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/lit/ - Literature

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6582691 No.6582691 [Reply] [Original]

Tolkien changed fantasy forever, but he didn't invent it. Lets have a thread about fantasy that pre-dates Tolkien.

>> No.6582695

GAMES OF THRONES

>> No.6582703

Quran

>> No.6582733
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6582733

>>6582695
>>6582703
/lit/, please.

>> No.6582809
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6582809

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_Peg%C4%81na

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~neelk/pegana.pdf

>Did I win?

>> No.6583098

The problem is that Tolkien redefined fantasy into what we know today. So, few modern fantasy fans would like stuff before them. But, I've been curios about pre-Tolkien/C.S.Lewis fantasy for a while. Here's a list I've dug up from reddit and /lit and pretentious pits of the internet.

- The Well at World's End by William Morris (1896), a fantasy novel describing the adventures of a young knight in an imaginary world. It was very influential on both Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, both of whom took direct imagery from it for their works.

- The Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake (published from 1946 to 1959). These three novels tell the story of Titus Groan, the seventy-sixth Earl of Groan, set in an imaginary world. There are very few supernatural elements involved, and it is less of an heroic fantasy than Tolkien.

- Lilith (1895), Phantastes (1858) and The Golden Key (1867) by George MacDonald. The first two are novels, the last is a novella, and they all involve everyday folks from "our" world being transported to a fantasy world. Also heavily influenced Tolkien. (These are fantastic, by the way.)

- The King of Elf-land's Daughter (1924), The Gods of Pegana (1905) and countless short stories by Edward Plunkett (sometimes credited as Lord Dunsany). The former is considered by many to be one of the first "modern" fantasy novels.

- The Worm Ouroboros (1922) and the Zimiamvian trilogy (1935-1958) by E. R. Eddison. These are fantasy novels that also put a heavy emphasis on political intrigue, for you ASOIAF fans out there. Note that the Zimiamvian trilogy's final volume is sadly incomplete.

- Kai Lung's Wallet

- The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris

>> No.6583105

A lot of modern Arthurian Legend books serve as a template for modern fantasy, like the Once and Future King books.

>> No.6583126

>>6583098
In continuation, Tolkien took very little inspiration from other fantasy. If you want to get a good look at really pre-Tolkien fantasy tales, get into ancient mythology. Start with the Greeks! Then get into the Nordic stuff, and nobody ever mentions it but the Italian epic poem Morgante has a very modern fantasy feel to it for having been written in the 1400's, give them a look.

>> No.6583134

>>6583126
Tolkien was also inspired by that Finnish Epic poem which name escapes me, correct?

>> No.6583139

>>6583134
The Kalevala

>> No.6583145

>>6582691
The Poetic Edda

>> No.6583318
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6583318

>> No.6583359

Its out of print right now so you might have to lurk Amazon for a bit to get them cheap but Fathrd and The Grey Mouser can be bought in entirety for 20$. Its astounding how such an influential work could be almost forgotten. The fights are great, the whole medieval mafia vibe of the thieves guild is quite entertaining. Also the characters! The friendship between the two main characters feels far more genuine than most ive read in fiction

>> No.6583371

>>6583145
The Icelandic sagas are much better tbh. Especially Egils saga

>> No.6583858
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6583858

>>6582691
Weird fiction is what you want.

>> No.6583860

>>6583359

the handleing of time is amazeing too, he sometimes says something like "..they had many adventures some lasting years, includeing.. (and then one or two lines about cry stuff) before ariveing in..."

>> No.6583865

>>6583858
What're the two Oxfords?


I just started House On the Borderland. It's p. cool so far.

>> No.6583906

>>6583865
John William Polidori (earliest vampire story in English, etc.) and Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories, by M. R. James. Blackwood and Machen are excellent, generally, and I have all the Fritz Leiber Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser/ Lankhmar books there.

>> No.6583962

A bit off topic, but for anyone into Scandinavian/Norse mythology, or just this kind of stuff in general, there is a promising webcomic called Stand Still, Stay Silent made by a Swedish girl that's pretty good so far.

http://www.sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=1

>> No.6583974
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6583974

>>6583962

Forgot to add this picture from the series, which you may have seen before.

>> No.6584543

CONAN
O
N
A
N

>> No.6584600

>>6582691

Only thing I dislike about Tolkein is how now every fantasy writer tries to imitate his world which is pretty boring. Nobody really attempts anything daring or new anymore.

>>6583098

>Gormenghast
Good list, I would recommend the following:

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel

The Prince of Nothing

>>6583858

Have you read The Night Lands by any chance? I've been curious in it myself since I enjoyed House on the Borderland quite a lot.