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Title: Smith of Wootton Major & Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien ISBN: 0-345-33606-2 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 12 January, 1986 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.71 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Better than "The Hobbit".
Comment: Both stories are much briefer than The Hobbit, but both are also much deeper than The Hobbit.
If I were to select three examples of the essential Tolkien for an English class, a discussion group, or reflective reading on a mountain-top, they would be
- Smith of Wootton Major
- Farmer Giles of Ham
- Frodo & Sam's visit with Tom Bombadil (in "The Fellowship of the Ring")
"The Hobbit" is fun, and I love it. "The Lord of the Rings" is vast and wonderful.
But these three are vivid, focused tales that touch the heart, arouse wonder, and stay just beyond the mind's reach.
And they stay with you for a lifetime.
Two of the three can be found in this book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Amusement, Inspiration, and More
Comment: This book contains two complete stories, each of which illustrate a fundamental aspect of all good fantasy: to inspire and entertain.
'Farmer Giles of Ham' is a fanciful story of a farmer who, through no fault of his own, is embroiled in a series of Adventures. It is a story of wit, humor, and wry commentary that any lover of 'The Hobbit' will appreciate and enjoy.
'The Smith of Wootton Major' is about many things. It is about the love of Beauty, of those things both higher and deeper than ourselves. It is about humility, honor, and, in the end, courage, sacrifice, and loss. It is about loving something so much that you let it go. It is a simply told story -- an autobiography -- yet no less deep and moving for its simplicity.
Some may wonder that two such different stories were bound together in the same spine, but each of these stories represents a necessary part of Fantasy and together they brilliantly illustrate why fantasy is a necessary and proper part of human existance.
Rating: 5
Summary: Cute novellas
Comment: Even though "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" are what J.R.R. Tolkien was best known for writing, they were by no means his only works of fantasy. Two relatively little-known books he wrote are the novellas "Farmer Giles of Ham" and "Smith of Wootton Major," cute little fantasy stories now in one book.
"Farmer Giles of Ham" (or, in the non-vulgar tongue, Agidius de Hammo) is a pleasant and unheroic farmer who unexpectedly becomes a legend when he shoots a giant with his blunderbuss (Tolkien provided the explanation for what a blunderbuss was). And when the rather non-threatening dragon Chrysophylax arrives and starts eating people and livestock, it's up to Farmer Giles to vanquish him.
"Smith of Wootton Major" is more serious and ethereal than "Giles." In the town of Wootton Major, a cake is baked with a bunch of little charms inside -- including a little faery star, which a boy swallows, accidently exhales, and then slaps onto his forehead. It gives him the ability to wander into the Faery Realm, where he is known as Starbrow, and where he learns that the Faery King is missing.
These two stories are very different. "Farmer Giles" is a more openly comedic tale, with young dragons saying that knights are just myths, language in-jokes (Tolkien archly telling us what various Latin names meant in "vulgar" translation), Chrysophylax the rather innoffensive dragon, the excitable dog Garm, and the likable Farmer Giles himself. (He's a bit like Tolkien's Barliman Butterbur, a likeable but somewhat thick "ordinary" person) This might be the first real comic fantasy story ever. "Smith," on the other hand, has a slightly melancholy tone to it, with its haunting prose and the theme of the little star, which bestows a beautiful voice and light to anyone who has it. The idea of it being passed to a child as the older grows up is exquisite.
Fans of Tolkien's work will definitely want to get "Smith of Wootton Major" and "Farmer Giles of Ham." Though they're not as textured or complex as "Lord of the Rings," these stories are sweet, funny, and extremely well-written.
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Title: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Sir Orfeo by J.R.R. Tolkien ISBN: 0345277600 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 12 December, 1979 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Tolkien Reader by J.R.R. Tolkien ISBN: 0345345061 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 12 November, 1986 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien, Wayne G. Hammond, Christina Scull ISBN: 0395898714 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Unfinished Tales: The Lost Lore of Middle-earth by J.R.R. Tolkien ISBN: 0345357116 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 12 August, 1988 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Histories of Middle Earth, Volumes 1-5 by J.R.R. Tolkien ISBN: 0345466454 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 26 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $32.97 |
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