The book is divided into two parts, the with first focusing on Farmer Giles of Ham. It's set in Ham, a small village in England - sometime after the arrival of the Romans, but before Arthur's time. Giles in married to Agatha, has a dog called Garm and is fond of his ale. Nothing of note had happened in Ham for a long time, something that Giles was perfectly happy about - neither Giles, nor his dog had ever given any thought to life beyond their borders.

Unfortunately , there is a troublesome giant living nearby. He doesn't appear to be a deliberately malicious sort - but he is larger and ruder than most of his fellow giants, as well as being short-sighted and deaf. Unsurprisingly, he manages to cause a lot of - quite possibly inadvertent - damage when he goes out for a walk. One day, he gets lost when he goes out for a walk and finds himself in Ham - a trip that sees him accidentally squashing Giles' favourite cow, Galathea. The giant is first spotted by Garm, who naturally runs off to tell his master all about it. (Although somewhat lacking in courage, Garm can apparently talk). Giles luckily has a blunderbuss, a top-of-the-range weapon for the time - he loads it up and manages to shoot the giant in the face. It doesn't do the thick-skinned giant any great damage, but - thinking he's stumbled across an unhealthy area and that he's been stung by a nasty dragonfly - turns around and leaves.

Giles as a result becomes a bit of a celebrity and - when the King hears of it - he receives a regal letter, a belt and what turns out to be a very famous sword called Tailbiter. Initially, Giles enjoys his fame - though it later comes to rue it a little. Nevertheless, the sword comes in useful when a dragon called Chrysophylax arrives. The dragon's arrival had, in part, been caused by the giant's tales of the easy pickings there were in Ham. A hard winter led to a lot of hungry dragons...and Chrysophylax becomes hungry enough to put the stories to the test. With the King's Knights coming up with one excuse after another, the villagers inevitably look towards Giles...

The second part of the book, "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil"", returns to Middle Earth. It's a collection of 16 poems - several of which are attributed to Bilbo (from "The Hobbit") and Sam (from "The Lord of the Rings"). However, despite the name, only the first two feature Tom Bombadil. There are a couple of other familiar characters in the Bombadill poems - Goldberry, naturally, but also Old Man Willow, a Barrow Wight and even - in 'Bombadil Goes Boating' - Farmer Maggot. (I was a little curious when the events of this poem happened - was it during "The Fellowship of the Ring" - did Maggot tip Bombadil off about four travelling hobbits who might need his help in the Old Forest and beyond ? Or was it set later - if so, where did he go and why did he abandon his boat ?). The last four in the collection are among the best, and are set after the events of "The Lord of the Rings". They're also, maybe, slightly darker in tone than the previous poems – “The Sea Bell” is believed to be associated with the dreams Frodo had in March and October, and the last deals with the last ship sailing westwards. "The Stone Troll" and "Perry the Winkle" give starring roles to two very different trolls, and are more enjoyable than some of the other poems. Sam's favourite animal, the Oliphaunt, also makes an appearance - I believe he may actually have quoted it in "The Return of the King" ?

A short and easily read book - I did enjoy the "Farmer Giles of Ham" story more than I'd expected, though I'd have wanted a bit more about Bombadill. I also found it a little strange reading a book by somebody other than CS Lewis and seeing illustrations by Pauline Baynes...

RABCK - on its way to Scotland. Qualifies for KarmelK's 'Celebrate the Irish' Release Challenge under the 'Green Cover' Rule.

Wow, what a great surprise! I'm so happy I don't even care it's raining! Thank you so much :)
I've read Tom Bombadil before, but only in Swedish and I've wanted to read it in English.
As for celebrating the Irish, I'll be doing that on Monday, dressed as a leprechaun. My cousin is even coming here from Sweden for the event (and because it's her 25th bday). Thanks once again!!

Every time I go back to the writings of Tolkien I am always amazed at the beauty of his words. He is the master of the true fantasy fairy tale. There are few people who can still write like he does, and not that many over the course of time that have been able to. If there is magic in the world, it is in his writings.

This was the first time I read Farmer Giles of Ham, and I found it such a sweet fairy tale! It's got the happy ending, but still manages to incorporate the mean dragons and dumb giants. Giles was such a human being as well. A simple farmer, yet greedy like the rest of humankind. I found him charming.

