History of fantasy
Categories: Limited geographic scope
- For more background on this topic, see fantasy.
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Though the fantasy genre in its modern sense is less than two centuries old, its antecedents have a long and distinguished history. While the categorization of many of these earlier works as fantasy is one that only a small minority would agree with outside the context of the fantasy genre itself and discussions of its origins, this relatively uncommon custom of placing mythology in the context of the fantasy genre is especially useful to those that scrutinize the fantasy genre as others would mainstream fiction. This gives fantasy a rich history of inspirations for critics to disect and apply to the modern genre. Likewise, the fantasy genre is often examined as the modern counterpart to mythology, the exemplar of this being Star Wars saga and its (debatable) description as the United States' equivalent of a national epic. Whether one of these practices inspired the other, and which inspired which, is unknown, and perhaps unknowable.
The following lists include works which contain significant elements that might be considered "fantasy" by today's standards, or which modern fantasy authors have drawn upon extensively for inspiration in their own works.
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Primordial fantasy
- Main articles: Chaldean mythology, Egyptian mythology, Abrahamic mythology
The Epic of Gilgamesh, often regarded by academics as precursory to, and instrumental in the formation of, Abrahamic mythology, was written long, long after the supposed reign of King Gilgamesh, and is seen as a mythologized version of his life. The roots of many of today's fantasy subgenres were laid in this epic, including those of Bangsian fantasy.
Many have suggested that Egyptian mythology was regarded as mainly allegorical during at least part of its history. The reason for this is that the gods and goddesses of Egyptian mythology were not seen as fixed figures, but as manifestations of a single divinity. Tales of origins and other myths were therefore subject to change for the purposes of relating moral messages or discussing various aspects of the world's nature. At times gods and goddesses could even be deconstructed or combined with other deities toward such ends. Thus, some might argue that Egyptian mythology differs from modern fantasy fiction only in that its primary function was philosophical and religious in nature, rather than simple entertainment.
The Book of Genesis might be regarded by adherents of the Abrahamic religions as an early example of historical fantasy, in that many of the stories contain fantastical elements such as talking snakes and world-wide floods, yet concerned what were or are believed to be actual past events in the real world. To what extent the stories factually portrayed these historical events are the subject of heated debate, even among believers. (There are many believers who consider some or all of these stories to be spiritually truthful allegory rather than literal fact, much the same as believers in Egyptian mythology.) In any event, the impact that these stories had on Western Culture and its later works of fiction cannot be overstated.
- The Epic of Gilgamesh, by an unknown author (3rd millennium BCE)
- Enuma Elish (When on High), by an unknown author (18th century BCE)
- The Book of Genesis, attributed to Moses (440 BCE)
Classical fantasy
- Main articles: Greek mythology, Roman mythology, Etruscan mythology
Classical mythology is replete with fantastical stories and characters, the best known (and perhaps the most relevant to modern fantasy) being the works of Homer.
At least some ancient Greek authors were known to express open disbelief in the existence of many of the creatures that featured in Greek mythology, while some of the Greek philosophers apparently doubted the literal truthfulness of ancient Greek religion. While it is probable that the majority of the ancient Greeks held a belief in the actuality of the fantastic, there existed amongst the ancient Greek literati people who viewed the factual accuracy of the mythology to be either secondary to or at least separate from the value and meaning of the myths themselves; thus, there was a sense of willing suspension of disbelief (as opposed to actual belief) in the fantastic. Such suspension of disbelief was also necessary for appreciating many known original works, particularly dramatic presentations, in classical antiquity (see fourth wall).
While the degree to which Classical fiction resembles modern fantasy is debatable, it is significant that it is from this tradition that most of the conventions in the arts of western civilization ultimately derive. Depending on one's interpretation, it could therefore be said that something resembling fantasy fiction, as we now know it, was fundamental to the development of western thinking and modern fantasy by extension. This would seem to place the fantasy genre firmly within a long and distinguished tradition of story-telling, as many fans as well as a growing number of academics have suggested.
- Odyssey, Homer (8th or 9th century BCE)
- Iliad, Homer (8th or 9th century BCE)
- Aeneid, Virgil (1st century CE)
- The Golden Ass, Lucius Apuleius (Date?)
- True History, Lucian of Samosata (Date?)
