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Justin St.Gelais
Professor Bright
LBST 2212
October 1st, 2015
The Not so Heroic Farmer Giles
In Tolkiens story, Farmer Giles of Ham, an average every day farmer goes from being a
nobody to a hero almost instantly. He becomes an icon in the town of Ham and his reputation is
spread far and wide. He is thought of very highly after driving a giant out of his lands, but I
believe the people are misconceived. After reading this story I see how he is a shallow person
that only cares about himself, and that he possesses no qualities of a hero. All the praise Giles
received is based off a few lucky incidents that anyone could have accomplished, and should not
be looked at as much of a protagonist.
In the story, farmer Giles is admired and almost thought of as a savior, but for no good
reason. He does manage to fend off a giant, but it was sheer luck. There was no bravery
involved in dealing with giant and the book even says He did not feel either bold or quick,
whatever Agatha might say; but he was more anxious about his property than his skin. (p. 132)
This shows us that he was not exactly prepared to face a challenge, but a couple different odds
played in his favor. One aspect that helped him out was the giants own mental slowness. The
giant was nearly blind, deaf, and just all around dumb. When approaching the giant, he was
nervous and not exactly sure what to do. This is apparent when the book says but Farmer Giles
saw him and was scared out of his wits. He pulled the trigger without thinking, and the
Blunderbuss went off with a staggering bang.(p.132) When Farmer Giles finally encounters the
giant he is so scared that he can not even control himself, and accidentally fires his weapon

without second thought. This is definitely not how a hero would act in a situation like this one,
but Giles manages to pull it off with his luck. Thankfully for him, the shot from the blunderbuss
landed a piece from a pot in his eye, and a nail in his nose. The giant was dumb enough to
believe he had just been stung by an insect, and instead of going after Giles he turns around and
walks the other way. This was certainly no battle scene and Giles is made out to be the man who
fought off a giant. Another instance where Giles shows us his inability to be a hero is when he
encounters Chrysophylax, the dragon, for the first time. Giles is suited up in full armour, and
wields Tailbiter, a sword particularly dangerous to dragons, and still does not manage to slay the
dragon. After a few threatening words from Giles, Tailbiter takes matters into its own hands and
slashes down on the dragons wing all by itself. This only causes the dragon to be injured and a
chase ensues. Giles chases the dragon back into Ham where he is finally stopped and a cowardly
deal is made. Instead of ending the dragon's rampage through the country by ending him, they
strike a deal. This deal does not end up being fulfilled by the dragon, and if I was Giles I would
have been able to recognize that. Throughout this whole scene Giles pretty much accomplishes
nothing on his own, but he does manage to get the dragon to leave temporarily. If Giles wasnt
helped out by luck and weapons with magical powers, he would probably be dead.
A big trait of Giles to me was how self-centered he was. He really did not care much
about anyone else, and could hardly care about his own dog. This is very apparent When Garm
comes back from exploring and warns him about the first sighting of Chrysophylax. Garm tells
him how the dragon is in a neighboring part of land and Giles responds with Theyre queer folk
in those parts, ive heard tell, and aught might happen in their land. Let them get on with it!
Dont come worriting me with such tales. Get out! (p.142) This quote from Giles shows his
complete disregard to these peoples well being, as well as how he gets angry and yells at his

dog. Throughout the story it also shows us how caught up he is in his belongings. He is always
worried about his land being kept in good shape and his possessions. This is definitely
something he cares about more than any other character in the book.
Overall I did not think Farmer Giles was a bad character, but he certainly was not all that
he was cracked up to be. He never fought a battle with bravery and honor, and instead got lucky
or was helped by some outside force. All the while he was taking credit for these heroic actions
when it really was not impressive. Giles might have had the townspeople fooled into thinking he
was great, but I saw into his actions and what he was really about.

Works Cited
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Tolkien Reader. Published by Del Rey books