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"The Nix as a brook horse" by Theodor Kittelsen: folklore transformed into a fantasy world
"The Nix as a brook horse" by Theodor Kittelsen: folklore transformed into a fantasy world
Fantasy

Fantasy media

Genre studies

Categories

  • Fantasy
  • Fantasy television
  • Fantasy subgenres
  • Fantasy tropes
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A fantasy world is a type of imaginary world, part of a fictional universe used in fantasy novels and games. Wagner's Rhinemaidens The Neck ( English) or the Nix/Nixe ( German) refer to Shapeshifting water spirits who usually appear in human form Theodor Severin Kittelsen ( April 27, 1857 – January 21, 1914) was a Norwegian Artist born in the coastal Town of Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Fantastic art is an art genre The parameters of fantastic art has been fairly rigourously defined in the scholarship on the subject Many Anime TV series movies and OAVs fall into the Fantasy genre Fantasy art is a genre of Art that depicts The definition of a fantasy author is somewhat diffuse and a matter of opinion – Jules Verne considered H A number of Fantasy themed Comic books exist For example Elfquest Monster allergy W A fantasy fiction magazine or fantasy magazine is a Magazine which publishes primarily Fantasy fiction. Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes usually involving magic, Supernatural events make-believe creatures or exotic Fantasy worlds Fantasy literature is Fantasy in written form Historically speaking the majority of fantasy works have been literature Fantasy television is a genre of Television featuring elements of the Fantastic, often including magic, Supernatural forces or exotic Fantasy Though the Fantasy genre in its modern sense is less than two centuries old its antecedents have a long and distinguished history Though The Fantasy Genre has spawned many new Subgenres with no clear counterparts in the myths or Folklore upon which the tradition of fantasy storytelling is The Fantastique is a French term for a literary and cinematic genre that overlaps with Science fiction, horror and Fantasy There are many elements that show up throughout the fantasy genre in different guises This article is about the word for other meanings see Quest (disambiguation A quest is a journey towards a goal used in Mythology A magic item is any object that has magical powers inherent in it There are many elements that show up throughout the fantasy genre in different guises A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature (often known as "fabulous creatures" in historical literature Lovecraftian horror is a sub-genre of horror Fiction which emphasizes the Psychological horror of the unknown (in some cases unknowable over gore or other A magician, wizard, sorcerer or a person known under one of many other possible terms in fiction is someone who uses or practices magic Magic in Fiction is the endowing of Fictional characters or objects with magical powers. Tolkien fandom is an international informal community of fans of the works of J An imaginary world is a setting, place or event or scenario at variance with Objective reality, ranging from the voluntary Suspension of A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with unique background elements such as an imaginary history or geography and possibly fantasy or science Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Typical worlds involve magic or magical abilities[1] and a medieval theme. Some worlds may be a parallel world tenuously connected to Earth via magical portals or items; a fictional Earth set in the remote past or future; or an entirely independent world set in another universe. Parallel universe or alternative reality is a self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 [2]

Many fantasy worlds draw heavily on real world history, geography and sociology, and also on folklore.

Contents

Plot function

The setting of a fantasy work is often of great importance to the plot and characters of the story. The setting itself can be imperiled by the evil of the story, suffer thinning, and be restored by the transformation the story brings about. [3] Stories that use the setting as merely a backdrop for the story have been criticized for their failure to use it fully. [4]

Even when the land itself is not in danger, it is often used symbolically, for thematic purposes, and to underscore moods. [5]

History

Early fantasy worlds appeared as fantasy lands, part of the same planet but separated by geographical barriers. Oz, though a fantasy world in every way, is described as part of this world. Oz is a fairy [6] Although peasants who seldom if ever traveled far from their villages could not conclusively say that it was impossible that, for example, an ogre could live a day's travel away, distant continents were soon necessary for such fantastic speculation to be plausible, and finally, further exploration rendered such fantasy lands implausible. An ogre (feminine ogress) is a large cruel and hideous Humanoid Monster, featured in mythology folklore and fiction [7] Even within the span of decades, Oz, which had been set in a desert in the United States,[8] was relocated into the Pacific Ocean. [9]

Dream frames were also once common for encasing the fantasy world with an explanation of its marvels. Dream worlds (also called dream realms or illusory realms) are a commonly used Plot device in Fictional works most notably in Science Such a dream frame was added to the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for the movie version; in the book, Oz is clearly defined as an actual place. [10] These dream-settings have been criticized,[11] and are far less frequent today.

