Ironic Characters in Tolkien - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

littlemanpoet · 07-30-2007, 09:47 AM

Garm and Farmer Giles were ironic characters in Farmer Giles of Ham. Supposed to be heroes, Garm was a coward and Giles was an opportunist who got lucky; his mare was the real hero as Tolkien said.

Question: Are there other characters in other stories by Tolkien that are ironic? Who are they? How are they ironic? Why does Tolkien cast them that way? And if, by chance, there are no ironic characters in LotR or The Hobbit or any other of his writings, why not?

07-30-2007, 09:47 AM	#1
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	Ironic Characters in Tolkien Garm and Farmer Giles were ironic characters in Farmer Giles of Ham. Supposed to be heroes, Garm was a coward and Giles was an opportunist who got lucky; his mare was the real hero as Tolkien said. Question: Are there other characters in other stories by Tolkien that are ironic? Who are they? How are they ironic? Why does Tolkien cast them that way? And if, by chance, there are no ironic characters in LotR or The Hobbit or any other of his writings, why not?