Smith of Wootton Major in Middle Earth?

[Aiwendil]

Littlemanpoet wrote:

n the interest of saved time for those (such as myself) who have not read the Canonicity thread, could you (or someone) provide a link to the points you reference, if you don't mind, in regard to meta-fantasy and the requirements of fantasy?

The discussion of Smith in the canonicity thread is on page six.

There are two matters you raise to show why the Sil is more powerful to you than SWOM: transitional versus immersive fantasy (where did these terms originate?), and whether SWOM is more a treatise or more a story.

I certainly didn't mean to suggest that I was offering a proof that the Silmarillion is more powerful than Smith. Rather, I noted that in my experience the Silmarillion is the more moving work; then, in an effort to get at the reasons for the differing views of the two works, I tried to give an account of their chief differences.

I agree that Smith is not just a literary treatise. Still, I do think that in certain important respects it has the character of a meditation on the nature of fantasy literature, as opposed to a work of fantasy literature.

I'm still very interested to hear where others come down in the Silmarillion vs. Smith issue.