1 | [[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smith_of_wootton_major.png]] |
2 | "Smith of Wootton Major" is a late work by Creator/JRRTolkien, about a smith who received, when a young child, a magical star that let him travel in the Land of Faerie. |
3 | ---- |
4 | !!Tropes included in the tale: |
5 | * AcidRefluxNightmare: Nokes dismisses his meeting with the Faery King as this, which ironically grants his wish of becoming thinner, since he's afraid to eat anything that might bring a recurrence. |
6 | * BittersweetEnding:[[spoiler: Smith has to give up the star, but he passes it to a child he loves]]. |
7 | * TheBlacksmith: The main character. |
8 | * BrutalHonesty: Alf is diplomatic with Nokes during his apprenticeship, but after Nokes retires he tells him what a vain, lazy bastard he thinks he actually is. |
9 | * ChildhoodFriendRomance: Nell. We first meet her sitting next to Smith when they're children at the Twenty-Four Feast; next thing we know they're married. |
10 | * ConnectedAllAlong: It turns out that the Master Cook who brought Alf into the town is actually [[spoiler:Smith's grandfather]]. |
11 | * DancesAndBalls: In a vale in Faerie. |
12 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: At age nine, Smith gives the token he found in the Twenty-Four Cake to Nell because he feels sorry for her not finding one. This also probably illustrates why [[spoiler:he was chosen for the star]]. |
13 | * EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Actually once they called him "Smithson" but then just "Smith". |
14 | * TheFairFolk: The Land of Faery is dangerous even to Smith; at one point when he ventures into forbidden territory a storm drives him out. However, the elves that he meets are basically benign. |
15 | * GlowingFlora: On one of his visits to the land of Faery, Smith dances with a beautiful maiden who tucks a flower behind his ear. When he returns to Wootton Major he finds that the flower gives off a soft luminescence and never seems to wilt. |
16 | -->'Dear Man', she said, 'where have you been and what have you seen? There is a flower in your hair.' She lifted it gently from his head, and it lay on her hand. It seemed like a thing seen from a great distance, yet there it was, and a light came from it that cast shadows on the walls of the room, now growing dark in the evening... The flower did not wither nor grow dim; and they kept it as a secret and a treasure. |
17 | * HappilyMarried: Smith and Nell, despite his habit of wandering off. |
18 | * ItWasAGift: The silver coin. |
19 | * KingIncognito: Smith meets the queen of Faery once without realizing it. [[spoiler:Also, Alf turns out to be the Faery King.]] |
20 | * LandOfFaerie: Where the star let him go. |
21 | * MeaningfulName: Alf. It's the old Germanic word for [[spoiler:elf]]. |
22 | * AMinorKidroduction: We first meet Smith at age nine, when he acquires the star, but the rest of the story happens in his adulthood. |
23 | * OnceUponATime |
24 | * OurFairiesAreDifferent: Discussed. Nokes has a typical modern view of fairies as fictional little sprites, which, this being Tolkien's verse, is far from the reality. However, the Faery Queen appreciates being remembered in ''some'' form. |
25 | * ProtectiveCharm: The star allows Smith to wander in the Land of Faery more than most mortals, though there are limits. |
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