What 1931 lecture by J.R.R. Tolkien became the essay On Fairy-Stories?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s essay On Fairy-Stories developed from his 1931 Andrew Lang Lecture. He delivered the lecture at the University of St Andrews in Scotland on 8 March 1939, after it had been delayed and expanded from its original context.

The essay examines what fairy stories are, why people create or value them, and what Tolkien called their “fairy-story” qualities. It also discusses recovery, escape, and consolation, concepts that became central to later discussions of fantasy literature.

On Fairy-Stories was published in 1947 in Essays Presented to Charles Williams. It is frequently read alongside Tolkien’s 1936 lecture “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” but the two works address different subjects. The Andrew Lang Lecture connection is important because it explains the essay’s academic origin before its later publication in book form.