Analyzing Tolkien's On Faerie Stories

According to Tolkien, fiction is not a pointless escape from reality, but a distinct arrival into reality. Tolkien believes that one’s imagination is an onset of truth and that concepts are and were formed from abstraction, which is why there is truth in fantasy and our perceptions of a secondary world. Tolkien’s “On Faerie Stories” illustrates what he believes are the three key elements in fantasy: Recovery, Escape and Consolation. Several authors have adopted his elements into their writings to create powerful, mythical stories such as, Katherine Paterson in Bridge to Terabithia where man enters into a unique, mystical land to find comfort in all that transcends fact and reality.

In relation to Tolkien’s philosophy and ideology about myths,

the novel Bridge to Terabithia is a contemporary depiction of a faerie story. In this novel, the protagonists Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke create a mystical fantasyland called Terabithia, where they find refuge in and escape to, in order to abandon reality and their insecurities. Leslie encourages Jesse’s artistic abilities, usually undermined by his unsatisfactory father and classmates, bringing them to life in there fictional land where they rule as both king and queen. Jesse’s courageous plans to tackle his everyday problems are mapped out in Terabithia, bridging together reality and imagination, strengthening his lack of confidence (Paterson et al. 1977). On several trips to Terabithia, Leslie defies nature’s attempt to keep her out of Terabithia, however, as the creek continues to elevate from recent rainfall, Leslie’s grip of the rope fails her as she swings from one side to the other (Paterson et al. 1977). Upon falling, Leslie rapidly drowns causing Jess to go into a state of grief. As the story progresses further, although Leslie’s death is both alienating and saddening, Jess gains a greater sense of self when discovering that the only way to keep her memory alive is to continue expanding their fantasy of Terabithia (Paterson et al. 1977).
In alignment with Tolkien’s short stories, for example, “Mythopoeia,” Bridge to Terabithia, with all things taken into consideration, is a creation story. Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke create their fantasyland giving names to their creatures and their surroundings. They are the sub-creators of their world, just as Adam was the sub-creator for God, naming the animals that God himself made (“Mythopoeia,” 1965). Everything we know was made real when we named it, but how do we know the name we give it fully describes its essence, how do we know that what we named it is what was expected to be its name? We know no truth, we are lies and myth and science are lies because we cannot give full truth (“Mythopoeia,” 1965). All we do is lie, but Tolkien interprets it as us not lying but as human beings giving meaning to the world. Jess and Leslie don’t create “exhilo” (out of nothing), everything they create is based on something that exists, for example, Janice Avery, Jess’s school bully takes the form of the Giant Troll in Terabithia, where he learns to fight his enemies and his biggest fears in life. Each creature is a transcendence of their primary worlds (“Mythopoeia,” 1965). They were created as an alternate, unique form of what is “real,” for example, a unicorn is a mythical creature that was evolved from a horse just given a unique attribute. In the novel the Giant Troll was imagined because a troll resembles a human being just with a disproportionate body and size contrary to a typical human. Jess created these characters because he recalls them from his life. There are things in life that we dimly recall and talk about and there are things that we remember and see that we also talk about. All this that has been recalled upon has come from certainty and uncertainty, making our primary world less sincere and lacking validity. We have an echo of something greater than this life, a harbor that is guessed at (“Mythopoeia,” 1965). Throughout life we are joined with people who give form to that echo. Leslie did this for Jess who lacked any form of enchantment. She gave him light to his imagination, accepting his creative attributes when society wouldn’t.
Bridge to Terabithia definitely satisfies the three functions of fairy literature according to Tolkien which include: Recovery, Escape, and Consolation. We are divulged into the depths of time and space when we enter the perilous land of Terabithia, where we see human intervention with other living things, fairies (“On Fairy-Stories,” 1966). Readers regain a clearer view through recovery, fantasy, nonetheless, helps us recover a new way of observing reality, apart from ourselves, yet as they are or were truly meant to be seen (“On Fairy-Stories,” 1966). When we read this novel and other fictional writing, it gives the reader the opportunity to commit to the secondary world and stand in opposition with rationalism, which is the process of modern man by which you arrive at disenchantment in the world (“On Fairy-Stories,” 1966). Individuals at some point in their life give up their creative assumptions about the world and conform to what is concrete, what they can see with their own eyes. In novels like Bridge to Terabithia, we surrender ourselves to a realm where fairies and mystical creatures dwell. Throughout “On Faerie Stories,” Tolkien expresses how we too dwell in this realm where “fairies” hold communion with us and other human beings, altering the way we view reality, looking beyond what is rational, logical and scientific (“On Fairy-Stories,” 1966). We begin to pose questions and begin to see aspects of the secondary world within the primary world, giving us the confidence to conquer realities implications and struggles. Jess Aaron’s does this when we see his process of gradually becoming enchanted.
Escape is a fundamental aspect in all mythical literature because it allows the audience and frequently the characters to remove themselves from the griefs of the primary world (“On Fairy-Stories,” 1966). These miseries are yet to be objected because the goal of escaping is to find the strength to challenge and confront these hurdles in the secondary world and apply it to the primary world (“On Fairy-Stories,” 1966). We place ourselves in this world when Leslie says:
We surrender ourselves into these lines where our primary reality and concerns are left unconsciously, forgotten while undertaking enchantment through our application of imagination.

