On Fairy-Stories
On Fairy-Stories is an essay written by Tolkien about the reader who enters a realm full of fairy tales. An excerpt is shown below.
Publication history
Originally it was a lecture delivered in the University of St. Andrews, in March 1939. Tolkien had been asked to speak about Andrew Lang, a prominent author on folklore in the 19th century. Tolkien chose the topic of "fairy-stories".
In subsequent years Tolkien expanded on the lecture, and produced an essay, which first appeared in printed form in Essays Presented to Charles Williams, 1947.
In 1964, at the publication of Tree and Leaf, Tolkien took the opportunity to revise the essay, though not substantially.
In 1983, Christopher Tolkien reprinted the 1964's version in the collection of his father's essays The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays.
In 2008, Verlyn Flieger and Douglas A. Anderson together edited the manuscripts of the essay, and published an expanded edition of the work, in which they commentated on the essay and traced its evolution in detail.
The 1964's version also appeared in other collections such as: The Tolkien Reader (1966, with many errors), Poems and Stories (1980), Tales from the Perilous Realm (2008).
Referencias
1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 28/05/2026.
