Minor Works -- 1 - Farmer Giles of Ham

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

Nice catch. I similarly wanted to point out that there is something weird about Tolkien and baggage ponies etc. In The Hobbit, you have the famous thing with first the Goblins stealing and eating the Dwarven baggage ponies in the Misty Mountains and later the dragon similarly scattering and eating the new ones. In a very similar manner that Chrysophylax scatters the baggage horses of the knights' company.

But why I am saying is that I believe that an unusually large - I daresay - proportion of the story is devoted to talking about the baggage horses/ponies (both here and in The Hobbit, and actually also in the Fellowship with Bill the Pony, who has the same function). I mean, nothing against them and they certainly serve an important function - especially realistically. But I would say that Tolkien probably treats them with a slightly above-average amount of attention.

Obviously, it is "common sense" that you need baggage ponies when you are travelling somewhere, but I daresay not every writer would be as aware of the problem. I wonder, therefore, alongside Lommy's remark, whether Tolkien simply had such an experience from the war (provisions transportation) that made him conscious of this issue, or whether he had perhaps even some closer knowledge of some particular bunch of ponies or whatnot.

Not just Bill, we hear quite a lot about Merry's ponies from Buckland to Bree.

It never struck me as odd, or out of proportion though.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Rune Son of Bjarne

Not just Bill, we hear quite a lot about Merry's ponies from Buckland to Bree.

It never struck me as odd, or out of proportion though.

Good point!

And it also never struck me as in any way remarkable on its own, but once I started thinking about it, if you just look at it quantitatively, the attention paid to ponies is remarkable.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Well, Tolkien, like anyone born in 1892, would have spent his entire childhood and youthful ambulations avoiding stepping in road apples. The equine presence was kind of all-pervasive.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Interest in this discussion seems to be dying down, but before we move on, I will add my favourite lines, almost at the end of the story - which inspired me to cosplay Queen Agatha:

His wife made a queen of great size and majesty, and she kept a tight hand on the household accounts. There was no getting round Queen Agatha - at least it was a long walk.

That is such a funny, pithy description of a character who plays a rather minor role in the story otherwise, and it tickles my fancy!

JRRT did begin a sequel to this tale, with Giles' son George (Georgius Draconarius) as the main character. Only a few paragraphs were actually written, plus an outline of possible developments. This is included in the Scull/Hammond edition I have and can be read there.

As with the previous CbC threads, this one remains open for later additions - anyone is welcome to post at any time!