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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 Video Games , Music , Painting , and the like. HISTORY It is difficult to define the precise 'beginning' of fantasy literature, as stories involving Magic and terrible Monster s have existed since time immemorial. Homer 's Odyssey , the second work of European literature written, satisfies the definition of the fantasy genre with its magic, gods, heroes, adventures and monsters, though at the time it would have been thought of as being based on actual historical events. Albeit on the whole, the genre, as a distinct type, began to become visible in the Victorian times, in the works of writers such as William Morris , Lord Dunsany and George Macdonald . Some commentators assert that the South African-born , English professor of Philology , J. R. R. Tolkien , was seminal to the mass-popularization of the fantasy genre, with his hugely successful publications – '' The Hobbit '', and '' The Lord Of The Rings ''. Tolkien himself, though, was largely informed by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon Myths — particularly '' Beowulf '' — but it was after his work that the genre began to receive the moniker, "fantasy." 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 commercial success of the fantasy genre. Preeminent authors in the genre who undertook popular fantasy works ''after'' Tolkien 's '' The Lord Of The Rings '' phenomenon of the 1950s and 1960s are listed below. The names listed are presented in chronological order, from the earliest published to the latest, along with their most significant works.
STYLE Fantasy has been distinguished from other forms of literature by its style. Ursula K. LeGuin , in her influential essay, "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie", criticized the use of a colloquial and modern-day style for writing High Fantasy .Ursula K. LeGuin, "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie", p 74-5 ''The Language of the Night'' ISBN 0-425-05205-2 While she admired the archaic style for its ability to distance prose into a Fantasy World rather than appear as a modern world in disguise, when it was used by masters such as Lord Dunsany and E.R. Eddison , she also noted that it was a dangerous trap for fantasy writers because it was ridiculous when done wrong.Ursula K. LeGuin, "From Elfland to Poughkeepsie", p 78-80 ''The Language of the Night'' ISBN 0-425-05205-2 Michael Moorcock observed that many writers would use archaic language for its sonority and to lend color to a lifeless story.Michael Moorcock, ''Wizardry & Wild Romance: A Study of Epic Fantasy'' p 35 ISBN 1-932265-07-4 The fantasy world requires, like any genre, appropriate language, and that language can vary. In various forms of Fairytale Fantasy , even the villain's language would be inappropriate if vulgar.Alec Austin, "Quality in Epic Fantasy" SEE ALSO FOOTNOTES REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS |
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