The Smith of Wootton Major and The Hobbit
Most people don't know that J.R.R.Tolkien wrote many more tales then The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit not set in his popular Legendarium. One of the most stirring is The Smith of Wootton Major. This book and another, Farmer Giles of Ham, bear a lot of similarities and things that later became prominent parts in The Silmarillion and The Hobbit. So here we go!
The Smith of Wootton Major.
Long ago there was a village named Wootton Major because it was bigger then Wootton Minor. Wootton Major was renowned for its exceptional baking, done by a Master Cook, who appointed a new one when he died or retired. Every twenty four years, a feast is held where a Great Cake is baked. In this feast, children whose birthdays are close to it are invited. A child swallows a star, though without knowing it. Later, when he grew up, he became a smith of extraordinary talent, and discovers that the star is a passport to Faery. He wanders through Faery and discovers many of it's secrets, until the star is taken away and given to another.
Comparisons
The story is full of things that can be related to The Lord of the Ring's world. For example, Faery was what Tolkien originally called Valinor. It also bears a resemblance to both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in the way that a weak person, a child, and a mortal child at that, is chosen to be allowed access to "the Wise" as Gandalf puts it. Another thing is that the Smith meets a maiden dancing in the woods, very similar to the tale of Beren and Luthien. As in that tale the maiden turns out to be of royal blood. The Smith encounters an army of armed elven mariners, a recurring theme in The Silmarillion. At this time the book says, "Afterwards he went no more to that strand, believing he was in an island realm beleaguered by the sea... there was a great hill of shadow... he saw the King's Tree springing up, tower upon tower, into the sky, and it's light was like the sun at noon." That instantly brings to mind the island realm of Numenor in the Second Age of Middle-earth and the White Tree of Gondor.
Well that's all I have to say about The Smith of Wootton Major and the recurring themes you can find in it! The story is definitely worth a try, it's very touching. Soon, I will release the same thing as a comparison of the Farmer Giles of Ham, but good-bye for now!
The Smith of Wootton Major.
Long ago there was a village named Wootton Major because it was bigger then Wootton Minor. Wootton Major was renowned for its exceptional baking, done by a Master Cook, who appointed a new one when he died or retired. Every twenty four years, a feast is held where a Great Cake is baked. In this feast, children whose birthdays are close to it are invited. A child swallows a star, though without knowing it. Later, when he grew up, he became a smith of extraordinary talent, and discovers that the star is a passport to Faery. He wanders through Faery and discovers many of it's secrets, until the star is taken away and given to another.
Comparisons
The story is full of things that can be related to The Lord of the Ring's world. For example, Faery was what Tolkien originally called Valinor. It also bears a resemblance to both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in the way that a weak person, a child, and a mortal child at that, is chosen to be allowed access to "the Wise" as Gandalf puts it. Another thing is that the Smith meets a maiden dancing in the woods, very similar to the tale of Beren and Luthien. As in that tale the maiden turns out to be of royal blood. The Smith encounters an army of armed elven mariners, a recurring theme in The Silmarillion. At this time the book says, "Afterwards he went no more to that strand, believing he was in an island realm beleaguered by the sea... there was a great hill of shadow... he saw the King's Tree springing up, tower upon tower, into the sky, and it's light was like the sun at noon." That instantly brings to mind the island realm of Numenor in the Second Age of Middle-earth and the White Tree of Gondor.
Well that's all I have to say about The Smith of Wootton Major and the recurring themes you can find in it! The story is definitely worth a try, it's very touching. Soon, I will release the same thing as a comparison of the Farmer Giles of Ham, but good-bye for now!
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