“I would venture to say that approaching the Christian Story from this direction, it has long been my feeling (a joyous feeling) that God redeemed the corrupt makingcreatures, men, in a way fitting to this aspect, as to others, of their strange nature. The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels—peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: ‘mythical’ in their perfect, self-contained significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable eucatastrophe. But this story has entered History and the primary world; the desire and aspiration of sub-creation has been raised to the fulfillment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy. It has pre-eminently the ‘inner consistency of reality’. There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many sceptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath.”

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About J.R.R. Tolkien

English writer and academic philologist

J. R. R. Tolkien was an English writer and academic philologist. He is best known for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, two works that helped define modern high fantasy. Tolkien wrote both books in the middle of the 20th century, with The Hobbit appearing in 1937 and The Lord of the Rings published in 1954 and 1955. His work is closely associated with invented worlds, languages, and epic storytelling, and his influence on fantasy literature remains enduring.

More from J.R.R. Tolkien (273 quotes) →

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Books by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit

1938

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The Fellowship of the Ring

1972

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The Two Towers

1999

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The Return of the King

1967

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The Lord of the Rings

2001

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