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Smith, Wayland

Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.

Pseudonym used for his one sf novel by UK engineer Victor Bayley (1880-1972), Wayland Smith being a legendary blacksmith in German and Norse mythology; Bayley's career at a high level in the Indian railway system was reflected in much of his adventure fiction, some of which verged on fantasy, and which he signed with his real name. In his sf novel, The Machine Stops (1936) as by Wayland Smith, a mysterious plague causes all metals to disintegrate, a Disaster that casts humanity back into barbarism; one young man (a kind of avatar of the mythical smith) attempts to fabricate a new alloy (see Inventions) to save the race. [JC]

Victor Bayley

born Lambeth, London: 30 May 1880

died Amersham, Buckinghamshire: 5 November 1972

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