"On Fairy-Stories" is an essay by
J. R. R. Tolkien which discusses the fairy-story as a literary form. It was initially written (and entitled simply "Fairy Stories") for presentation by Tolkien as the
Andrew Lang lecture at the
University of St Andrews, Scotland, in 1939. It first appeared in print, with some enhancement, in 1947, in a
festschrift volume,
Essays Presented to Charles Williams, compiled by
C. S. Lewis.
Charles Williams, a friend of Lewis's, had been relocated with the
Oxford University Press staff from London to
Oxford during the
London blitz in
World War II. This allowed him to participate in gatherings of the
Inklings with Lewis and Tolkien. The volume of essays was intended to be presented to Williams upon the return of the OUP staff to London with the ending of the war. However, Williams died suddenly on 15 May 1945, and the book was published as a memorial volume.