When the average person thinks of J.R.R. Tolkien, they probably imagine works such as The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings, both of which are some of the most famous fantasy books to be found on any bookstore’s shelves.  But somehow, very little is said about his other stories, chiefly the short tales he wrote for his own children.  I, a huge Tolkien fan, didn’t even know about them until about a year ago, but the moment I began reading Tales from the Perilous Realm, I was drawn into another world far, far from my own.  One of my favorite Tolkien quotes of all time comes from the end of this book, an excerpt of his 1939 lecture On Fairy-Stories.

Faerie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary and dungeons for the overbold…The realm of faerie-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found there; shoreless seas and stars uncounted; beauty that is an enchantment, and an ever-present peril; both joy and sorrow as sharp as swords.

Continue reading “Timeless Magic: A Review of Tales from the Perilous Realm” →