Two Towers

6 Pages 1494 Words

To begin with, let us examine the nature of Tolkien’s fiction. J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth literature, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy in particular, are usually referred to -- and even marketed -- as fantasy. But would Tolkien himself think of his work as fantasy? Traditionally, the genre of fantasy has been defined as stories concerned with things which cannot, or could not, happen. This definition becomes problematic, though, as it would easily apply to the literature of mythology: modern rationality tells us that much of the events described in Greek, Norse or even Judeo-Christian mythology could not have happened without the aid of supernatural forces that clearly are absent from the world as we know it.

Mythology, however, is not fantasy: the purpose of mythology is to provide a culture with an acceptable explanation for how that culture’s world came to be. The originators of a mythology believed not only that the events described could happen, but really did happen.

It would be convenient to simply levy upon fantastic literature the requirement that the story be concerned with a world other than our own, or that it take place only in the present or the future. But that would introduce unnecessary and equally problematic distinctions. Consider instead a definition of fantasy proposed by the author Joanna Russ: fantasy is a journey by a traveler (perhaps the reader) to a world so beautiful or wondrous that the traveler/reader wishes to -- or does -- stay in that fantastic world. This definition excludes mythology: mythologies are not about an alternate reality, but about the past of the world that we know.

Fantasy, then, is escapist, while mythology is reality-bound, if obsolete. Further, the mythology of a fantastic world would still be considered a proper mythology, if it attempted to explain the origins of that fantastic world; but it would be fantastic mythology -- a fantasy nonetheless.

Thi...