This change is part of a general trend toward more self-consistent and substantive fantasy worlds. [12] This has also altered the nature of the plots; earlier works often feature a solitary individual whose adventures in the fantasy world are of personal significiance, and where the world clearly exists to give scope to these adventures, and later works more often feature characters in a social web, where their actions are to save the world and those in it from peril. [13]

Common Elements

The most common fantasy world is one based on medieval Europe, and has been since William Morris used it in his early fantasy works, such as The Well at the World's End. William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896 was an English Architect, Furniture and Textile designer artist writer and socialist associated The Well at the World's End is a fantasy novel by the British artist poet and author William Morris. [14] Such a world is often called "pseudo-medieval" -- particularly when the writer has snatched up random elements from the era, which covered a thousand years and a continent, and thrown them together without consideration for their compatibility, or even introduced ideas not so much based on the medieval era as on romanticized views of it. The Middle Ages in history is an overview of how previous periods have both romanticised and disparaged the Middle Ages. When these worlds are copied not so much from history as from other fantasy works, there is a heavy tendency to uniformity and lack of realism. [15] The full width and breadth of the medieval era is seldom drawn upon. Governments, for instance, tend to be feudalism, evil empires, and oligarchies, usually corrupt, while there was far more variety in the actual Middle Ages. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Oligarchy' ( Greek, Oligarkhía) is a Form of government where Political power effectively rests with a small elite segment [16] Fantasy worlds also tend be medieval in economy, and disproportionately pastoral. Pastoral, as an adjective refers to the lifestyle of Shepherds and Pastoralists moving livestock around larger areas of land according to seasons and availability [17]

Careful attention to world-building and meticulous detail in it is often cited as the reason why certain fantasy works are deeply convincing and contain a magical sense of place. [18]

Heavy and faithful use of real world setting for inspiration, as in Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds, clearly derived from China, or Lloyd Alexander's use of real world cultures such as Welsh for The Chronicles of Prydain or Indian for The Iron Ring, make the line between fantasy worlds and alternate histories fuzzy. Barry Hughart (born March 13, 1934) in Peoria, Illinois, is an American author of Fantasy Novels Bridge of Birds is a Fantasy novel by Barry Hughart, first published in 1984 Lloyd Chudley Alexander ( January 30, 1924 - May 17, 2007) was a widely-influential American author of more than forty books Alternate history or alternative history is a subgenre of Speculative fiction (or Science fiction) and Historical fiction The use of cultural elements, and still more history and geography, from actual settings pushes a work toward alternate history.

Conversely, the introduction of an imaginary country -- such as Ruritania or Graustark -- does not transform a world into a fantasy world, even if the location would be impossible owing to the lack of land to contain it, but such Ruritanian romances may be pushed toward fantasy worlds by the ambiguity of witches and wise women, where it is not clear whether their magic is effectual. Ruritania is a Fictional country in Central Europe which forms the setting for three books by Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda Graustark is a Fictional country in Eastern Europe used as a setting for several novels by George Barr McCutcheon. A Ruritanian Romance is a story set in a Fictional country, usually in Middle Europe or East Europe, such as the Ruritania that gave the [19]

Fantasy worlds, by their nature, contain something magical. This may be the creatures in it -- dragons, unicorns, genies -- or the magical abilities of the people in the world. The dragon is a Legendary creature of which some interpretation or depiction appears in almost every culture worldwide A unicorn (from Latin unus 'one' and cornu 'horn' is a Mythological creature. GEnie (General Electric Network for Information Exchange was an online service These are often drawn from folklore, frequently that of the historical country also used for inspiration.

Constructed worlds

Further information: Constructed world
The Creation of the Two Trees figured in Tolkien's fantasy world, Arda
The Creation of the Two Trees figured in Tolkien's fantasy world, Arda

Fantasy worlds created through a process world building are known as a constructed world. Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an Imaginary world, usually associated with a Fictional universe. Constructed worlds elaborate and make self-consistent the setting of a fantasy work. World building relies on materials and concepts taken from the real world.

