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Smith of Wootton Major  By  cover art

Smith of Wootton Major

By: J. R. R. Tolkien
Narrated by: Derek Jacobi
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Publisher's summary

Tolkien’s acclaimed modern classic ‘fairie’ tale, read by Derek Jacobi.

Smith of Wootton Major journeys to the Land of Faery thanks to the magical ingredients of the Great Cake of the Feast of Good Children.

©1967, 2005 The Tolkien Trust (P)1999 HarperCollins Publishers

Featured Article: Elrond—A Lord of the Rings Character Guide


If you love J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, then you know that all of the events of the story would be impossible without the half-Elf Elrond. Elrond, the Lord of Rivendell, lived in Middle-earth from the First Age to the beginning of the Fourth Age. It was with the help of Elrond that the evil Sauron was defeated and alliances were forged. Elrond is one of the most prominent characters throughout Tolkien's stories. But who is he and what is his story?

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What listeners say about Smith of Wootton Major

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Multiple listens...

Reread via Audible on a car ride today. Amazing! And Derek Jacobi could read the back of a soup can and leave me enthralled.
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I want to have kids just so I can read them stories like this. I wanted to eat the Twenty-Fourth Year Cake; I wanted to hear Smith Smithson sing while he smithied; and just when my eyes were bugging out of my head because of the beautiful descriptions of Faerie, I remembered it all started with a Master Baker. The story changed hands at least three times, but it was seamless. Each one of the hands could have been a story of Their Own.

I'd rate this a G. Read this to your chilluns! They need more magic. So do you!

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Lose the calliope music

The calliope music is distracting and inappropriate this is not a cute little children’s story. You should edit out the music

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  • Overall
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    4 out of 5 stars

Gentle, amusing, bittersweet fable.

A short whimsical fairy tale from Tolkien - the last book he ever published - that reads as a sort of denouement to his illustrious, long career. Bittersweet and gentle, at times amusing.

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Another enjoyable short story by Tolkien

Making up for lost time, I've listened to 3 short stories by Tolkien in the last couple of weeks. Like the first one, Leaf by Niggle, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. (Mr Bliss, not so much.)

Great fun for chidren and adults alike.

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Wonderful story. Highly recommend.

Tolkien creates something wonderful here, a story truly worth reading. It is a story that lodges itself in the soul, long after it has been read.

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4 people found this helpful

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  • 01-01-19

A Brilliant Short Story

This was a delight to listen to via Audio Book. The story and journey seem simple for such a short story, but there's so much more to it than that. I've no intention to trivialize or diminish this brilliant work, but it was simply wonderful to listen to. This was narrated by the magnificent Derek Jacobi. Two thumbs up! I can't help but express what a joy it was to listen to this, as J.R.R. Tolkien was such a literary genius.

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Loved it

Super cute book and read beautifully, narrator did a great job! Not the first time I’ve read and won’t be the last

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Short, Very Cute.

An easy listen for any Tolkien fan. Child friendly and whimsical. Perfecft Tolkien, as always.

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A Nice Short Story

A different sort of story than one I'm used to reading by Tolkien. I enjoyed it though.

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Delightful fairy-story

Delightful multi-generational fairy-story, full of clever twists and turns, and with a charming outcome. Very well narrated.

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