This week we discussed “Children” from the “On Fairy Stories” by Tolkien.  He pushes back against the coupling of fairy-stories and children, making the point that, “If fairy-story as a kind is worth reading at all it is worthy to be written for and read by adults.”

We talk about:

• Suspension of Disbelief vs Literary Belief
• How fairy-stories are not to be relegated to nurseries
• How children ruin everything (even fairy-stories) if we leave it alone with them
• The “covert sniggering” that happens when adults write stories FOR children
• Is the Hobbit too “silly” for Middle-earth

Then in our members-only episode (https://theonering.com/members) we:

• Did Tolkien approve or enjoy tragedies?
• Discuss our interview with Nick Groom last week, and why we weren’t more confrontational.
• We did, in fact, react with quiet disbelief at some of Professor Groom’s answers to our Confessions from the Comfy Chair!