I have read the Adventures of Tom Bombadil in Swedish before, but ever since, I've always wanted to read them in English. English is the language of Tolkien, and his language is the reason why I ever started studying it, and literature, in the first place. (Although, I later went on to politics instead, but literature is still my favourite!)
Anyway, the poems that Tolkien wrote are just as beautiful as the fairy tales. I love his play with different shapes and rythms and words. Princess Mee was a favourite, just because it gave me such brilliant, beautiful pictures in my head. The fairy tale poetry has always been my favourite, without doubt, with "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats being my favourite poem/ballad ever. However, having read fairy tale poetry by the Master himself, set in, and based upon Middle-Earth lore, I might just get me a new favourite poem!

Oh, and I love the cover of this book. It's so simple, but yet so fitting. It looks old and bookish. Less focus on a great cover all for marketing purposes, and more on the great contents. This one is a confident cover, because it knows the insides are so great it doesn't need more!

I will definitely revisit the Adventures of Tom Bombadil in a few years again, but with another copy of it. This one has plans to travel to a BookCrosser on whose wish list I found it!

Thanks, C, for sharing!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Send off to a fellow BCer as a part of the Holiday Gift Giving of 2009. Hope you (and your boyfriend, who is also a fan of Tolkien if I have understood it correctly) will enjoy this as much as I did!

Update: This book has arrived at its destination, but because of a secret event, the recipient has not journalled it!

And finally this book gets journalled! You got it, yogie...this book was included in the 25 books I wanted to gift my boyfriend for his 25th Birthday Surprise, and hence it didn't get journalled earlier lest he finds out! I was thrilled on opening this HGG of yours, and yes, I do agree on the book cover being a very nice one! I love the previous journal entries...so well-written, and they also show that the book's passed through the hands of avid Tolkien fans. :) Believe me, I'm passing it on to another one of those! Ecuas will love this book I know and I doubt he'll be willing to part with it anytime soon! Thank You so much Yogie! (((hugs)))

Please also check out the Thank You Thread for Ecuas's Surprise 25th Birthday RABCK :)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Put into a big box of books and goodies sent by bookcrossers for Ecuas's 25th Birthday Surprise! It contains many books he's been dying to read, and this is definitely one of them!

A birthday present from prachi and yogie! Prachi had this huge surprise for me in the form of a big box of books from all the BCers!
I am a huge fan of Tolkien's writing and am always looking out for anything that has something to do with the world he has created. And This was one of the books I have been searching for since way back! I have fond memories of Tolkien...I read the Lord of The Rings about 5 years back and was so captivated I would skip meals but not let go off the book. Later on i got my hands on The Hobbit, Children Of Hurin and i knew tolkien was something I would kill for! Thank you so much Yogie for having a heart big enough to part with such an amazing book. ( I can say that even though I haven't read it). And Thank You prachi for being what you are. :)

I started with Farmer Giles Of Ham and The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil yesterday afternoon, and didn't want to let it go half way, so i took it to work with me (was in the night shift).

Farmer Giles is a charming little tale of a farmer who becomes an accidental hero after annoying off a stupid giant with a 'blunderbuss', or a gun that can shoot anything you stuff into its barrel. The giant, being shortsighted, thinks he was bitten by horseflies and blunders off back home. This deed earns the farmer an invitation from the King who presents him with an old-fashioned sword which unknown to him is Tailbiter, the sword which wont be sheathed if within five miles of a dragon.
Meanwhile, the giant has wandered off in the Wilds, spreading tales of the wonderful lands he has been to, with lots of sheep and cows to eat. All this falls on the ears of a great dragon, who leaves on his on explorations, leading him to the village of Ham.

This is where the story begins. Told in the amusing and lively Tolkien style, the book is a wonderful read. A cowardly but boastful dog and many other characters and little snippet-like illustrations make the book very un-putdownable. Witty lines and funny dialogues, I love it.

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a set of verses about and concerning the hilarious and gay Tom Bombadil and his mis-adventures in the wilderness, and many other poems. Very lively rhymes and flow...it puts you smack in the middle of Tolkien's world and you wish to never get out. I loved Princess Mee...it brought up beautiful visions so readily! An elf dressed all in silver and frolicking on a lake...its very magical. The others like Perry The Winkle are beautiful too!

Charming, witty, amusing and wonderful...Tolkien's writings are magical.