Jess Aaron’s also escapes when he finds Terabithia. It is a physical, yet fictional refuge from realities harsh stigmas. Not only does he escape from his school enemies and judgmental father, but also his own self-hypocrisy, insecurities and fears. Within Terabithia, Jess learns to tackle his mythical obstacles, which then in turn teaches him to build up the courage to apply it in the real world. When Jess finally faces his hardships, he then sees the importance of being enchanted because it is there where he felt most comfortable with himself and away from a world of stereotypes and expectations. He slightly becomes disenchanted when Leslie dies, however when he realizes that her memory will live on and remembers all that she introduced him to which in turn has made him a more confident person, he begins to re-appreciate what Terabithia was for him and did for him, giving him the want to keep it alive for others and for himself, not as the physical realm that it is, but as a tribute against disenchantment and a realization that there is more to this world that we have yet to

experience.
Tolkien emphasizes that a happy ending is attributed to all fairy stories as a consolation and reconciliation with all that is corrupt in the world.

Jess initially feels defeated by Leslie’s death, however, he finds solace in knowing that her memory will remain alive and that she made a significant impact in changing his life for the better. He intends on preserving Terabithia knowing that it is not his ultimate destination in life but a place where he grew throughout his childhood, which he must leave when pressed with reality (“On Fairy-Stories: Tolkien’s Theory of Fantasy,” 2015). As we mature our innocence and very nature is adjusted to society’s conformities. We learn based off what is believed to be fact and scientific instead of holding onto our belief in the impossible. Tolkien defends this idea throughout “Mythopoeia,” when he states that there is truth in everything. He said a tree is not a tree until we have registered it, until us humans have seen it and called it a tree while creating a story (“Mythopoeia,” 1965). It is not a tree on its own but a tree to us demonstrating the uncertainty in what is true. We cannot give absolute truth which is why Tolkien believes in myths and all things questionable to reality because everything is a lie in consideration of all things, so what makes a myth false when in fact nothing is true (“Mythopoeia,” 1965). Jess Aaron comments that he will not let Terabithia wither away even when he has matured, not referencing its

physical location but the interpretation and ability to see beyond reason and find truth in the mysterious dimensions of reality and enchantment. He built a bridge, symbolically representing his and realities connection to Terabithia, recognizing that the enchantment was not found in the rope or by Leslie, but in the person who is willing and enthusiastic in revealing it.
After analyzing the key concepts of a fairy story in Bridge to Terabithia, it can be concluded that Katherine Paterson has shared and adopted many of J.R.R. Tolkien’s sentiments. She has created a story line that would have been greatly appreciated by Tolkien because it allows the reader to explore a land where creatures and elves reside showing the relationship between man and fairies. It consumes your entire being, seeing an expansion of reality that we can only experience when we have committed to a secondary world. Overall, we can resolve that Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia is a fairy story in all its multifaceted meanings.