Tales from the Perilous Realm

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

This is a definitive collection of J. R. R. Tolkien’s famous shorter works. The fi vetales are written with the same skill, quality and hallmarks that made Tolkien’s Hobbit a beloved classic. They create such a wonderful world that leaving it is next to impossible. Roverandom is about a toy dog who becomes enchanted by a sand sorcerer and travelling to the Moon and into the deep sea encounters strange and fabulous creatures; Farmer Giles of Ham is fat and unheroic, but — having unwittingly managed to scare off a short-sighted giant — is called upon to do battle when the dragon comes to town; The Adventures of Tom Bombadil tells about Tom’s many fantastic adventures with hobbits, princesses, dwarves and trolls; Smith of Wootton Major is lucky enough to swallow a magic star which becomes his pass to the Land of Faery; Leaf by Niggle recounts strange adventures of a painter Niggle who sets out to paint the perfect tree. These works are supplemented with the essay On Fairy-stories, which offers theoretical principles of Tolkien’s creative work.