Originating as a lecture in 1939, it came about after he had published The Hobbit and had begun work on the Hobbit sequel that would become The Lord of the Rings. “On Fairy-stories” is a powerful analysis of how fantasy works. Little did I know that this battered paperback with its trippy 1970s cover art would change my life in so many ways. I was a young teenager, and while browsing through a book-table at a flea market, I came across a book called The Tolkien Reader, in which this essay was included. However, I do recall precisely when I encountered Tolkien’s groundbreaking essay “On Fairy-stories,” in which he explores the origins, nature, and purpose of fantasy literature. Tolkien’s The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings these tales seem to have always been part of the furnishings of my imagination. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil: A delightful collection of verse in praise of Tom Bombadil, staunch friend of the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings.I don’t remember when I first read J.R.R. Farmer Giles of Ham: An imaginative history of the distant past that follows the unheroic Farmer Giles as he attempts to capture a somewhat untrustworthy dragon. The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son: A short play inspired by The Battle of Malden, an Old English poem with no ending and no beginning that describes a historical tenth-century battle between the English and Viking invaders. Tree and Leaf: Professor Tolkien's now-famous essay 'On Fairy-stories' and the short story 'Leaf by Niggle' examine and illustrate the form and treatment of fantasy narratives.

From short stories of fantastical adventures to essays on imagination and the narrative form, The Tolkien Reader gathers some of these fascinating and hard-to-find works into one volume. Tolkien was also a distinguished academic and professor whose writings and lectures expand beyond the scope of his beloved Middle-earth. An absorbing collection of stories, poems, and commentaries by the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Renowned around the world as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R.

The Tolkien Reader by J.R.R. Tolkien