Tom Thumb

Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. The History of Tom Thumb was published in 1621 and was the first known fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangling with giants, and becoming a favourite of King Arthur. A metrical version with extensions to the story was completed in about 1700. The earliest allusions to Tom occur in various 16th-century works such as Reginald Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft (1584), where Tom is cited as one of the supernatural folk employed by servant maids to frighten children. Aside from his own tales, Tom figures in Henry Fielding's 1730 play Tom Thumb, a companion piece to his The Author's Farce. It was expanded into a single 1731 piece titled The Tragedy of Tragedies, or the History of Tom Thumb the Great. In the mid-18th century, books began to be published specifically for children (some with their authorship attributed to "Tommy Thumb"), and by the mid-19th century, Tom was a fixture of the nursery library. These fairy tale versions were cleansed of questionable passages, perhaps more than warranted. Charlotte Mary Yonge, in particular, added a christian theme. Dinah Mulock, however, remained relatively close to the metrical version. Tom Thumb's story has been adapted into several films.