[The X Phial]

From "On Fairy Stories"

Mooreeffoc is a fantastic word, but it could be seen written up in every town in this land. It is Coffee-room, viewed from the inside through a glass door, as it was seen by Dickens on a dark London day: and it was used by Chesterton to denote the queerness of things that have become trite, when they are seen suddenly from a new angle.

I, personally, find this a facinating concept, and one that I have experienced on more than one occasion. Tolkien describes it as a type of fantasy, of looking at the same old things in new ways. I think it's a concept that Tolkien incorporates into his books.

The example I think of most often is Sam talking about how he and Frodo are part of a story that goes back to the first age. He has known these stories all of his life and yet they suddenly seem strange, reality redefined, with the realization that they represent real hardship and loss. I can't say for sure that it's what Sam experiences, but it's what I experience when I read it. The old stories, my knowledge of the Silmarillion, seem normal until redefined that way by Sam.

Thoughts, comments, further examples?