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Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, the majority of fantasy works have been literature. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other media.

History

Stories involving magic, paranormal magic and terrible monsters have existed in spoken forms before the advent of printed literature. Homer's Odyssey satisfies the definition of the fantasy genre with its magic, gods, heroes, adventures and monsters. Fantasy literature, as a distinct type, emerged in Victorian times, with the works of writers such as William Morris, Lord Dunsany, and George MacDonald.

J. R. R. Tolkien played a large role in the popularization of the fantasy genre with his massively-successful publications – The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was largely influenced by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon myths — particularly Beowulf — as well as modern works such as The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison, and it was after his work that the genre began to receive the moniker, "fantasy" (often applied retro-actively to the works of Eddison, Carroll, Howard, et al.). J. R. R. Tolkien's close friend C. S. Lewis, author of the The Chronicles of Narnia, also an English professor interested in similar themes, was also associated with popularizing the fantasy genre.

Modern Day

Authors such as Terry Pratchett, Steven Erikson, Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, and Scott Lynch are maintaining the genre's popularity. There are also several other big name fantasy authors who are, not only, reshaping fantasy, but are making it a high selling, and popular genre.

Style

Fantasy has been distinguished from other forms of literature by its style.

Ursula K. LeGuin, in her essay, "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie", presented the idea that the language used in high fantasy is the most crucial element, because it creates a sense of place. She analyzed the misuse of a formal, "olden-day" style, saying that it was a dangerous trap for fantasy writers because it was ridiculous when done wrong. She warns writers away from trying to base their style on that of masters such as Lord Dunsany and E. R. Eddison, ^[1] Emphasizing that language which is too bland or simplistic creates the impression that the fantasy setting was simply a modern world in disguise, she presents examples of clear, effective fantasy writing in brief excerpts from J.R.R. Tolkien and Evangeline Walton. ^[2]

Michael Moorcock observed that many writers use archaic language for its sonority and to lend color to a lifeless story.^[3] Brian Peters writes that in various forms of fairytale fantasy, even the villain's language might be inappropriate if vulgar.^[4]

See also

• List of fantasy novels
• Fantastique

Footnotes

External links

• FantasyLiterature.com