On Fairy-Stories

Tolkien coins the term “eucatastrophe” to refer to the essential “consolation of fairy-stories, the joy of the happy ending” (153). “Catastrophe” is a literary term originating in Ancient Greek, where it meant the final resolution of a tragic drama, usually the hero’s death; “eu” is a Greek prefix meaning “good” or “true.” Tolkien argues that it is the highest function of fairy-story to produce this kind of joy in the reader, a joy that for Tolkien equates with the eternal, spiritual joy found in God. Eucatastrophic endings assure the reader that, regardless of the sorrows, terrors, or unexpected events of literature (and life), there is hope—which he sees as the hope of eternal rest. Tolkien directly refers to the birth of Christ as, “the ultimate eucatastrophe of Man’s history” and to the Resurrection as, “the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation” (156). As a devout Christian—and working at a time in Britain where Christianity was the majority religious belief and cultural norm­—Tolkien rests is argument in the belief that biblical narratives have the greatest meaning and are divinely inspired. In equating fairy-stories with the Bible, they are presented as the highest form of human-made literature, and one which follows the Gospel in form and effect.

Faerie is the term for the realm of elves, sprites, fairies, monsters, and magic. For Tolkien, Faerie operates as the imagined location—both geographical and psychological—in which fantasy elements occur; that is, a realm that maintains its own inner logic, and yet is drastically different from the Primary World (the “real” world). Tolkien describes Faerie as a changeable, indefinable place full of natural and fantastic creatures, satisfying primal human desires which the Primary World cannot. Importantly, Tolkien does not maintain that all fairy-stories must involve Faerie creatures, or Faerie as a distinct setting: for him, the function of fairy-stories can be fulfilled when the spirit of Faerie—the thematic elements represented by the concept—are present.

Juvenilia are the writings of an author or poet as a young person, often thought of as a precursor to their more mature writing and typically not published widely. Tolkien argues that fairy-stories have been falsely classified as juvenilia, or practice stories, only fit for children. For Tolkien, “it is parents and guardians who have classified fairy-stories as Juvenilia,” not child readers themselves (137). This term is part of Tolkien’s larger argument that fairy-stories be recognized as serious literature.

Tolkien uses the term “literary belief” as an alternative to “suspension of disbelief”. Tolkien dislikes the more established term “suspension of disbelief” as predicated on the negative idea that the reader must set aside their logical reasoning to believe the fiction. He argues instead that the reader is fully immersed in the logic of the Secondary World and that “literary belief” reflects this as a positive state of engagement. Literary belief is separate from the “belief that a thing exists or can happen in the real (primary) world” (132). If a reader is enchanted by a story, he or she is not suspending any kind of disbelief, but instead stepping into the Secondary reality created by the author. Tolkien specifically labels this as literary, rather than dramatic, belief because in stage plays, “the visible and audible presentation of imaginary men in a story” are too obviously counterfeit to maintain a true Secondary World (141).