Farmer Giles of Ham is a fairy tale, with appropriate fairy tale themes and characters. Its characters are therefore stereotypes. The village of Ham is populated by the wise and learned parson, the gloomy blacksmith, the menacing miller, and a troop of fickle village folk.

Far off is the pompous king, who speaks in first person plural (we, us, and our) and claims for himself everything that Giles wins from the dragon. Giles is the most human of the characters, a reluctant hero, a good and decent person blessed with a modicum of common sense, and he is a fierce protector of his possessions. He is thrust to the forefront as an unwilling hero, but because he is fundamentally good he is also blessed with luck and receives the help of those who are strong where he is weak. For example, the parson, the...