Farmer Giles of Ham - obviously Catholic?

[Lalwendë]

Hilarius? AKA Hilary? Yes, Esty, Tolkien could indeed be making a parody of his own brother! Maybe to make the children laugh?

I had a look in the C&G (listen, I'll wear you all down eventually and you will all be asking for this truly eye-poppingly superb and superior tome for Christmas, it is, quite literally, 'definitive') about Farmer Giles, and it was originally conceived as a story for his children (just like The Hobbit!). Tolkien fancied publishing it after The Hobbit, and young Rayner Unwin even reviewed it positively. but for several reasons it took some time to be put into print, by which time Tolkien had done numerous rewrites. It does seem he wanted it to be light-hearted and humorous, so no 'message', but he did want it to be seen as a tale that might have come from the 3rd to the 5th centuries.