Copious manuscript drafts are linked by a highly informative connecting narrative. If it were nothing else, “On Fairy-stories” would have a primary place in Tolkien scholarship as Tolkien’s definitive statement about his art — which he called “ Sub-creation ” — and the concept that lies behind it — the power of words to create a Secondary World. “ On Fairy Stories Jrr Tolkien ” is one of JRR Tolkien’s most well-known essays, tackling the question “What is a fairy story?” and forming a persuasive study and defense of the genre. The history is traced from the beginnings in a 1939 lecture, through the first print appearance in 1947, to the 1964 'Tree and Leaf' version and beyond. “On Fairy Stories” was originally a talk Tolkien delivered for the Andrew Lang Lecture Series at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, but was later published as an essay. It has appeared in compilations including Tree and Leaf and The Tolkien Reader , and in The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays , edited by Christopher Tolkien (affiliate link at left). Copious manuscript drafts are linked by a highly informative connecting narrative. Tolkien, in “On Fairy Stories,” argues that in a state of enchantment lies a “primal desire” all of us humans seek, a desire often satisfied in myth. 'Tolkien on Fairy-stories' is an annotated edition of the famous essay, and a great deal more. J.R.R. Tolkien's On Fairy-stories is his most-studied and most-quoted essay, an exemplary personal statement of his own views on the role of imagination in literature, and an intellectual tour de force vital for understanding Tolkien's achievement in writing The Lord of the Rings. On Fairy Stories was written in 1938 as an Andrew Lang Lecture, and, as Tolkien … 'Tolkien on Fairy-stories' is an annotated edition of the famous essay, and a great deal more. There are places where enchantment still exists for the visitor who allows himself into that world. J.R.R. The history is traced from the beginnings in a 1939 lecture, through the first print appearance in 1947, to the 1964 'Tree and Leaf' version and beyond.