Why Do We Read It, And Why Do Some Of Us Write It?

As a literary genre, fantasy has been around a long time. Some say it began with the 5th century Greek slave, Aesop, and his talking beasts and moralizing. Others go even further back to Homer’s tales of the gods, demigods, and sea monsters, in The Iliad and The Odyssey. At its heart, fantasy is literature set in imaginary worlds featuring magic, supernatural elements, and magical creatures. Sometimes! Because one of the wonders of this genre is that it continues to evolve.

Historically, fantasy tales found their way past the early Greeks to St. George and the Dragon, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, and to the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. Seventeen-year-old Mary Shelley wrote her gothic monster story Frankenstein, and Lewis Carroll invented Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The 1900s gave us C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and opened the door to the modern reader. Lewis famously said to a young fan “Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” And aren’t we glad?
Is there anyone in the world who has NOT heard of Harry Potter? At last count, over 500 million copies have been sold in 80 countries. What about the sparkling vampire series Twilight? The dystopian Hunger Games, and the time-travel epic Outlander? And back to a more rugged and ragged epic—The Game of Thrones. Does the word “blockbuster” come to mind?

But this begs the question—why? What is it about these stories that create such—can I say it—fanaticism? And not just for the books. Movies, TV shows, video games, and RPGs (role-playing games) take so much of their inspiration straight from the literature.

So, what’s the answer?

I believe the answer goes back to people being enthralled by larger-than-life characters, in a world informed by magic. Fantasy—especially epic fantasy—is the ultimate story of good versus evil. In many ways, it’s the classic David versus Goliath trope—the little guy (or gal) standing up to the unbeatable giant is at the heart of it all.

When accused of frightening children with his fairy tales in the mid-19th century, G.K. Chesterton said “Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be beaten.” This isn’t true just for children, either. Adults, too, need to be reminded that the dragons in our lives can be stopped—that the giants can be taken down—and that we will have the strength we need to fight—and win—our personal battles.

Think of Sam Gamgee. When it came right down to it, he flat wouldn’t give up, even to the point of carrying Frodo up those last steps. And in the end, that made all the difference.

We’re going to be talking more about reading and writing Fantasy in the next few months. I hope you’ll join the discussion!