Step 1 : Introduction to the question "4. This little boy was the product of English folklore, and when I say little, I really mean he was SMALL! Who was this tiny son of "Thomas of the Mountain", according to the story as it was written in 1621?"
...1. Little Man Fred 2. Tom Thumb 3. Jo Jo 4. Prince Valiant Tom Thumb was an orally presented story in its earliest form, like many other tales of folklore. An introduction to the earliest version of Tom Thumb in written form in 1621 reads like this: "The History of Tom Thumbe, the Little, for his small stature surnamed, King Arthur's Dwarfe: whose Life and adventures containe many strange and wonderfull accidents, published for the delight of merry Time-spenders." In the 1621 version of the tale, a man from the days of King Arthur, Thomas of the Mountain, desired a son, not caring if he was no bigger than his thumb. His wife, after consultations with the magician, Merlin, soon gave birth to a son - Tom Thumb. Through many of the tales of adventures that Tom experienced he was often swallowed by some creature or another. Vulgarisms and questionable passages abound throughout the original stories of the diminutive young boy, but the "cleaner" and edited versions of the character of Tom Thumb have withstood the ages since, as nearly all children have heard of at least one of his adventures.
