Which Tolkien concept means a sudden joyful turn in a tragic story?

Eucatastrophe is Tolkien’s term for a sudden joyful turn in a tragic story.

Tolkien introduced the word in his 1947 essay “On Fairy-Stories.” He formed it from Greek roots meaning “good” and “disaster,” presenting it as the opposite of catastrophe. In his explanation, a eucatastrophe is not a cheap escape from danger but a profound reversal that brings unexpected joy.

Tolkien connected the idea to the emotional power of fairy stories and to the Christian concept of hope. In The Lord of the Rings, examples include the unexpected arrival of the Eagles and the destruction of the Ring after Frodo’s failure to surrender it voluntarily. The term is sometimes confused with a routine happy ending or with the dramatic concept of peripeteia, which means a reversal of circumstances more generally. For Tolkien, eucatastrophe carried a distinctive sense of joy emerging at the edge of apparent defeat.