Who was the first 'Farm Boy'?

[Evil Agent]

No, with Fitz I was thinking more the bastard son/underdog gets trained, helps save the world. It's still the basic hero myth, a rise from obscurity to hero status. There's farm boys, kitchen scullion boys, castle boys, bastards, children, etc.

 

[Ouroboros]

I'm trying to think back here .... From Tolkien onwards .... hmmm

Scafloc from Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword would certainly qualify, if we are taking 'farmboy' as shorthand for a number of characteristics, as opposed to meaning literally a protagonist who was a farmhand.

That's from 1954, but I'm sure there are even older examples.

 

[Wulfa_Jones]

if we are taking 'farmboy' as shorthand for a number of characteristics, as opposed to meaning literally a protagonist who was a farmhand.

Yes, basically the young innocent who becomes the hero, doesn't have to work on a farm - hence the Bilbo and Frodo example.

fybonacci - I think it is used so often as it is a useful narrative tool to introduce the reader into the world. The 'farm boy' is, more often that not, unaware of the greater things going on in the world - hence the reader can connect with them in the sense they are learning things at the same time as him.

Didn't realise that Sword of Shannara was out in the late 70s! Figured it was early 80s.

 

[Janos]

I think Morgon fails the typical farm-boy-ness. He had an education.

There's also farm-girls by the way: Paksenarrion, whatshername from Canavan's Black Magician trilogy.

!!!RANT WARNING!!!
God I hate these perpetual farm boys! As if one who knows how to milk a cow and nothing else can do all the things these ppl do! Rand? A general??? Hah. He could marshall some cows I'm sure! Man! At least Morgon had an education and was a ruler - my deepest respects to McKillip. It's just so sickeningly standard - why oh why can't they come up with something new? Why does every fantasy book haaave to start on a farmlike place of somesort! I found Guy Gavriel Kay a couple months ago. I compulsively read everything he wrote. Can't remember any farms there. Am going through withdrawal symptoms. Have been going through Martin withdrawal symptoms for years. And Jaqueline Carrey, too. Farmboys just don't fill the void... want intelligent people... with education... or somethn... no cowmilking.... plzzzz
END RANT

Well, one problem you can run into is that if you have an educated, intelligent person who knows the world and figures out everything, is that your reader isn't in on all of that knowledge. If you have an uneducated, ignorant character that's never traveled to another city before, you have a chance for that character to travel the world. And as the character learns about the history, the geography, the cultures, etc, in that world, so does the reader.

The same goes with magic. You hardly ever see the most poweful wizard in the world as the main character in a story from the beginning. The reader of the story has a much better understanding of magic once the ignorant character learns how to do magic himself.

I think it's basically an exposition tool, a way for the author to explain things without making it feel like the reader is sitting in a history class.

So, in a typical fantasy setting, a farm boy from a small town makes a prime example because he's never been educated, he's never traveled outside his secluded town, and he doesn't know anything about the world.

And I agree, I think Morgon falls outside of the typical definition. But I think he was still enough of a farm boy for the whole process to work for him

 

[fybonacci]

Hmmm... That's true.

 

[Bond]

I'm talking about in modern fantasy... I'm sure in myths and legends of the past there where 'farm boys' but I'm thinking post Tolkien.

Frankly I don't see why any distinction should be made between pre-Tolkien and post-Tolkien in regards to this question. Actually it lessens the value of the question since it approaches the topic with the presumption Tolkien was in anyway important to the use of this often used trope.

As you say Frodo wasn't really much of a farmer. He was something like a local squire wasn't he and follows in the footsteps of many a little lordling cast off into the great dark world. Anyway Dorothy was a farmgirl protagonist long before Frodo existed. Jack could probably be called a farmer considering how he planted a magic beanstalk.

As for those after Tolkien maybe the protagonist of Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain should be mentioned.

 

[Wulfa_Jones]

It was because I wanted to look at it from a modern view. I used Tolkien as the bar mainly because of the date of publication and because he created the type of fantasy I was looking at.

As you'll see from some of the posts many regard Arthur to be the first of these characters and I suppose you could class Robin Hood as this type of character depending upon which legend you look at.

The use of a young unworldly protagonist has probably been used since people began telling stories. I was looking for its use in modern fantasy.

 

[Taysir]

King Arthur from T.S. Elliot's Once and Future King[/]. Not literally a farmboy, but a person of undistinguished standing, "destined" for greatness.

That would be T.H. White, certainly not T.S. Eliot!

 

[Julian]

That would be T.H. White, certainly not T.S. Eliot!

Yes, but it does give me a rather unexpected opportunity to point out that Eliot's poetry has very strong Arthurian links, especially when it come to the concept of the Fisher King .

 

[Julian]

No, with Fitz I was thinking more the bastard son/underdog gets trained, helps save the world. It's still the basic hero myth, a rise from obscurity to hero status. There's farm boys, kitchen scullion boys, castle boys, bastards, children, etc.

