276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Farmer Giles of Ham: The Rise and Wonderful Adventures of Farmer Giles, Lord of Tame, Count of Worminghall, and King of the Little Kingdom

£9.9£99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

This was a sweet little tale involving Giles the farmer, Chrysophylax the dragon, and Garm the dog (who was the star of the show for me).

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún · The Fall of Arthur · The Story of Kullervo · The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun A hungry dragon, a near-sighted giant, foppish knights, a greedy king and stolen treasure. All confront Farmer Giles to give much thought to the Wide World outside his fields, the village, and the nearest market. After his victory Giles had Chrysophylax kept in the parson's tithe-barn. This earned him the title "Dominus de Domito Serpente" (or in the vulgar Lord of the Tame Worm). A lord Giles had become, but soon he advanced to Earl, and then to Prince, and finally to King in his own right. Giles was crowned as Ægidius Draconarius of the Little Kingdom but was known more often as Old Giles Worming.Now Farmer Giles would face pressure to defeat the dragon, capture the treasure and resist the greedy king. Armed with a magic sword, his faithful dog and gentle mare he goes out into the Wide World and changes history. At least they may be getting rare,' thought the older and wiser worms; `far and few and no longer to be feared.' The giant, as it turns out, is both nearly deaf and nearly blind, and he leaves a path of destruction in his wake that includes the utter flattening of Giles's favorite cow, Galathea. His lumbering approach awakens and panics Giles' dog, Garm, who can talk; Garm, at some risk to himself, and with the help of Giles's wife Agatha, inspires Giles to action. Farmer Giles is able to ward off the giant by shooting him with a very primitive form of firearm called a blunderbuss. His blunderbuss shot hits the giant in the face (mostly by accident), and while it doesn't damage the giant, it does convince him that he has entered a “nasty, unhealthy” area swarming with biting insects. The indignant giant takes his leave to healthier climes, as Garm brags to the village of his master's heroic deeds. Many miles away, the King of the Middle Kingdom comes to hear of Farmer Giles's besting of the giant, and in thanks, sends him an old, out of fashion, unwanted sword from his treasury. One fine summer night Giles was woken up by the cries of Garm, who warned him of a giant trespassing upon his property. Taking up his blunderbuss, the farmer fired his weapon (more or less by accident) at the face of the intruder, who turned around and went away (thinking he had been stung by a large fly). After getting up from where the recoil of the blunderbuss had laid him out, Giles found himself the Hero of the Countryside. Shippey, Tom (2005) [1982]. The Road to Middle-Earth (Third ed.). HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0261102750.

i. The Book of Lost Tales: Part One · ii. The Book of Lost Tales: Part Two · iii. The Lays of Beleriand · iv. The Shaping of Middle-earth · v. The Lost Road and Other Writings · vi. The Return of the Shadow · vii. The Treason of Isengard · viii. The War of the Ring · ix. Sauron Defeated · x. Morgoth's Ring · xi. The War of the Jewels · xii. The Peoples of Middle-earth · Index) · The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays · Beowulf and the Critics · Tolkien On Fairy-stories · But better than the testimonial was the accompanying gift. The King sent a belt and a long sword. To tell the truth the King had never used the sword himself. It belonged to the family and had been hanging in his armoury time out of mind. The armourer could not say how it came there, or what might be the use of it. Plain heavy swords of that kind were, out of fashion at court, just then, so the King thought it the very thing for a present to a rustic. But Farmer Giles was delighted, and his local reputation became enormous. It is clear, then, that in Tolkien's world, noble birth does little to prepare one for heroism. Rather, wariness, wisdom, and right conduct are the hallmarks of the heroic. Of course we also get the dual pleasure of something light and enjoyable as with most of Tolkien’s earlier works (ie. Roverandom or even the full length The Hobbit), mixed with the lush imagination of the king of fantasy Himself.The next day Giles learned that he was the owner of Caudimordax, the famous dragon-slaying sword. Soon, with much goading by the parson and the miller, as well as the rest of the village of Ham, Giles was off on his grey mare with his cowering dog, armed with a thrown-together suit of metal rings and Caudimordax. Next day he found that the news had grown in the telling, and he had become an important local figure. By the middle of the next week the news had spread to all the villages within twenty miles. He had become the Hero of the Countryside. Very pleasant he found it. Next market day he got enough free drink to float a boat: that is to say, he nearly had his fill, and came home singing old heroic songs.

a b Garth, John (24 June 2020). "Looking for Middle-Earth? Go to the Middle of England". Literary Hub . Retrieved 26 July 2023. This was full of the wry humour I have grown to love from Tolkien. This often had me smirking and giggling and I enjoyed my time with this story immensely. It was also one full of bravery and heart, again like the best of Tolkien's stories also are, and proved a joy to read on many levels. Shippey 2005, p. 111 "The capital of the Middle Kingdom, 'some twenty miles distant from Ham', sounds like Tamworth, the historical capital of the Mercian kings".The giant, on returning home, relates to his friends that there are no more knights in the Middle Kingdom, just stinging flies—actually the scrap metal shot from the blunderbuss—and this entices a dragon, Chrysophylax Dives, to investigate the area. The terrified neighbours all expect the accidental hero Farmer Giles to deal with him. Farmer Giles loves the adoration with which his neighbors now view him. But his self-satisfaction is short lived: a hungry Welsh dragon named Chrysophylax Dives (Latin for “Gold-watcher the Rich”), having heard by way of the aforementioned giant that the Middle Kingdom no longer contains any pesky knights, but only biting insects, decides to investigate the Middle Kingdom. Late one night while he is out chasing delectable scents, Garm discovers the interloper. After literally stumbling upon the dragon, Garm dashes home to alert his master. Tolkien: A Biography. London: Allen & Unwin, 1977. The authorized biography, which includes references to Farmer Giles of Ham during the critical years of 1938 and 1949. Eventually even the king of the Middle Kingdom in his capital (about twenty leagues distant from Ham) heard of Giles' deed. About three months after the incident the king sent Giles a testimonial letter on the feast of St. Michael. He also sent the farmer a gift, a plain heavy sword that had been hanging in the king's armoury from a time forgotten.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment