Line #16 Literature/SmithOfWoottonMajor


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.
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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.

Context Literature / SmithOfWoottonMajor