Key insights from
On Fairy Stories
Audio available
10 minute read
Published Aug 14, 2014
What you'll learn
Tolkien modestly refers to himself as more of “a wandering explorer (or trespasser)” in the study of fantasy and narrative art. But those familiar with his epic The Lord of the Rings know he’s a master of fantasy in his own right.
Key insights
- 1 The best fairy stories are not only about fairies, but about men traversing unknown fairy realms.
- 2 The identity of the original story-maker remains a mystery only the elves would be able to elucidate.
- 3 Whoever was the original inventor of Story, we become sub-creators with that inventor through fantasy.
- 4 Children connect with fairy stories not because they are children but because they are human.
- 5 Fantasy is among the highest forms of Art, but it’s rarely achieved.
- 6 The most important purposes of Fantasy are recovery, escape, and consolation.
- 7 The Christian Story is the place where history and legend gloriously merge.
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