Episode 328: Best of The Literary Life – "On Fairy Stories" by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Literary Life Podcast
Angelina Stanford
4.7 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2026
⏱️ 91 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week on The Literary Life, we are re-airing an episode from the archives featuring a discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories" between Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks. Angelina sets the stage for this discussion by orienting us to the context for the essay by Tolkien as a critique of what is considered a fairy story. She points out the difference between cautionary tales like those by Charles Perrault and the German folk and fairy tales collected by the Grimm Brothers. Our hosts highlight Tolkien's definition of true fairy stories, ones that take place in the "perilous realm" and involve a journey element. He critiques Andrew Lang as including many stories as fairy tale that are not truly fairy stories. They also discuss topics from the essay including sub-creation, magic and spells, suspension of disbelief, and children's responses to fairy stories.
Join us again next week for an additional "update" episode on this same essay with Jenn Rogers.
Don't forget to check out everything going on over at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay up to date on all the upcoming new summer classes and webinars! Cindy also has some exciting things happening at MorningTimeforMoms.com, including registration for her summer discipleship group.
For the full show notes for this episode, see our podcast website at https://theliterarylife/328.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Literary Life Podcast. We've grown quite significantly since our debut in 2019, |
| 0:07.4 | and we've had many requests to highlight older episodes that new listeners may have missed, as well as revisit listener favorites. |
| 0:15.2 | To honor that request, I present to you this episode of the best of the Literary Life podcast. |
| 0:20.9 | This is not just another book. I present to you this episode of the best of the literary life podcast. |
| 0:26.0 | This is not just another book chat podcast. |
| 0:31.2 | Lifelong reader Cindy Rollins joins teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks for an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well. |
| 0:36.9 | Explore the lost intellectual tradition |
| 0:39.3 | and discover how to fully enter end to the great works of literature. |
| 0:43.3 | Learn what books mean while delighting in the sheer joy of imagination. |
| 0:49.3 | Each week we will rescue story from the ivory tower |
| 0:52.3 | and bring it to your couch, your kitchen, and your |
| 0:56.3 | commute. The literary life is for everyone because in the words of Stratford Caldecott, to be |
| 1:02.0 | enchanted by story is to be granted a deeper insight into reality. Join us for an ever-unfolding |
| 1:09.6 | discussion of how stories will save the world. |
| 1:13.5 | This is The Literary Life Podcast. |
| 1:16.0 | This is The Literary Life Podcast. Hello and welcome back to the literary life podcast. |
| 1:35.3 | I'm Angelina Stanford, and I am here with two of my favorite book people, Thomas Banks and Cindy Rollins. |
| 1:43.0 | Although I will admit, Cindy, I like Thomas in a slightly different way than I like you. |
| 1:47.0 | Is that okay? |
| 1:47.9 | That's perfectly. |
| 1:50.2 | Actually, it's comforting. |
| 1:52.7 | I don't love you equally. |
... |
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