[davem]

Its interesting that SoWM was the last thing Tolkien published. Of his other post LotR published writings, what do we have? The 'Notes for Translators of LotR published in Lobdell's A Tolkien Compass, the co-authored Road Goes Ever On - anything else?

Yet what we now find is that Tolkien didn't simply write Smith as a short story & leave it at that - he created a whole backstory for it, giving depth & history to the secondary world. In early drafts of Smith the story was to some degree linked into the world of Middle-earth:

When he got it down, he found that very little of the spices was left, and that was rather dry and musty, but in one compartment he found a ring, black-looking as if it was made of silver and was tarnished. 'That's funny!' he said, as he held it up to the light. 'NO, it isn't!' said a voice that made him jump; for it was the voice of his apprentice who had come in behind him, and he had never yet dared to speak first before he was spoken to. He was only a small boy; bright and quick, 'but he has a lot to learn yet' (so the cook thought).
So 'What do you mean, my lad' said the cook, not much pleased. 'If it isn't funny, what is it?' 'It's a magic ring' said the apprentice. Then the cook laughed. 'All right, all right,' he said. 'Call it what you like! You'll grow up someday. Now you can get on with stoning the raisins; and if you notice any magic ones tell me'.
'What are you going to do with the ring?' said the apprentice. 'Put it in the cake, of course,' said the cook. 'Surely you have been to children's parties
yourself, and not so long ago, where little trinkets like this were stirred into the mixture, and little silver coins and what not: it amuses the children.' 'But Cook? this is not a trinket, it's a magic ring' said the apprentice. 'So you've said before' said the Cook crossly. 'Very well, I'll tell the children. It'll make them laugh.'

One day, however, he was walking through a wood in Fairy, and it was autumn there, and there were red leaves on the boughs and on the ground. Footsteps came behind, but he was thinking about the leaves, and did not turn round. A man caught up with him, and said suddenly at his side: "Are you going my way, Gilthir?" For that was his name (Starbrow) in Fairy; at home he was called Alfred Smithson. "What is your way?" he answered. "I am going home", said the man, and Alfred looked at him and saw that it was the Apprentice: a tall man now, but he stooped a little, and had lines on his brow and face, though he was only a few years older than Alfred. "So am I," he said; "we will walk together."

Magic Rings & a Quenya name for Smith! Yet Tolkien removes these 'links' & moves the story away from Middle-earth. Perhaps he felt that such references would impose too many restrictions on his freedom & he wanted to explore another Faery - or explore Faery in a new way. He can't break free of his established Faery (ie Middle-earth) because the moral value system remains, yet it is in many ways a different world & the Faeries have new motives (albeit entirely Tolkienesque ones rather than traditional ones).

In speculating on possible endings for Smith Tolkien wrote:

When the Smith comes home after surrendering the star, should any more be said than has been about what became of him? In earlier draft it is said that he could go back to Fayery, for the mark of the star that had been on his brow was still visible to the folk of Fayery; but he could not go deep in, nor ever visit any new place or see any new thing that he had not already seen. (This has a significance, of course: a time comes for writers and artists, when invention and Vision' cease and they can only reflect on what they have seen and learned.)

So, we have Tolkien stating ' a time comes for writers and artists, when invention and Vision' cease and they can only reflect on what they have seen and learned.' at the same time as he is creating a brand new Secondary world - without the depth of Middle-earth, certainly, but still he is doing far more than merely 'reflecting on what he has seen & learned'. Indeed, this essay, in its own way, is as profound & important an exploration of Faery & Fairy stories as 'On Fairy Stories'. The analysis of the nature of Faery & the motives of its inhabitants is in some ways even more profound.

It is a 'Fairy Story', of the kind in which beings that may be called 'fairies' or 'elves' play a part and are associates in action with human people, and are regarded as having a 'real' existence, that is one in their own right and independent of human imagination and invention...

This is an interesting statement in light of the quote from OFS given by Lalwende

fairy-stories are not in normal English usage stories about fairies or elves, but stories about Fairy, that is Faërie, the realm or state in which fairies have their being.

He seems to be using a different definition of 'Fairy Stories' in the Smith essay - in OFS Fairy Stories are not stories about Fairies, but in SoWM - which is a Fairy Story according to Tolkien, Fairies are central characters - they are the initiators of the action. Smith is given the 'freedom of Faery':

In such stories there must be some way or ways of access from and to Faery, available at least to Elves as to favoured mortals. But it is also necessary that Faery and the World (of Men), though in contact, should occupy a different time and space, or occupy them in different modes. Thus though it appears that the Smith can enter Faery more or less at will (being specially favoured), it is evident that it is a land, or world of unknown limits, containing seas and mountains; also it is plain that even during a brief visit (such as one on an evening walk) he can spend a great deal longer in Faery than his absence counts in the world; on his long journeys an absence from home of, say, a week is sufficient for exploration and experiences in Faery equivalent to months or even years. ...

But then it gets interesting in other ways:

But also this must be considered: the Faery of this tale is a particular one. If one accepts it, while 'within' the tale, then clearly the Rulers of Faery — who are presented as interested in Men (not necessarily primarily) and beneficently - must be able to arrange that the experiences in Faery of favoured human persons may be enjoyed without dislocation of their normal human life. The time of their Faery must be different, even though it may be at points contiguous. For them human time is or may be also longer than that of Faery. The King dwells in Wootton for 58 years. ..

'This' Faery is a particular one - how many Faery's are there? According to OFS really just the one. Faery is, maybe, still the human imagination - or the human imagination fired by some 'Other' place or state, but it seems there is now more than one Faery. But however many there are they are not 'illusions', but objective states of being:

Entry into the 'geographical' bounds of Faery also involves entry into Faery Time. How does a mortal 'enter' the geographical realm of Faery? Evidently not in dream or illusion. Physical objects, such as the star, the Living Flower, and the elvish toy, survive transplantation from Faery to the World...

Faery(s) is not defined or limited, & it seems that only part of it has a relationship with the human world, only certain of its inhabitants are concerned with humanity - but those that are are on a mission to 'save' mankind & the human world (& by extension their own:

But in this tale Forest and Tree remain dominant symbols. They occur in three of the four 'remembered' and recorded experiences of the Smith — before his leave-taking of the Queen. They do not occur in the first, because it is at that point that he discovers that Faery is 'limitless' and is mainly involved in vast regions and events that do not concern Men and are impenetrable by them. ..

It is probable that the world of Faery could not exist* without our world, and is affected by the events in it — the reverse being also true. The 'health' of both is affected by state of the other. Men have not the power to assist the Fdvenfolk in the ordering and defence of their realm; but the Elves have the power (subject to finding co-operation from within) to assist mm the protection of our world, especially in the attempt to re-direct Men when their development tends to the defacing or destruction of their world. The Elves may thus have also an enlightened self-interest in human affairs. ..

Faery needs the human world, just as much as humans need Faery. Yet only the Faeries realise this at the beginning of the story. But Tolkien himself also recognises this need, this interrelationship. Except, according to him it is not traditional Faery that we need, but this very precisely defined creation that he sets before us.

Still no nearer....