Medieval fantasy
Main articles: Arthurian legend, Fornaldarsagas, Fairy tales, Medieval folklore
The story of Beowulf is of particular interest, as the events of the story take place roughly four hundred years before the writing of the text. The characters in the story are unalloyed Pagans, whereas the author(s) is clearly Christian. A story about a past society in which a brave hero vanquishes dangerous monsters, placed within the framework of (what was then) contemporary society's beliefs and ideals, is a formula that has become an instant indicator of fantasy fiction in the years since. Though the story of Beowulf was by no means the first to do this, many of its presumably more original elements have also had huge impacts on the fantasy genre. Grendel's attacks on the Heorot, for example, established the formula of later horror stories, and this portion of the tale can be seen as precursory to dark fantasy. Grendel was also the prototypical orc, inspiring J. R. R. Tolkien's race of the same name and the majority of subsequent incarnations.
Beowulf was part of the Germanic legends, most prominently preserved in the Fornaldarsagas, literally tales of times past, or Legendary sagas. They were Norse sagas which unlike the Icelandic sagas take place before the colonization of Iceland. There are however, some exceptions, such as Yngvars saga víðförla, which takes place in the 11th century.
The setting is Scandinavia, but occasionally it moves temporarily to more distant and exotic locations. There are also very often mythological elements, such as gods, dwarves, elves, dragons, giants and magic swords. The heroes often embark on dangerous quests where they fight the forces of evil, dragons, witchkings, barrow-wights, and rescue fair maidens.
Many or most of the sagas are based on distant historic events and this is evident in cases where there are corroborating sources, such as Göngu-Hrólfs saga, Ragnars saga loðbrókar, Yngvars saga víðförla and Völsunga saga. In the case of Hervarar saga the names in the Gothic setting indicate a historic basis, and the latter parts of the saga are still used as a historic source for Swedish history. They often contain very old Germanic matter, such as the Hervarar saga and the Völsunga saga which contains poetry about Sigurd that did not find its way into the Poetic Edda and which would otherwise have been lost. Other sagas deal with heroes such as Ragnar Lodbrok, Starkad, Orvar-Odd, Hagbard and Signy.
The starting point of the fornaldarsagas' influence on the creation of the Fantasy genre is the publication, in 1825, of the most famous Swedish literary work Frithjof's saga, which was based on the Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna, and it became an instant success in England and Germany. It is said to have been translated twenty-two times into English, twenty times into German, and once at least into every European language, including modern Icelandic in 1866. Their influence on authors, such as J. R. R. Tolkien, William Morris and Poul Anderson and on the subsequent modern fantasy genre is considerable, and can perhaps not be overstated.
The tale of Don Quixote, while not containing especially "fantastic" elements, in addition to being one of the earliest novels in modern European language, is important in that the protagonist suffers from magical thinking, sometimes called the fantasy-driven mind. As such, the story directly addresses medieval fantasy, legends, and fairytales in much the same way that Mazes and Monsters (1982) addressed fantasy role-playing games -- albeit in not nearly so negative a light.
- The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri (1321)
- Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes (1604)
- Paradise Lost, John Milton (1667)
Early modern fantasy
Following somewhat in the footsteps of Don Quixote, Gulliver's Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift used satire in the form of fantasy to parody many of the political and social conventions of its time, and can be considered the earliest work of modern-style fantasy. Swift's use of fictional countries and other lands was likely a major influence on what would later become the fantasy genre.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the modern fantasy genre first truly began to take shape. The history of modern imaginary-world fantasy begins with William Morris, who essentially originated the genre's prominent characteristic of world building with The Well at the World's End and other novels. Other pioneers in this tradition include Lord Dunsany, Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum, and E. R. Eddison. In the twentieth century this tradition evolved into the creation of entire fictional time periods, realms, and even whole, distinct worlds.
Although fantastic lands, time periods, and realms all have their counterparts in mythology and folklore, such as Jotunheim, the "Worlds" of Mesoamerican mythology, and the Faerie of English folklore, respectively, these similarities are often regarded as largely coincidental in the case of early modern fantasy. (Later works would come to draw inspiration for their fictional lands, time periods, and realms directly from such ancient sources, however.)
Thus, the foundations for later Modern Fantasy has been laid.
- Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift (1726)
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (1865)
- The Princess and the Goblin, George MacDonald, (1872)
- A House-Boat on the Styx, John Kendrick Bangs (1895)
- Dracula, Bram Stoker (1897)
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum (1900)
Modern fantasy
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, much fantasy was published in the same magazines as science fiction (and often written by the same authors). After the great popularity, in the mid-20th century, of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, as well as of C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series, fantasy writing saw renewed popularity, often influenced by these seminal works and, like them, borrowing from myth, epic, and medieval romance. Hence, the modern Fantasy genre: