Tree and Leaf
Fairy-stories are not just for children, as anyone who has read Tolkien will know. In his essay On Fairy-Stories, professor Tolkien dicusses the nature of fairy-tales and fantasy and rescues the genre on one hand from the academics and, on the other, from those who would relegate in to 'juvenilia'. The second part of the book contains, as an apt and elegant illustration, one of Tolkien's earlier short stories, Leaf by Niggle. Written in the same period (1938–39) when The Lord of the Rings was beginning to unfold itself to Tolkien, these two works show his mastery and understanding of the art of 'sub-creation', the power to give to fantasy 'the inner consistency of reality'.
In this new edition the poem Mythepoeia (the making of myths) is published for the first time in which the author Philomythus, 'Lover of Myth', confounds the opinion of Milomythus, 'Hater of Myth'.
'The book must be read ... it goes far to explain the nature of his art and justify his success.' – The Cambridge Review
'A hauntin and duccessful demonstration of the qualities of faerie.' – New York Times
J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien, the creator of Middle-earth, was not just a writer; he was a weaver of worlds, a philologist whose deep understanding of language and mythology breathed life into epic landscapes, timeless characters, and legends that still captivate readers around the world. Born in 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa, Tolkien’s early years were marked by tragedy—his father’s untimely death and the loss of his mother, both of which shaped the tone of his writing. His roots in the English countryside, where he moved as a child, became the fertile ground for the stories that would define an entire genre.