Tolkien's 'other' works...pt. III

Started this post back in early January...but things happened like Weddings and Honeymoons and Visas and job searches and house movings (yes, that's a word now)...okay those are all still happening...but I'm finally getting 'round to posting it! I hope you enjoy!

So I've finished reading "Tales from the Perilous Realm"... which includes four short stories by J.R.R. Tolkien that are much lesser-known than say, "The Hobbit" or "The Lord of the Rings"...or even "The Silmarillion".

Farmer Giles of Ham - An absolutely charming tale about a farmer turned dragon-fighting knight. Farmer Giles is a simple man in the town of Ham that only ever wanted his simple life...until one day when a giant showed up roaming his fields. Through sheer serendipitous luck, Giles managed to both scare off the giant and become the overnight hero of the town. He is soon living the life of fame with everyone in town singing his praises and buying him free drinks...even the King sends Farmer Giles a reward for being so brave: an ancient and beautiful sword.

Things change when a dragon, having heard from a certain boastful giant, that the lands around Ham are unguarded and that one can roam freely causing as much damage and destruction as one wishes with no fear of penalty. I suppose you can guess where this is going...the people of Ham quickly turn to their local hero to help dispatch the new threat terrorizing the countryside and Farmer Giles must face a choice: either he faces the danger as the capable and confident hero that he is famed for, or he hangs his head in shame and broken pride.

The interesting thing about Farmer Giles is that apart from Dragons and Giants, there are very few crosses between this short story and Tolkien's well-known world based in Middle-earth...at least to an untrained person such as myself. Perhaps a true Tolkien scholar...which I readily admit I am far from...could tell you better ways to link the different tales, but this story is quite a step apart from what you're used to reading from Tolkien. I believe it to be even further apart than even Roverandom. Yet Tolkien's impressively descriptive storytelling and charm matched with a flair for languages...that which he is known for...are still very apparent.

Leaf by Niggle - A tale perhaps even further from Tolkien's 'norm' than Farmer Giles. Niggle is a little man in a little town. His heart is in the right place...even if his grumblings and mutterings tell otherwise. Niggle is the type of person that can always be relied upon to do a favour for a friend or neighbor...even at his own great inconvenience. He is a good man, but that is his downfall, for people tend to take advantage of it. Niggle may not take pleasure in the act of helping out his neighbors, but he does so because he knows that he should.

One thing that Niggle takes great pleasure in is his painting. He's not the world's greatest painter...in fact he's not very good at all. But what he does paint well are leaves. He can paint a leaf as if it were alive.

But the detail of a leaf was not enough for Niggle...he wished to expand to a tree full of these leaves...each individual and extraordinary as the next. He would expand further to the branches of the tree, to the trunk, to the hilltop on which it stood, to the surrounding countryside...ever further and further into the painting he would go.

The painting eventually became so large that he had to store it in a separate building from his house. Yet Niggle couldn't spend all his time on his painting. Indeed only a fraction of the time he wished to spend on his work. For one thing, he was constantly being 'interrupted' by other people needing help, and then there was this long journey he was supposed to take that he should have been preparing for...but wasn't.

Eventually the time came for the journey...and Niggle was not ready. But it could not be helped. Niggle had to leave his home...his belongings...his painting...far behind him.

The remainder of the story is a clear allegory to the afterlife. Niggle spends countless years in a 'workhouse'...learning how to cope with his time better and reflecting on his life and the way he behaved towards other people.

This is a very stark tale...and for the majority of the tale, you're left feeling worried for poor little Niggle. The emotions are a bit low and sad for a good chunk of the story...thank goodness it is so short!

Niggle is probably the least 'Tolkien-like' work I've read, at least if one to compare the text to those more famous of Tolkien's works. There are no direct correlations between what happens to Niggle or the other characters in the story, and anything that happens to the people of Middle-earth. There are no 'fantastical' elements to the story...no elves, dwarves, faeries, dragons or otherwise. The only thing 'magical' about this story comes in the 'afterlife' portion of the story already mentioned...so one could likely draw a more spiritual conclusion from this story rather than a fantastical one.

Still, it is an incredibly moving story...and very much worth a read. I can see how it would be a good moral value for children...and I highly encourage it as the sort of story you would read to a child...so that you can explain the fundamentals and moral values that are carried throughout the tale.

Smith of Wooton Major - Here is a tale much closer to the world of Tolkien that we know and love than the previous two here mentioned. Smith is a fantastical story involving faeries and magical lands...warriors and the like.

We are presented with the protagonist of our story...a small child of the small town of Wooten Major. Every quarter-century or so, there is festival held for all the children, the showpiece of which is a large, delicious cake made by the master baker in town...a very prestigious position. In the cake are several trinkets...coins mostly...for the children to delight in...and all are distributed randomly upon the cutting of the cake. Some children may find several trinkets...some none at all.

Our hero finds himself in possession of a magical star...the only one of its kind baked into the cake. No one really knows anything about the star...in fact the baker himself only came across it by chance and thought it would make a nice addition. Eventually the baker retires and is replaced, as is the custom, by his apprentice.

The star token, which the child stuck to his own forehead, has a lasting effect on the child. It makes the child very beautiful in face and stature...very well and eloquently spoken...but what nobody else knows is that it also allows him to travel to a far-off land...the land of Faery...where he discovers wonders no-one else knows of.

He does this for years...on into adulthood. He travels the mountains, lakes and valleys...the forests deep and shaded. He meets the faeries...their Queen...is given magical gifts...and generally leads an enchanted life.

Eventually the time comes for the next big festival...the star is passed on to a new child...and the cycle repeats. This is a short and charming tale...very much in the vein of what we are used to seeing from Tolkien...and one that will be appreciated by enthusiasts and casual Tolkien readers alike.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil - Quite contrary to its title, this is no fictional tale, not even a short story. It has little to do with Tom Bombadil at all, and 'adventures' is questionable in and of itself.

This, quite simply, is a collection of poetry written by Tolkien. Not all of them directly concern themselves with our dear friend from The Fellowship of the Ring, Tom...in fact there's only 2 of the...18?...poems that do. But it is a fascinating read in that it expands upon the myth and lore of Middle-earth. The Hobbits in particular had a fondness for old lays, poems and tales of the days of old...and here we find several examples.

This is not a story...it won't get you from A to B. You probably to have either a love of poetry in order to appreciate the form...or a love of Tolkien's world to appreciate the subject matter...to truly appreciate this collection of work. But it is truly a lovely collection of writing, and while short, very worth a read for any Tolkien enthusiast.