Overview

A charming new paperback edition of one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s major pieces of short fiction, and his only finished work dating from after the publication of The Lord of the Rings. What began as a preface to The Golden Key by George MacDonald eventually grew into this charming short story, so named by Tolkien to suggest an early work by P.G. Wodehouse. Composed almost a decade after The Lord of the Rings, and when his lifelong occupation with the ‘Silmarillion’ was winding down, Smith of Wootton Major was the product of ripened experience and reflection. It was published in 1967 as a small hardback, complete with charming black and white illustrations by Pauline Baynes, and would be the last work of fiction to be published in Tolkien’s own lifetime. Now, more than 50 years on, this enchanting tale of a wanderer who finds his way into the perilous realm of Faery is being published once again in paperback. Contained here are many intriguing links to the world of Middle-earth, as well as to Tolkien’s other tales, and this new edition is enhanced with a facsimile of the illustrated first edition, a manuscript of Tolkien’s early draft of the story, notes and an alternate ending, and a lengthy essay on the nature of Faery.

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9780008737672

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Reviews

“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

Author Information

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 60 languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide. Verlyn Flieger, Ph. D. is a Professor in the Department of English at the University of Maryland specializing in myth studies and comparative mythology. She teaches a sequence of graduate and undergraduate myth courses that offer Celtic, Arthurian, Hindu, Native American, and Norse myth. Concentrating on modern fantasy with a special focus on the works of JRR Tolkien, Professor Flieger's publications include Question of Time: JRR Tolkien's Road to Faerie, the winner of the 1998 Mythopoeic Award for Inklings Studies; Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World; Tolkien's Legendarium: Essays on The History of Middle-earth co-edited with Carl Hostetter and winner of the 2002 Mythopoeic Award for Inklings Studies; and her fictional works Pig Tale and The Doom of Camelot: ""Avilion: A Romance of Voices."" Professor Flieger is co-editor with Douglas A. Anderson and Michael Drout of Tolkien Studies, a yearly journal devoted to scholarly examination of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.

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