The Tolkien Reader

An invitation to Tolkien's world. This rich treasury includes Tolkien's most beloved short fiction plus his essay on fantasy. Farmer Giles of Ham: An imaginative history of the distant and marvelous past that introduces the rather unheroic Farmer Giles, whose efforts to capture a somewhat untrustworthy dragon will delight readers everywhere. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil: A collection of verse in praise of Tom Bombadil, that staunch friend of the Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings. On Fairy Stories: Professor Tolkien's now-famous essay on the form of the fairy story and the treatment of fantasy.