(no subject)

[mistymassey]

So I have a question for everyone.

What is fantasy?

Before you answer, we, the team at Magical Words, are getting ready for a site redesign, and one of the issues we were advised to think about was the lack of fantastic elements in the banners. We thought about ways to improve this, and in the course of early discussions, we didn't come to any conclusions at all. So we're turning to the vast and beloved hivemind of the Internet - tell us what says 'fantasy' to you. Is it vampires that sparkle? Or don't? Dragons soaring overhead? Singing swords and dancing fountains? Pharmacists who sell cold medicine and love potions from the same counter, depending on what you pay with?

Talk to me.

Comments

[tempest-gypsy.livejournal.com]

Fantasy is anything that most people would see on the street and say, "Either someone is filming a movie, that's a weirdo in a costume, or, I'm hallucinating."

And that I would say, "It's a bad idea to go mess with that. But I'm going to, anyway!"

[baka-kit.livejournal.com]

Airy buildings? Two moons?

Airy buildings with two moons rising in the background?

My humble definition

[johncwright.livejournal.com]

Fantasy is the nostalgia by children of the industrial and scientific revolutions for the world and the worldview of the ages before the industrial and scientific revolution, with particular emphasis either on the bright dignity of chivalry or dark melancholy romanticism of paganism or noble savages of those lost days. It is called high fantasy if the emphasis is on chivalry or elevated themes (as in JRR Tolkien) and low fantasy if on paganism or savage adventure (as in Robert E Howard)

The most significant change between scientific and pre-scientific world views being the presence of magic, and of little non-transcendental gods and spirits, elves and dragons and whatnot, anything with the magical props, tropes, backdrops and trappings of the prescientific poetry or saga (even if handled lightheartedly or disrespectfully in the modern story) can be included as fantasy.

Fantasy does not necessarily need to have magic in it to be fantasy, but it needs to take place in a world where magic is part of the world view.

The fundamental image of fantasy are those two beasts, the unicorn, which represents purity, and the dragon, who (originally, at least) represented greed and rapine and all impurity.