

To make a long story short, after my hour with it, I put an inscription in the front and wrapped it and gave it away as a going away present.

Then, for this Christmas (a year later), I was given a beautiful hard cover of the story, unfortunately without The Smith, just with Giles. So the Marine has the book somewhere with him or with his parents (he probably left it there). 

But I think Giles was my favorite anyway.


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## 33Peregrin (Jul 23, 2005)

Reading all of this really makes me want to reread both of those stories... it has been almost three years. I remember the day before we were to go on vacation, the library had closed, so my dad had taken me out to the shed to look at his old box of books. There inside was the copy of SoWM and FGoH, I thought it was funny that it was priced as 1.95$. I also remember my surprise at seeing we had owned this copy of The Fellowship of the Ring.... when earlier that year I had undergone much agony of not being able to purchase it after seeing the movie because it was Christmas. Anyway, I read Smith and Farmer Giles in the car the next day....and I remember really loving Smith...very much, and thinking that Farmer Giles was only very good because of it's humor. The Smith side was the side of Tolkien I liked more though, I remember. But seeing all of this again makes me want to go try both of them again... especially Farmer Giles.


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## Erestor Arcamen (Apr 7, 2006)

*Farmer Giles of Ham*

I hope i named the thread right. Anyways I heard of this story, but I never read it. can anyone give any info about the story, the plot or anything? Thanks


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## HLGStrider (Apr 7, 2006)

*Re: Farmer Giles of Ham*

http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?t=10936

This is where I gave my opinion on the book (and a few other people), but I like to talk so I'll give it again.

Farmer Giles is a short story with a tone much more in tune with the Hobbit than the Lord of the Rings. It is playful, involving an accidental hero, a clever dragon, and a cowardly but faithful in an odd way dog. Good, quick read if you can get a hold of it.




PS
If you don't mind I'd like to merge this thread with the one I linked to. Elgee


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## Ar-Feiniel (Apr 8, 2006)

*Re: Farmer Giles of Ham*

The dog was my favorite part. "help, help, help."


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## Shireman D (Apr 8, 2006)

*Re: Farmer Giles of Ham*

My favourite line is the one about the farmer's wife after he becomes a very grand individual: 'There was no getting around the Queen ... or at any rate it was a very long walk'!


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