I have sad news. I tried to do an easy post today only to discover that I’ve already thrown up all my D&D stories. I have something I can dip into when I get busier with other work but, alas, I have nothing for the moment. What does that mean for you, intrepid readers? Simply that you’re going to get more poorly written, rambling, stream-of-conscious essays.

Which brings us to today’s that I’m tentatively calling:

Tolkien’s Strangulation:

The Dominance of Medieval Fantasy

Kind of cute, isn’t it?

This blog is rather dominated by the creative process with an emphasis on world building. As such, there’s going to be a natural bias towards fantasy writing. Fantasy, of all genres, is perhaps the most focused on creating new worlds. I’ve made mention that I believe it’s one of its biggest draws. Which isn’t to say that its brother genre – science fiction – doesn’t have an emphasis on world building: just that fantasy’s is greater. I think this arises from fantasy’s use of magic. Unlike science, which is heavily based on our own understandings of the natural laws and phenomenon of our world, magic and its existence fundamentally changes the fabric of an imagined universe. In science fiction settings, we can generally assume that gravity works as it does in our lives, that the basic principles of of chemistry and physics apply and that the laws that govern the natural world function according to shared fundamental principles. If you look at a world like Mass Effect, while it does include lots of supernatural and fantastical elements, it spends a great portion of time justifying those elements in a framework closely mirroring our scientific knowledge.

The result? We end up with pages of lore dedicated to explaining how faster than light travel works, how species are capable of psychic abilities and the chemical composition of ‘omni-gel.’ In contrast, if you look at something like Harry Potter, there is almost zero consideration for how the universe itself functions. Even taking place in the modern world with the dominance of the scientific method, there is little understanding for why spells require wands, latin and specific hand motions. There is no great detailing about the ecological impacts that dragons and giants would have on their environments and why these mythical beasts must be kept from non-magical eyes. None of its fantastical elements are justified within its own universe and each element is treated as a new spectacle to awe and entertain. It’s only explanation is that “it’s magic” and that’s all that seems required.

It’s remarkable how lovely these medieval fantasy settings are. It’s almost as if people forget the time period was called the Dark Ages for a reason.

There is a natural expectation from the readership that magic is unknowable. It is the stuff of stage magicians and the whole draw is that it can dazzle and entertain. Hermione sets paper fluttering by with a simple announcement of “Leviosa.” Gandalf chases off a flock of mounted ring wraiths with a beam from his flashlight staff. And I don’t even know what the hell is going on with the Game of Throne’s but apparently it involves women and lots of sex. Wizards, by their nature and mastery of this unknown force, are generally mysterious characters themselves. They rarely are the major actors in their tale and instead take a supportive role, guiding and mentoring some shmuck that is more  relateable  to the reader instead of just waving his arm and solving the crisis himself.

One need only think of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings to see all of this encapsulated. Now, I’m fairly certain given Tolkien’s desire for creating a modern myth, Gandalf drew heavily upon such classic figures as Merlin and Odin. But this isn’t called “Viking Strangulation” and that’s because so much of fantasy’s tropes are dominated by Tolkien world creation that it’s obvious where most of the inspiration is coming from. Before Tolkien, elves were obnoxious wee folk that lived in dirty holes. Dwarves most certainly weren’t the drunkard, beard loving, elf hating midgets that we have now and halflings weren’t even a thing in old mythology. The success of the Lord of the Rings had such an impact on the genre that the majority of its literature is essentially a reiteration of Tolkien’s world.

Because of the influence of mythology, his world is very rooted in the medieval time period. Though there is little representation of the complex peerage system or the dominance of a centralized church, the technological development of the world is approximate to that time. This led to the development of the Medieval Fantasy subgenre and a quick look over any fantasy section in a bookstore will show how ubiquitous this is. Which is fascinating to me since fantasy is no more beholden to medieval settings than science fiction is to alternate realities of the modern era. Lacking such a domineering figure as Tolkien, science fiction seems liberated to explore as many different stories and themes that it likes. A brief look at some of the largest contributors to the field demonstrate it’s variety. Star Wars is as different as Dune is as different as Neuromancer is as different as Ender’s Game is as different as 2001: A Space Odyssey is as different as The Time Machine.

And then you look at fantasy: Lord of the Rings vs A Game of Thrones vs A Wheel of Time vs Name of the Wind vs Eragon vs Assassin’s Apprentice…

And on and on it goes.

Frank Frazetta art.

It’s a fascinating situation especially since fantasy is arguably more successful than science fiction. Though, to be fair to the genre, urban fantasy is making a large impact now with things like Twilight and Harry Potter having such financial pull (though you could argue that these are are just spawned from Narnia’s success). My only point is that this ubiquitous isn’t necessary. Fantasy isn’t behooved to remain stuck in the Dark Ages. There is no reason that fantasy can’t cover a score of time periods and locations. A setting like Planescape is completely fantastical and even though it is a Dungeons and Dragons setting it is almost entirely alien to any of its other products.

As such, my writing has been leaning away from the standard fantasy tropes. I have my D&D shorts but my novel is fullblown steampunk set in the middle of the 1800s. I ideas for a fantasy story based solely on Native American mythology, tropical island settings, ancient Greek settings, dark modern setting…

There is a wealth of options available once we stop thinking that fantasy means pointy eared elves, knights in shining armour and endless princesses that need rescuing.