On Fairy-stories

On Fairy-Stories is an important essay and lecture written by J.R.R. Tolkien on the fantasy genre and its practice, much later published as a book.
Tolkien originally wrote the essay in 1939 for his Andrew Lang lecture on the subject of fairy tales in general to an audience at University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Afterwards, it was first published within Essays Presented to Charles Williams in 1947.https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/tolkien-on-fairy-stories It was then subsequently published with Leaf by Niggle in Tree and Leaf as well as in The Tolkien Reader, around 1966, The Monsters and the Critics and other essays in 1983, and Tales from the Perilous Realm. It has since been renewed as a standalone Expanded edition (pictured right), edited by Tolkien scholars Verlyn Flieger and Douglas Anderson, in 2008.
The essay contains Tolkien's explanation of his philosophy on fantasy and on "faerie", and thoughts on the crafting of the mythos.
== Summary ==
Tolkien named the genre Fairy-stories, which he carefully distinguishes from actual "Fairy Tales". This distinction seems to be twofold. First, he defines fairy stories as not stories about fairies or other supernatural beings, but stories about the interaction between humans and those beings. Second, he emphasizes that through the use of fantasy, which he equates with fancy and imagination, the author can bring the reader to experience a world which is consistent and rational, yet utterly strange as well. He calls this "a rare achievement of Art", and notes that it was important to him as a reader: "It was in fairy-stories that I first divined the potency of the words, and the wonder of things, such as stone, and wood, and iron; tree and grass; house and fire; bread and wine."
Having defined the genre, Tolkien goes on to defend its utility on three grounds. First, suggesting that fairy stories allow the reader to review his or her own world from the "perspective" of a different world. This concept, which shares much in common with cultural relativism, Tolkien calls "recovery", in the sense that one's unquestioned assumptions might be recovered and changed by an outside perspective. Second, he defends fairy stories as offering escapist pleasure to the reader. And third, Tolkien suggests that fairy stories (can) provide moral or emotional consolation, through their happy ending, which he terms a "eucatastrophe".
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Op Sprokies
Albanian 	Rreth Zanash-Tregime
Amharic 	የተረት ታሪኮች ላይ
Arabic 	على خرافية قصص
Armenian 	Օգտվողի հեքիաթային պատմություններ
Basque 	Maitagarrien-Ipuin Buruz
Bengali 	পরী গল্প উপর
Bosnian 	O Bajke
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	На фея-разкази
Cambodian 	នៅថ្ងៃទីទេពអប្សររឿង
Catalan 	Sobre els Contes de Fades
Chinese 	关于童话故事
Croatian 	Na Bajke-Priča
Czech 	O pohádkách
Danish 	På fe-Historier
Dutch 	Over Sprookjesverhalen
Esperanto 	Sur Feino-Rakontoj
Estonian 	Kohta Haldjas-Lugusid
Filipino 	Tungkol sa kuwento ng diwata
Finnish 	Noin Keiju-Tarinoita
French 	Du conte de fées
Galician 	Sobre Contos de Fadas
Georgian 	მომხმარებლის ზღაპრებს
German 	Auf Märchen
Greek 	Σε Νεράιδα-Iστορίες
Gujarati 	ફેરી-કથાઓ પર
Hebrew 	ביום סיפורי-הפיות
Hindi 	बारे में परियों की कहानियों
Hungarian 	Mintegy Tündér-Történet
Indonesian 	Pada Cerita-Peri
Irish Gaelic 	Ar Sióg-Scéalta
Japanese 	妖精物語について
Kannada 	ಫೇರಿ-ಸ್ಟೋರೀಸ್ ಮೇಲೆ
Kazakh Cyrillic 	әңгімелер фея туралы
Korean 	동화 스토리 소개
Latin 	De Mediocris-Fabulas
Latvian 	Uz Pasaku-Stāsti
Lithuanian 	Apie Pasakas-Istorijas
Luxembourgish 	Op Fee-Geschichte
Macedonian Cyrillic	На бајка приказни
Malay 	Tentang Dongeng-Cerita
Maltese 	Fuq il-Fatata-Stejjer
Marathi 	सुंदर कथा बद्दल ?
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Үлгэр түүхүүд нд
Nepalese 	परी कथाहरू बारेमा
Norwegian 	På Eventyr-Historier
Persian 	درباره داستان پری
Polish 	Na Czarodziejskich-Opowiadań
Portuguese 	Sobre Histórias de Fadas
Scottish Gaelic 	Mu Sìthiche-Sgeulachdan
Serbian 	На Фаири-Сториес (Cyrillic) O Bajke (Latin)
Slovak 	O Rozprávok
Somali 	Ku saabsan sheekooyin cirfiid
Spanish 	Sobre los Cuentos de Hadas
Swedish 	På Fe-Berättelser
Tajik Cyrillic 	Дар бораи афсона-ҳикояҳо
Tamil 	தேவதை கதைகள் பற்றி
Telugu 	ఫెయిరీ కథలు గురించి ?
Thai 	เกี่ยวกับหนังสือนิทาน ?
Turkish 	Peri Masalları-Üzerine
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Про чарівних історій
Urdu 	پریوں کی کہانیوں پر
Vietnamese 	Về câu chuyện cổ tích
Welsh 	Ar Tylwyth Teg-Straeon
Yiddish 	אויף פייע-מעשיות
== References ==
== External links ==
* Purchase On Fairy Stories (2008 publication) at Amazon.com
Category:Texts by J.R.R. Tolkien