Eucatastrophe
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A eucatastrophe is a sudden turn of events in a story that ensures the protagonist does not meet some terrible, impending doom. The concept was created by the philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. T
In a classic use of eucatastrophe, the prince arrives to break the spell that has kept Sleeping Beauty and her kingdom asleep for 100 years. 1897 illustration by Gustave Doré
The climax of The Lord of the Rings, as portrayed by Ted Nasmith
On Fairy-Stories
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"On Fairy-Stories" is a 1947 essay by J. R. R. Tolkien which discusses the fairy story as a literary form. It was written as a lecture entitled "Fairy Stories" for the Andrew Lang lecture at the Unive
Eucatastrophe
…protagonist does not meet some terrible, impending doom. The concept was created by the philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien in his essay "On Fairy-Stories", based on a 1939 lecture. The term has since been taken up by other authors, and by scholars. The philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien…
In the essay, Tolkien distinguished fairy tales from what he considered separate genres like beast fables and dream stories. Illustration for Helena Nyblom's fairy tale "The Ring" by John Bauer, 1914
An illustration in Andrew Lang's The Green Fairy Book