First edition cover
Smith of Wootton Major is a short story by J.R.R. Tolkien, first published as a book in 1967.
In 1997, the story was included alongside Tolkien's other classic tales in the Houghton Mifflin publication Tales from the Perilous Realm. An audiobook of the story was released in 2003, with Derek Jacobi's narration.
Background[]
The tale grew out of an attempt to explain the meaning of "Faery" by means of a brief story about a cook and his cake. This would have been part of a preface to George MacDonald's famous faerie story The Golden Key. But the story grew from there and became a tale in its own right.
The most recent edition includes a previously unpublished essay by Tolkien, explaining the background and just why the elf-king spent so long in Wooton Major. It also explains how the story grew from this first idea into the published version.
The book was originally called "The Great Cake", but the title was changed to "Smith of Wootton Major" in an attempt to suggest an early work by P.G. Wodehouse.
It is not definitely connected to the Middle-earth legendarium. Both Faery and Valinor are lands outside of the normal world, but Valinor cannot normally be visited by mortals. There are lesser Elven kingdoms that humans can visit and return: Faramir mentions visitors to Lorien.
"Smith of Wootton Major", by Roger Garland
Synopsis[]
The village of Wootton Major is well-known around the countryside for its annual festivals, which are particularly famous for their culinary delights. The biggest festival of them all is the Feast of Good Children, celebrated once every twenty-four years, and its celebrations take the form of a party to which twenty-four children of the village are invited. Its highlight is the "Great Cake", remarkable for its hidden, magical ingredients. Whoever swallows one of these is given the rare gift of an entry into the Land of Faery.
This year the magic star hidden inside the Great Cake was eaten by a blacksmith’s son. The boy did not feel any of its magical properties at once but on the morning of his tenth birthday the star fixed itself on his forehead and marked him as one intimate with the Faeryfolk. This boy grew up to be a blacksmith like his father, but in his free time he roamed into the Land of Faery. The star on his forehead protected him from the evils threatening mortals in that land, and the Folk called him Starbrow and told him about their land and its hidden beauties and dangers.
The years passed and it was now time for another Feast of Good Children. Smith had had his precious gift for most of his life now and the time had come for it to be passed on to some other child. So he gave up the star, and the mysterious new Master Cook baked it into the festive cake once more.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Arabic | سميث من ووتون ماجور |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Каваль з Вялікага Вутана |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Смит на Уотън майор |
| Catalan | El ferrer de Wootton Major |
| Chinese | 大伍頓的史密斯 |
| Czech | Kovář z Velké Lesné |
| Danish | Smeden fra Store Wootton |
| Dutch | De Smid van Groot-Woldin |
| Finnish | Seppä ja Satumaa |
| French | Smith de Grand Wootton |
| Georgian | დიდვუტონელი მჭედელი |
| German | Der Schmied von Großholzingen |
| Greek | Ο Σιδεράς του Μεγάλου Δασοχωρίου |
| Hebrew | סמית 'ווטון מייג'ור |
| Hungarian | A woottoni kovácsmester |
| Italian | Il fabbro di Wootton Major |
| Lithuanian | Kalvis iš Didžiojo Vutono |
| Norwegian | Volund Smed fra Store Skauby |
| Polish | Kowal z Podlesia Większego |
| Russian | Кузнец из Большого Вуттона |
| Spanish | El herrero de Wootton Mayor |
| Swedish | Sagan om smeden och stjärnan |