In which the things that aren't real serve the things that are.

Often I feel silly for still being so fascinated and captured by fairy tales and myths and folk stories. I sometimes feel I should live more in the 'real world' and be more in touch with all that it entails.
However, I've been reading an essay of Tolkien's in which he expounds upon ... well, fairy tales. I'm not far in, but i found this quote whilst reading it. It made me feel justified in my love for the fantastical, and rung true in my heart.

' Fairy tale does not deny the existence of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance. It denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat ... giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy; Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.'


Also I'd like to wish the Old Hobbit a very merry 121st birthday. Though you are long gone, I have one wish for you:  May the hair on your toes never fall out!

(A drawing of Tolkien's for The Hobbit)