New king turns out to be the smallest of them all, according to local folklore. (4)
I believe the answer is:
wren
'be the smallest of them all according to local folklore' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'new king turns out' is the wordplay.
'king' becomes 'R' (abbreviation for rex, king in Latin).
'turns out' indicates anagramming the letters.
'new'+'r'='newr'
'newr' is an anagram of 'WREN'.
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wren that I've seen before include "Bird - architect, 1632-1723" , "flier" , "Member of the former Women's Royal Naval Service" , "Once a woman in the Royal Navy" , "Bird - former British servicewoman" .)