Despite the use of magic or other fantastic elements such as dragons, the world is normally presented as one that would function normally, one in which people could actually live, making economic, historical, and ecological sense. It is considered a flaw to have, for example, pirates living in lands far from trade routes, or to assign prices for a night's stay in an inn that would equate to several years' income for a farmer. Furthermore, the fantastic elements should ideally operate according to self-consistent rules of their own; for example, if wizards' spells sap their strength, a wizard who does not appear to suffer this must either be putting up a facade, or have an alternative explanation. This distinguishes fantasy worlds from surrealism and even from such dream worlds such as are found in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865 is a novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson better known under the Pseudonym Lewis Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There ( 1871) is a work of Children's literature by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

Examples

L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its original sequels. Lyman Frank Baum ( May 15 1856 &ndash May 5 1919) was an American Author, Actor, and Independent filmmaker He was one of the few authors before Tolkien to use consistent internal geographies and histories to enrich his world.

J. R. R. Tolkien created Middle-earth, probably the best-known fantasy world today. Middle-earth refers to the fictional lands where most of the stories of author J He introduced several revolutionary concepts to fantasy fiction populariazed the idea of intricately detailed fantasy worlds. He wrote at some length about the process, which he called "sub-creation".

C. S. Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia which takes place in a magical land called Narnia. Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963 A colleague of Tolkien, their fiction worlds share several key elements.

Fairytale and comic fantasy

Fairytale fantasy may ignore the normal world-building in order to present a world operating by the same logic as the fairytales from which they are derived, though other works in this subgenre develop their worlds fully. Fairytale fantasy is distinguished from other subgenres of Fantasy by the works' heavy use of motifs and often plots from folklore Comic fantasy may ignore all possible logic in search of humor, particularly if it is parodying other fantasies' faulty world-building, as in Diana Wynne Jones's Dark Lord of Derkholm, or the illogic of the setting is integral to the comedy, as in L. Sprague de Camp's Solomon's Stone, where the fantasy world is populated by the heroic and glamorous figures that people daydream about being, resulting in a severe shortage of workers in the more mundane, day-to-day industries. Comic fantasy is a subgenre of Fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone Diana Wynne Jones (born London 16 August 1934 is a British writer principally of Fantasy novels for children and adults as well as a small The Dark Lord of Derkholm is a fantasy novel written by Diana Wynne Jones, which won the 1999 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature. Lyon Sprague de Camp, ( November 27 1907 – November 6 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy author Solomon's Stone is a Fantasy novel written by L Sprague de Camp. Most other subgenres of fantasy suffer if the world-building is neglected. The Fantasy Genre has spawned many new Subgenres with no clear counterparts in the myths or Folklore upon which the tradition of fantasy storytelling is

The retreat of magic

Rather than creating their own fantasy world many authors choose to set their novels in Earth's past. However in doing so the question arises: If these mystic elements were once found on earth where have they gone?

One common answer is to introduce "a retreat of magic" (sometimes called "thinning") that explains why the magic and other fantastic elements no longer appear:[20] For example in The Lord of the Rings, the destruction of the One Ring not only defeated Sauron, but destroyed the power of the Three Rings of the elves, resulting in their sailing into the West at the end of the story. The Lord of the Rings is an epic The Three Rings of the Elves of Eregion are fictional magical artifacts in J

A contemporary fantasy necessarily takes place in what purports to be the real world, and not a fantasy world. Contemporary fantasy is a subgenre of Fantasy, also known as modern-day fantasy, or indigenous fantasy. It may, however, include reference to such a retreat. J. K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them explains that wizards eventually decided to conceal all magic creatures and artifacts from non-magic users. Joanne "Jo" Rowling OBE (born 31 July 1965 who writes under the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a 2001 book written by English author J

Role-playing games

Dungeons & Dragons, the first major role-playing game, has created several detailed and commercially successful fantasy worlds (called "campaign settings"), with established and recognizable characters, locations, histories, and sociologies. Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a Fantasy Role-playing game (RPG originally designed by A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. A campaign setting is usually a Fictional world which serves as a setting for a Role-playing game or Wargame campaign The Forgotten Realms is perhaps the most extensively developed of these worlds. The Forgotten Realms is a Campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D Fantasy Role-playing game, created by These elements of detail can be a large part of what attracts people to RPGs.

