Episode 204 – The Perilous Realm: J.R.R. Tolkien's 'On Fairy Stories'

For Tolkien, fairy stories are not stories about fairies, but stories that take place in Faerie. And in doing so, they make Faerie present. They are not escapist fantasies but disclosures of a real mode of being and invitations to live in that mode. In this episode, Phil and JF explore the great writer’s radical claims about the nature of story, life, and reality. Upcoming Events Erik Davis and JF's six-week course on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick begins on January 20th. For details and to enroll, visit the Weirdosphere. For information on the upcoming Weird Academia events in Bloomington (Jan 27-29), visit the symposium web page at the Center for Possible Minds. Music in this Episode "What a Load of Gnosis," from Weird Studies: Music from the Podcast, Volume I "Springtime on Ganymede," from Weird Studies: Music from the Podcast, Volume II References J. R. R. Tolkein, “On Fairy Stories” Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea Franz Liszt, Transcendental Etude No. 4: Mazeppa (played by Lazar Berman) Dogen, "Instructions for the Cook" Jeff Kripal, Mutants and Mystics Eric Wargo, From Nowhere J.F. Martel, Review of “From Nowhere” for Journal of Scientific Exploration Richard Wagner, Parsifal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can listen to Episode 204 – The Perilous Realm: J.R.R. Tolkien's 'On Fairy Stories' online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 204 – The Perilous Realm: J.R.R. Tolkien's 'On Fairy Stories' is an episode from Weird Studies by Phil Ford and J. F. Martel.

This episode is 76:14 long.

This episode was published on Jan 14, 2026.

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