Tolkien is the GOAT of fantasy. His works are complex, deep, powerful in ways I can only dream of imitating. He was a genius in multiple areas, I’d say.

Now that it’s clear that I don’t mean to compare myself to Tolkien here (lol), I’m super grateful for Tolkien, not only for how his works have moved and shaped me, but for teaching me about eucatastrophe.

One definition of eucatastrophe could be “a sudden and favorable resolution of events in a story; a happy ending.” (Literally, it breaks down to “happy catastrophe.” How’s that for an oxymoron?)

Another could be, in a sense, “snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.”

Tolkien’s use of this trope is second to none in The Lord of the Rings. It’s so powerful in how it’s wrapped up in providence. It’s beautiful because of all the little things–the mercy and the courage of so many–that made it possible. It feels earned.

The scope, scale, process, implications, and details of eucatastrophe in my work are quite different than in Middle Earth. They don’t approach Tolkien. Neither do they seek to mimic his tale. I’m NOT a genius, for sure. But I do employ eucatastrophe, especially in book one of my trilogy. It wasn’t until I really dove into Tolkien scholarship and came across the term, and what it means, that I realized the impact Tolkien’s use of it unconsciously had on me.

That was a fun day, learning how I’d absorbed and taken to heart a major trope he was using without knowing it! That’s why he’s a master. Any writer definitely has something to learn from him.