 | |
| Tolkien On Fairy-stories | |
|---|---|
| Publication Information | |
| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Editor | Verlyn Flieger, Douglas A. Anderson |
| Illustrator | J.R.R. Tolkien (cover) |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Released | 1 July 2008 |
| Format | Hardcover, paperback |
| Pages | 320 |
| ISBN | 0007244665 |
| Preceded by | The Children of Húrin (2007) |
| Followed by | The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (2009) |
Tolkien On Fairy-stories is a scholarly book edited by Verlyn Flieger and Douglas A. Anderson, published in 2008. The book is an expanded edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's acclaimed essay "On Fairy-stories", which expounds Tolkien's philosophy on fantasy and thoughts on mythopoiesis.
"On Fairy-stories" was originally a lecture delivered in 1939, Tolkien expanded and reworked it into an essay which was first published in Essays Presented to Charles Williams in 1947. The essay was revised and published in Tree and Leaf in 1964.
Contents
- Introduction
- Part One: The Essay
- "On Fairy-stories"
- Editors' Commentary
- The History of "On Fairy-stories"
- Part Two: Contemporary Reports on the 1939 Lecture
- The 1939 Newspaper Reports
- Part Three: The Manuscripts
- Manuscript A
- Manuscript A Commentary
- Manuscript B
- Manuscript B Commentary
- Bibliographies
- Index
Part One reprints the essay in full, the version published in Tree and Leaf (1964), provided with commentaries by the editors. Then follows the textual history of the work, including draft excerpts from both the 1947 version and the 1964 version.
No material from the original 1939 lecture survive, but Part Two gives two contemporary newspaper reports about the lecture, which give a glimpse into what the lecture might have looked like.
Part Three is a transcription of two earlier drafts of the essay, with much of the discarded writings preserved, which throws light on Tolkien's thought process on these topics.
From the publisher
‘On Fairy-stories’ comprises about 18,000 words. What is little-known is that when Tolkien expanded the essay in 1943, he wrote many more pages of his views that were originally condensed into or cut from the published version. An estimate is difficult, but these unpublished passages perhaps amount to half again as much writing as the essay itself. These passages contain important elaborations of his views on other writers, and their publication represents a significant addition to Tolkien studies. Included in this new critical study of the work are:
- An introductory essay setting the stage for Tolkien's 1939 lecture (the origin of the essay) and placing it within a historical context.
- A history of the writing of ‘On Fairy-stories’, beginning with coverage of the original lecture as delivered, and continuing through to first publication in 1947.
- The essay proper as published in corrected form in Tree and Leaf (1964).
- Commentary on the allusions in the text, and notes about the revisions Tolkien made to the text as published in Tree and Leaf.
- Important material not included in the essay as published, with commentary by the editors.
Contained within ‘On Fairy-stories’ are the roots of the tree of tales that bore such glittering fruit in Tolkien's published and unpublished work. Here, at last, Flieger and Anderson reveal through literary archaeology the extraordinary genesis of this seminal work and discuss, in their engaging commentary, how what Tolkien discovered during the writing of the essay would shape his writing for the rest of his life.
Publication history and gallery
-
2008 hardcover
-
2014 paperback
-
2025 paperback
- HarperCollins hardcover (2008), pp. 320. ISBN 0007244665
- HarperCollins paperback (2014), ISBN 0007582919
- 2014 paperback edition, 26th impression (2025)
See also
- Similar editions of Tolkien's lectures
External links
- Corrections to Tolkien On Fairy-stories by Douglas A. Anderson
- Interview with Douglas A. Anderson and Verlyn Flieger on Tolkien Library
- Colin Manlove, Review of the book, Tolkien Studies. 6