eucatastrophen.
/ˌjuːkəˈtastrəfi/, U.S. /ˌjukəˈtæstrəfi/ Esp. in a fictional narrative: a (sudden or unexpected) favourable turn of events; esp. a resolution of this type; a happy ending.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > fiction > [noun] > plot > unexpected reversal
switcheroo1933
eucatastrophe1944
1944 J. R. R. Tolkien Let. 7–8 Nov. (1995) 100 For it I coined the word ‘eucatastrophe’: the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears.
1947 J. R. R. Tolkien in C. S. Lewis Ess. presented to C. Williams ii. 83 The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man's history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation.
1971 G. Urang Shadows of Heaven iv. 150 Divine revelation finds its channel in man..in the longing of his imagination for meaning—in that sense of wonder associated with Sehnsucht, or the Beatrician moment, or eucatastrophe.
2005 P. J. Schakel Way into Narnia iii. 30 The presence of Eucatastrophe does not deny the existence of sorrow and failure. Rather, it denies universal final defeat.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1944