What was the title of J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1939 lecture about fantasy literature?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1939 lecture about fantasy literature was titled On Fairy-Stories. He delivered it as the Andrew Lang Lecture at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

The lecture examined what fairy-stories are, who reads them, and what they can accomplish. Tolkien argued that such stories should not be dismissed as material intended only for children. He discussed ideas including fantasy, recovery, escape, and consolation, which became central to his explanation of the value of imaginative literature.

On Fairy-Stories was later revised and published in print. It is especially well known for Tolkien’s discussion of the eucatastrophe: a sudden joyful turn in a story that produces a powerful sense of hope.

The title is sometimes confused with The Monsters and the Critics, another important Tolkien lecture, delivered in 1936 and focused on the study of Beowulf. The two works address different literary subjects.