By now, you’ve probably seen Peter Jackson’s latest Tolkien-based movie, The Hobbit. Maybe you’ve already read the book or are planning to. It’s a great story full of magic, mystery and adventure. But if you’ve finished reading it and you’re looking for something not too tough to get into before you take on the huge Lord of the Rings series, the good news is that Tolkien wrote a lot of other magical stories that are just as exciting as his better known works.
Two of my favourite Tolkien stories are usually collected in one volume: Farmer Giles of Ham and Smith of Wootton Major. Both stories are magical and hard to forget, but they are quite different in the kind of emotions they make you feel.
Farmer Giles is a light, humorous story. It is about a fat, lazy farmer called Giles who accidentally gets a reputation as a dragon-killing hero. He winds up taking on Chrysophylax, a cunning dragon, with unexpected results.
Smith of Wootton Major is a very different kind of story. It is set in a town where once a year, 24 lucky children are invited to a party where they are served the Great Cake — a huge, delicious cake baked by the master cook of the town. Imagine the most wonderful cakes you have ever eaten, put them together and you will have an idea of the Great Cake. Each child also gets a little surprise in his slice of the cake. One of these is a magical star that the cook’s assistant found. The blacksmith’s son swallows this star, and its magic allows him to visit the land of the fairies, known as faery. He has many travels in faery, and sees things that are both beautiful and at times frightening. One day, the time comes for him to pass the gift on. It’s a lovely story that is both sad and heart-warming.
Another small but excellent book by Tolkien is Roverandom about a little puppy who is turned into a toy and sent to the moon and his adventures trying to become a normal dog again.
These stories were first written for Tolkien’s own son who had lost a toy dog, but they can be enjoyed by all children. The Father Christmas Letters are another set of magical stories told by Tolkien to entertain his own children. Some of the things that later became a part of The Lord of the Rings can be found in these stories.
So there is a lot to explore if you’ve just discovered Tolkien. Don’t be scared by the size of his better known books — there are many smaller stories to start with, and each one of them is a great invitation to Tolkien’s many worlds of wonder.