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As we saw in my previous piece

(on the origins of the little people

and miniature worlds tradition

in children’s fantasy),

Tolkien considered Shakespeare

as the main culprit

behind the tiny fairy trope.

He also singled out Shakespeare’s follower, Michael Drayton,

and his mock-epic poem Nymphidia, for special scorn.

He saw the plays and poetry of such writers as the initiators

of the “debasement” of the fairies, by making them diminutive.

But Tolkien’s claim was not new:

it actually echoed very specifically scholarly ideas of his time.

<<<

https://dimitrafimi.substack.com/

p/2026/03/03/

when-did-the-fairies

-become-minuscule

>>>