Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham

*source*

I got off of work a little earlier than usual yesterday, and instead of going back to my apartment, I went over to one of the local coffee houses and got a blended iced latte and a chocolate cupcake with delectable strawberry icing and read through a rain storm. It was actually completely idyllic and I read the entirety of these two wonderful little stories while waiting out the rain.

The first of J.R.R. Tolkien's works I ever read was The Hobbit, which remains one of my favorite stories of all time. I remember reading these two short stories as a kid, and remember liking them, but had no recollection of the stories themselves. It was a nice treat to revisit them! And, while I read them first as a child, they're really not childrens' stories...check 'em out!

Smith of Wootton Major is something of a fairy tale...the magic that happens when the world of Faery intersects with humanity. Farmer Giles of Ham is a story of courage and cowardice, and...my favorite part...a dragon named Chrysophylax. And a dog named Garm. If I ever have a male dog, I just might name him Garm :-)