Tree and Leaf (collective work) (edit title/settings)

Characters/People edit see section history

• Niggle: Add a description of this character.
• Parish

Quotes edit see section history

• “And see ye not yon bonny road That winds about yon fernie brae? That is the road to fair Elfland, Where thou and I this night main gae.”

  J.R.R. Tolkien

• “. . . fairy-stories are not in normal English usage stories about fairies or elves, but stories about Fairy, That is Faërie, the realm or state in which fairies have their being. Faërie contains many things besides elves and days, and besides dwarfs, witches, trolls, giants, or dragons: it holds the seas, the sun, the moon, the sky; and the earth, and all things that are in it: tree and bird, water and stone, wine and bread, and ourselves, mortal men, when we are enchanted. . . . Faërie cannot be caught in the net of word; for it is one of its qualities to be indescribable, though not imperceptible. It has many ingredients, but analysis will not necessarily discover the secret of the whole. . . it becomes plain that many, even the learned in such matters, have used the term "fairy-tale" very carelessly.”

  J.R.R. Tolkien

• “Small wonder that spell means both a story told, and a formula of power over living men.”

  J.R.R. Tolkien

• “It is usually assumed that children are the natural or the specially appropriate audience for fairy-stories. . . Is there any call for comment, if an adult reads them for himself? Reads them as tales, that is, not studies them as curios. . . But in fact only some children, and some adults, have any special taste for them. . . The value of fairy-stories is thus not, in my opinion, to be found by considering children in particular.”

  J.R.R. Tolkien

• “Anyone can say the green sun. But that is not enough. . . To make a Secondary World inside which the green sun will be credible, commanding Secondary Belief, will probably require labour and thought, and will certainly demand a special skill, a kind of elvish craft. Few attempt such difficult tasks. But when they are attempted and in any degree accomplished then we have a rare achievement of Art: indeed narrative art, story-making in its primary and most potent mode.”

  J.R.R. Tolkien

• “The radical distinction between all art (including drama) that offers a visible presentation and true literature is that it imposes one visible form. Literature works from mind to mind and is thus more progenitive. It is at once more universal and more poignantly particular.”

  J.R.R. Tolkien

• “Fantasy can, of course, be carried to excess. It can be ill done. It can be put to evil use. It may even delude the minds out of which it came. But of what human thing in this fallen world is that not true?”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Faërie
• Primary World: The real world
• Secondary World: The world of fairy-stories

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

show spoilers

• Life and Death: In Leaf by Niggle, Tolkien explores the sub-creative process as it pertains to the process of perfecting oneself.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. J. R. R. Tolkien (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Authors, A-Z › ( T ) › Tolkien, Christopher
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Epic
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary