What name did J.R.R. Tolkien give to the sudden joyful turn at the end of a story?

J.R.R. Tolkien called the sudden joyful turn at the end of a story a eucatastrophe.

He introduced the term in his essay On Fairy-Stories. It combines the Greek prefix “eu-,” meaning good or well, with “catastrophe,” meaning a decisive turning point. Tolkien used it for a form of good fortune that arrives unexpectedly after severe danger or suffering.

Eucatastrophe is not simply a cheerful ending or a reward that the plot has obviously promised. Tolkien treated it as a profound emotional reversal, especially powerful when it preserves the reality of earlier pain. The rescue at the end of The Lord of the Rings is frequently discussed as an example, although the term applies to a narrative pattern rather than one single scene.