What was the name of Tolkien’s 1939 lecture that became a landmark defense of fantasy?

Tolkien’s 1939 lecture that became a landmark defense of fantasy was titled “On Fairy-Stories.”

Tolkien delivered the Andrew Lang Lecture at the University of St Andrews in 1939. He later revised the lecture for publication, and it became one of his most influential statements about fairy stories, imagination, and the value of fantasy.

In the essay, Tolkien argued that fairy stories should not be dismissed as material intended only for children. He discussed their ability to provide recovery, escape, and consolation, and he connected those functions with the reader’s experience of a secondary world.

The title is sometimes confused with “The Monsters and the Critics,” Tolkien’s important 1936 lecture on Beowulf. “A Secret Vice” is another Tolkien work, focused on his personal interest in invented languages. These works show how closely Tolkien’s creative writing and academic thinking were connected.