Smith of Wootton Major

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Carpenter, Humphrey (1977). J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-04-928037-3. Scholars have differed on whether the story is an allegory or is, less tightly, capable of various allegorical interpretations; and if so, on what those interpretations might be. Suggestions have included autobiographical allusions such as to Tolkien's profession of philology, and religious interpretations such as that Alf is a figure of Christ. The American scholar Verlyn Flieger sees it instead as a story of Faërie in its own right.

If "The Silmarillion" highlights Tolkien's mastery of the English language and "The Lord of the Rings" showcases his narrative and world-building skills, then "Smith of Wooton Major" and "Farmer Giles of Ham" reveal his wit and deep affection for philology. Smith's tenth birthday was in the June following the winter when he had been at the Feast. On that day Smith arose before dawn and went outside. Feeling unusual, he began to sing and the fay-star that he had eaten fell out of his mouth. Without a thought he clapped his hand to his forehead and there the star stayed. While the star went mostly unnoticed it wrought changes in him that the villagers appreciated: His eyes had a shine to them, his voice became beautiful, and his work as a smith became very skilled (the best between Far Easton and the Westwood). The book began as an attempt to explain the meaning of Faery by means of a story about a cook and his cake, and Tolkien originally thought to call it The Great Cake. It was intended to be part of a preface by Tolkien to George MacDonald's famous fairy story The Golden Key. [1] Tolkien's story grew to become a tale in its own right. Smith of Wootton Major was the unplanned by-product of J.R.R. Tolkien’s attempt to write an introduction for a new edition of the Scottish writer George MacDonald’s short story, The Golden Key. Re-reading the story however, he found himself out of sympathy with what he felt was MacDonald’s preachy treatment of fairies and fairy story.

Tropes included in the tale:

In 2005, an extended edition of Smith of Wootton Major was published, edited by Verlyn Flieger. [2]

Tolkien was a professor at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford for almost forty years, teaching Old and Middle English, as well as Old Norse and Gothic. His illuminating lectures on works such as the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, illustrate his deep knowledge of ancient languages and at the same time provide new insights into peoples and legends from a remote past.Long presents his own religious interpretation, likening the story's Faery Queen to the Virgin Mary, with the lilies "near the lawn" as her symbol; Alf as Christ; the Great Cake perhaps as a Twelfth-cake for Epiphany; Nokes as a fool or "a kind of anti-Tolkien"; Smith, a " lay Christian". [9] Farmer Giles- it was just a snortfest for me. From now on, if I were to ever learn Latin or Latin names for things, I'm going to use the phrase, "Or in the vulgar tongue-". That, and I desperately want to commission a Dragon tail cake for my next birthday. The time came for another Feast of Good Children. Smith had possessed his gift for most of his life, and the time had come to pass it on to some other child. So he regretfully surrendered the star to Alf, and with it his adventures into Faery. Alf, who had become Master Cook long before, baked it into the festive cake once again for another child to find. After the feast, Alf retired and left the village; and Smith returned to his forge to teach his craft to his now-grown son.

The village of Wootton Major was well known around the countryside for its annual festivals, which were particularly famous for their culinary delights. The biggest festival of all was the Feast of Good Children. This festival was celebrated only once every twenty-four years: twenty-four children of the village were invited to a party, and the highlight of the party was the Great Cake, a career milestone by which Master Cooks were judged. In the year the story begins, the Master Cook was Nokes, who had landed the position more or less by default; he delegated much of the creative work to his apprentice Alf. Nokes crowned his Great Cake with a little doll jokingly representing the Queen of Faery. Various trinkets were hidden in the cake for the children to find; one of these was a star the Cook discovered in the old spice box. King Incognito: Smith meets the queen of Faery once without realizing it. Also, Alf turns out to be the Faery King. Il fabbro di Wootton Major è un racconto di J.R.R. Tolkien pubblicato nel 1967, l'ultima opera mentre l'autore era ancora in vita. Romanticamente potremmo considerarla una sorta di commiato dell'autore al mondo di Faerie, una fiaba per bambini ben ponderata (come dimostrano le diverse stesure e gli appunti dell'autore a riguardo) ed equilibrata piuttosto che uno spontaneo volo d'immaginazione. La novella avrebbe dovuto essere parte della prefazione di Tolkien a The Golden Key, storia di fate di George MacDonald, ma si sviluppò come racconto a sé.Alf let Smith choose the next child to receive the Fay-star. Smith chose Nokes' great-grandson, Tim of Townsend. When little Tim came to his Feast of Good Children, Smith could tell that the boy had indeed swallowed the Fay-star and thus became Smith's "heir". But Smith’s curiosity won over time and he again entered Faery. There he met dancing maidens and one of them gave him a flower. Smith somehow managed to take this flower home, where is was kept in a special casket, and it never withered. Soon Smith went to Faery again, and met there the Queen. Their conversation was warm and long, and she asked Smith to pass a message to the King. Smith was surprised as he did not know any King, and the Queen said that he would know. The message was: “The time has come. Let him choose”. This is my second time wrestle-I-mean-reading! something by Tolkien. I will openly admit, I slept-read The Hobbit. *gasp* Hammond, Wayne G.; Scull, Christina (9 September 2012). "Our Collections: Pauline Baynes". Too Many Books and Never Enough. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015 . Retrieved 25 July 2023.