What is the title of J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1939 lecture that discusses fantasy and fairy-stories?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1939 lecture about fantasy and fairy-stories is titled “On Fairy-Stories.”

Tolkien delivered the Andrew Lang lecture at the University of St Andrews in 1939. The lecture was later revised and published as an essay, becoming one of his most important statements about fantasy, fairy-stories, and imaginative literature.

In it, Tolkien argues that fairy-stories are not merely children’s entertainment. He discusses the nature of Faërie, the construction of a Secondary World, and the value of fantasy as a way to recover a sense of wonder. He also identifies what he calls the “eucatastrophic” turn: a sudden joyful change that brings hope after apparent disaster.

The essay is often read alongside Tolkien’s fiction because it explains principles visible in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It also helps distinguish Tolkien’s idea of fantasy from the modern assumption that fairy-stories are simply tales involving fairies.