Tree and Leaf

Tree and Leaf gathers four pieces by J.R.R. Tolkien on the nature and purpose of fantasy. It first appeared in 1964, and later editions, this one included, carry all four.

The first is the essay On Fairy-Stories, which began as a lecture in 1939. In it Tolkien sets out what fantasy is for and why it deserves to be taken seriously as literature. It is the book's central argument and the piece most directly about craft.

Leaf by Niggle is a short allegorical story about a painter with an unfinished tree and a trip he does not want to make. It is often read as a comment on Tolkien's own struggles to complete his legendarium. Mythopoeia, a poem, argues in verse for the worth of making myths.

The last piece is The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, Beorhthelm's Son, a verse drama. Tolkien imagines it as a coda to the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon.

The collection is nonfiction, verse and short fiction in one volume, and it reads as reflective and argumentative rather than as a narrative adventure. It is closest to a personal statement of purpose from a fantasy writer. It suits readers curious about the ideas behind Middle-earth rather than those wanting more of the legendarium itself.