Yes, I'd agree with that intended generalisation. However, Bilbo and Frodo would not fit into this category, would they? They aren't bastards/underdogs. They're normal - and well established, and well respected - people. There's a distinction here which I feel a few people are missing.

Frodo wasn't really much of a farmer. He was something like a local squire wasn't he and follows in the footsteps of many a little lordling cast off into the great dark world.

Err - many a little lordling? Really? How many? I can think of some - like McKillip's Morgon - but these follow in Bilbo's fotsteps, not the other way around.

 

[Sammie]

I'm talking about in modern fantasy... I'm sure in myths and legends of the past there where 'farm boys' but I'm thinking post Tolkien.

I suspect the crux of the difficulty in answering the question lies here. There have always been stories of 'farm boys' that become heroes - probably, originally, because those were exactly the sorts of stories that 'farm boys' liked to hear!

I don't believe it's possible to draw a definitive cut off line between 'modern' and 'old' fantasy. And if we can't say when 'modern' begins, then how can we say who the first modern farm boy character was?!

Perhaps the question should be something like "who was the first 'farm boy' character in popular, printed, literature?? In which case, I reckon Arthur wins hands down.

Just my two cents .

 

[Bond]

Err - many a little lordling? Really? How many? I can think of some - like McKillip's Morgon - but these follow in Bilbo's fotsteps, not the other way around.

Well if you are acquainted with my view of modern epic fantasy you'll know I think it largely a development of the romantic adventures seen in the 19th century. The Prince and the Pauper, Kidnapped, and Quentin Durward for example all had young nobly born protagonists that left their sheltered existence and experienced the dangers of the world complete with a mentor to guide them. If you want a fantasy reference just look in the 1001 Arabian Nights and you're bound to come up with a few in that alone.

I find it very annoying that it is often implied that Tolkien was this incredibly original author, so much so that from this thread one is led to believe that he even established such basic storytelling elements such as this kind of hero. Tolkien borrowed extensively, and in many ways he is very derivative. Next to Carroll, Baum, and Barrie does Tolkien really stand out for his originality or imagination? If anything I think it is his recasting of what was already an established form of story that contributes to his popularity. I can accept people saying he created a wonderfully fleshed out world, that he made novel and unique use of language, that his combination of various forms of storytelling evolved into a standard of the modern epic fantasy, but don't tell me or even suggest he created or invented the characteristics of the prototypical hero. That is overreaching cult worship.

 

[Avi_stetto]

Perhaps the question should be something like "who was the first 'farm boy' character in popular, printed, literature?? In which case, I reckon Arthur wins hands down.

Just my two cents .

I'm not sure, but wouldn't Robin Hood kind of fall into this category as well? Magic isn't exactly involved, but the basic archetypes do exist here.

I find it very annoying that it is often implied that Tolkien was this incredibly original author, so much so that from this thread one is led to believe that he even established such basic storytelling elements such as this kind of hero. Tolkien borrowed extensively, and in many ways he is very derivative. Next to Carroll, Baum, and Barrie does Tolkien really stand out for his originality or imagination? If anything I think it is his recasting of what was already an established form of story that contributes to his popularity. I can accept people saying he created a wonderfully fleshed out world, that he made novel and unique use of language, that his combination of various forms of storytelling evolved into a standard of the modern epic fantasy, but don't tell me or even suggest he created or invented the characteristics of the prototypical hero. That is overreaching cult worship.

Mmmm . . . I always had the feeling that Tolkien was reaching further back. For example, Frodo has always reminded me a bit of Theseus in a few respects. By no means was he original (but what has been the most recent truly ORIGINAL story, really?), but his synthesis was pretty unique in the time he was writing.

 

[Brys]

Only Post Tolkien? In Dunsany's King of Elfland's Daughter wasn't there a somewhat similar situation to "farmboy"? That was still modern fantasy, not myths etc. Not really a farmboy, but an unimportant (but actually important) orphan is involved in it. There are probably lots of others, but the main fantasy movement (which we know of today) started to take off at the end of the 19th century, and ironically enough, most of that would still seem original if published today. Fantasy used to be a lot more diverse pre-Tolkien.

"but what has been the most recent truly ORIGINAL story, really?, "

-China Mieville's Iron Council? Published last year, and extremely original. Jeff Vandermeer's City of Saints and Madmen? Published quite recently. I've also heard that Hal Duncan's Vellum is extremely original, and it's being published later this year.
In epic fantasy, it's much harder to find truly original stuff, and most of the epic fantasy I would call original is actually hybrid - ie Moorcock's Elric (actually more sword and sorcery/New Wave) or Zelazny's Amber. All of the following have shown some originality, but it isn't completely original by any means: George RR Martin, Steven Erikson, R Scott Bakker, Robin Hobb, Stephen Donaldson - but the stories are hard to claim as truly in original in the way a Mieville novel is.
There's huge numbers of truly original fantasy novels published both pre- and post-Tolkien, you just don't hear as much about them.