J.R.R. Tolkien’s short story Smith of Wootton Major was first published in 1967.
The story appeared as a standalone work illustrated by Pauline Diana Baynes. It follows Smith, a craftsman who receives a magical star from a great cake and gains access to a perilous fairy realm. The tale explores vocation, wonder, aging, and the passing of a special gift from one generation to another.
Smith of Wootton Major was published after The Lord of the Rings and shortly before Tolkien’s retirement from Oxford. It is sometimes grouped with Tolkien’s children’s stories, but its themes and symbolic structure also attracted serious literary discussion. The work should not be confused with Farmer Giles of Ham, which was published in 1949.