Many established fantasy writers have also derided Dungeons and Dragons and the fantasy fiction it has inspired due to its influencing new writers toward reading the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual instead of studying the original literature and mythology from which modern fantasy literature has sprung. The Monster Manual

Due to the fuzzy boundary between fantasy and science fiction, it is similarly difficult to make a hard-and-fast distinction between "fantasy worlds" and planets in science fiction. Planets in science fiction are fictional Planets that appear in various media especially those of the Science fiction genre as story-settings or depicted locations For example, the worlds of Barsoom, Darkover, Gor, and the Witch World combine elements of both genres. Barsoom is a fictional version of the planet Mars invented by author Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories Darkover is the focus of the Darkover series of Science fiction Novels and short stories by Marion Zimmer Bradley and others published Gor, the Counter-Earth, is the alternate-world setting for John Norman's Chronicles of Gor, a series of twenty six novels that combine Philosophy The Witch World by Andre Norton is a long series of fantasies laid in a parallel universe where magic works and at the beginning at least is the exclusive property

See also

For a list of fantasy worlds, see list of fantasy worlds and list of fictional universes. This is a Partial list of fictional Fantasy worlds according to the medium they appear in Novels and short stories Amber - Roger This is a list of Fictional universes, organized by Genre and by sub-genre

Notes

  1. ^ Brian Attebery, The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature, p 166-7, ISBN 0-253-35665-2
  2. ^ John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Imaginary lands", p 495-5 ISBN 0-312-19869-8
  3. ^ John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Land", p 558 ISBN 0-312-19869-8
  4. ^ John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Fantasyland", p 341 ISBN 0-312-19869-8
  5. ^ Michael Moorcock, Wizardry & Wild Romance: A Study of Epic Fantasy p 72-3 ISBN 1-932265-07-4
  6. ^ John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Oz", p 739 ISBN 0-312-19869-8
  7. ^ C. S. Lewis, "On Science Fiction", Of Other Worlds, p68 ISBN 0-15-667897-7
  8. ^ John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Oz", p 739 ISBN 0-312-19869-8
  9. ^ L. Contemporary fantasy is a subgenre of Fantasy, also known as modern-day fantasy, or indigenous fantasy. Juvenile fantasy is Children's literature with fantasy elements Fantasy intended for readers not yet adult Urban fantasy is a subset of Contemporary fantasy, consisting of magical novels and stories set in contemporary real-world urban settings--as opposed to 'traditional' Parallel universe or alternative reality is a self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own The Encyclopedia of Fantasy is a 1997 Reference work on Fantasy, edited by John Clute and John Grant. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy is a 1997 Reference work on Fantasy, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963 Frank Baum, Michael Patrick Hearn, The Annotated Wizard of Oz, p 99, ISBN 0-517-500868
  10. ^ L. Frank Baum, Michael Patrick Hearn, The Annotated Wizard of Oz, p 96, ISBN 0-517-500868
  11. ^ J. R. R. Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories", p 14, The Tolkien Reader, Ballantine Books, New York 1966
  12. ^ Colin Manlove, Christian Fantasy: from 1200 to the Present p 210 ISBN 0-268-00790-X
  13. ^ Colin Manlove, Christian Fantasy: from 1200 to the Present p 211-2 ISBN 0-268-00790-X
  14. ^ Diana Waggoner, The Hills of Faraway: A Guide to Fantasy, p 37, ISBN 0-689-10846-X
  15. ^ John Grant, "Gulliver Unravels: Generic Fantasy and the Loss of Subversion"
  16. ^ Alec Austin, "Quality in Epic Fantasy"
  17. ^ Jane Yolen, "Introduction" p viii After the King: Stories in Honor of J. Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939 in New York City) is an American Author and editor of almost 300 books R. R. Tolkien, ed, Martin H. Greenberg, ISBN 0-312-85175-8
  18. ^ Philip Martin, The Writer's Guide to Fantasy Literature: From Dragon's Lair to Hero's Quest, p 113, ISBN 0-87116-195-8
  19. ^ L. Sprague de Camp, Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: The Makers of Heroic Fantasy, p 6 ISBN 0-87054-076-9
  20. ^ John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Thinning", p 942 ISBN 0-312-19869-8

References

Lyon Sprague de Camp, ( November 27 1907 – November 6 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy author Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers the Makers of Heroic Fantasy is a 1976 work of collective Biography on the formative authors of the Heroic fantasy The Encyclopedia of Fantasy is a 1997 Reference work on Fantasy, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Poul William Anderson ( November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American Science fiction author who wrote during a Golden Diana Wynne Jones (born London 16 August 1934 is a British writer principally of Fantasy novels for children and adults as well as a small The Tough Guide To Fantasyland is a book by Diana Wynne Jones that humorously examines the common tropes of a broad swathe of Fantasy fiction. Patricia Collins Wrede is an American Fantasy Writer, born 1953 in Chicago Illinois; she is the eldest of five children
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