Smith of Wootton Major [Hardcover]

J. R. R. Tolkien (Author), Roger Garland (Illustrator)

Book Description

Two of Tolkien's most popular and charming stories, full of wit and humour, available together for the first time on CD. Smith of Wooton Major tells of the preparation of the Great Cake to mark the Feast of Good Children and the magical events which follow. Leaf by Niggle recounts the strange adventures of the painter, Niggle.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book has a haunting quality, characteristic of the best of the 'deeper' folktales. It is a beautiful, memorable story." Times Educational Supplement "It may be compared to the most delicate miniature but it is one of a rare kind: the more closely it is examined the more it reveals the grandeur of its conception. Whoever reads it at eight will still be going back to it at eighty." New Statesman "A tremendously valuable volume with important new insights into Tolkien's way of working. It's also a beautiful hardcover edition of the story." Mythprint --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

J.R.R.Tolkien (1892-1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over 30 languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (April 29, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395576466
• ISBN-13: 978-0395576465
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,246,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pass on the star, April 17, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smith of Wootton Major (Hardcover)

People who know anything about the mind of J.R.R. Tolkien know that he disliked allegory. That makes "Smith of Wootton Major" a bit of an oddity among his writings, but not an unwelcome one. It's a sweetly fantastical little fable that drips over with Tolkien's love of real, deep fairy tales.

It takes place in a little town "not very long ago for those with long memories, not very far away fro those with long legs." The Master Cook of that village takes a vacation, and returns with an apprentice in tow. But something odd happens at the Feast of the Cake -- the cook stirs in a "fay-star" with little trinkets in the cake, and it's accidently swallowed by a boy there.

The boy (later called Smith) is changed by the fay-star, which sparkles on his forehead. When he grows up Smith ventures into Faery itself, and even meets the Faery Queen herself. The message she gives him is for her mysterious, missing husband, the King -- who turns out to be the last person anybody in Wootton Major would have expected.

"Smith" is a fairy tale in the best sense. Don't expect cackling witches or convenient loopholes in spells here; Tolkien was too skilled for that. Instead we have majestic fey and sparkling magic, woven with a tidy medieval town. (Not to mention the custom of naming people after their jobs -- Smith, a smith, capisce?) Never once does it become precious or cutesy.

It's among Tolkien's simpler writings. In fact, it's so simple that it barely has a plot -- the vanishing King is the closest thing it has. But Tolkien's writing sparkles with little details of the fey, with only a minimum of description. His glimpses of Faerieland are too brief, but they're also reminiscent of a few passages from "Lord of the Rings."

A sweet, fantastical little story, this is one of Tolkien's lesser-known but still deserving stories. Charmingly symbolic.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Revelation of Tolkien's Visions of Faery, November 7, 2005

By 

Paul E. Thomas "anonymous" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smith of Wootton Major (Hardcover)

J.R.R. Tolkien's short work, "Smith of Wooten Major," which he wrote late in life, has already appeared in several fine editions, both by itself and in combination with other pieces by Tolkien, and most of us Tolkien enthusiasts already have it on our shelves. So why another one now, and why should we buy it? There are several compelling things about this book that make it highly attractive to those seeking a deeper understanding of Tolkien as a writer and thinker, and I'll only mention four here. First, this extended edition includes an important never-before-published essay by Tolkien on the story and on Tolkien's views of the nature of Faery, of its importance to him, of faery tales, and of the role of allegory in stories of this kind. It is a fascinating piece that provides new insight into Tolkien's thought as an artist trying to capture glimpses of Faery in his writing. The essay is in some ways an echoing companion piece for his famous earlier essay "On Fairy Stories," in which, among other things, Tolkien outlines his theory of sub-creation that he executed so successfully in "The Lord of the Rings." Second, the book contains never-before-published early notes and draft manuscripts for Smith, several pages of which are reproduced in the book itself in their original hand-written form with helpful transcriptions on the opposite page. These papers not only show Tolkien actively creating and revising his story and the history of its characters, but they also show Tolkien's working methods as a writer and so demonstrate, in a microcosm, the methods he used on such a large scale for "The Lord of the Rings." Third, Flieger's editorial contributions are very helpful. She provides an afterword that discusses the critical treatement of Smith, its genesis as a story, and outlines the new material which, as she says, allow the reader to follow "the authorial progression from explanation to inspiration to formulation to painstaking revision." Flieger's notes are also very helpful, for she points us to relevant matters in Tolkien's other works and illuminates puzzling aspects of Smith. And fourth, this is perhaps the first edition of Smith that takes Tolkien's statements that it is not a children's story seriously. He called Smith "an old man's book, already weighted with the presage of bereavement." Previous editions of Smith have ignored this statement and dressed the tale up as a children's book, presumably based on the unquestioned assumption (which Tolkien questioned very sharply in "On Fairy Stories") that because this is a faery tale, and because it is short, it must be for children. This edition honors Tolkien's view not only of Smith but of the importance of Faery and faery stories in general by beautifully reproducing the tale and the lovely Pauline Baynes illustrations, which were made for the first edition, and by setting them within a handsome hardcover text that Tolkien readers will prize very highly. This is a must have.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deceptively simple, with starlit depths, September 1, 2000

By 

William Timothy Lukeman - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smith of Wooton Major (Mass Market Paperback)

This short, lovely, late tale by Tolkien is not only a fine fairy tale, but a poetic meditation on the craft and Art of the fantasy writer - the Myth Maker. Enjoyable simply as a story for readers of any age, it offers quiet and rich rewards to those who wish to read more deeply. If possible, look for the earlier edition with the original Pauline Baynes illustrations. A reminder that true fantasy ultimately deals with the Mysteries ...