The Genre of Epic fantasy

It is a guilty pleasure for a genre; and sometimes people are embarrassed to admit that they read these kinds of books. It is often dismissed as escapist fantasy and just a way to pass the time.

It is also often thought of as just an offshoot of High Fantasy but Epic fantasy is much more than that! It is the first genre of humanity. The oldest recorded book is an epic fantasy tale called The Epic of Gilgamesh and since the beginning of time we have been weaving stories about heroic figures taking on impossible tasks. These tales span the world from the ancient past to the present and from Hercules to Sampson, Jason and the Golden Fleece, Frodo Baggins and more.

If you are interested in learning more about Epic Fantasy you may want to check out:

The definition of Epic Fantasy - The Heroes Journey and Joseph Campbell - The History of epic Fantasy - The Beginners Guide to Epic Fantasy- The 50 Most Influential Science Fiction and Fantasy books

Epic Fantasy is a search for meaning

- We live in a mysterious world full of questions and wonder. And since the beginning of time humans have marveled at this mystery and have proposed ideas about it. This is what epic fantasy does. It looks at the mystery of our world and the struggle that we as humans undergo and it proposes answers.

Answers to questions we as individuals face

Each one of us, as humans are undergoing an epic quest. We are trying to make it through a world that is crazy and beautiful, enigmatic and infinite. And thorughout this journey we are trying to make sense of it all.

As we are traveling on this road we call life we are hopefully growing in stages toward whatever is meant for us and the epic fantasy story parallels this adventure. Our hero or heroine grows through stages toward enlightenment.

Upon first glance the main point of epic fantasy seems to be the grand adventure, but that's not true at all -it is much more.

The most important aspect of epic fantasy is the sequence of growth that the main character undergoes. Our hero often starts as a farm boy or a blacksmith apprentice and through trials, tests, travels, and obstacles, he grows into a person of extraordinary capability and wisdom. This process of growth has been carefully examined and explained by Joseph Campbell in his work "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" Where the main character, or hero, must go through twelve steps on his way to enlightenment.

But it also gives us answers to the questions that we as a human race are faced with

Epic Fantasy has also changed with the changing needs of humanity. As we as a race have changed in this reality and we have moved through stages of development from hunter/gatherer through agrarian and then the various stages of civilization so has our epic fantasy changed to reflect our changing view point about life and our changing views on the meaning of life. Karen Armstrong, in her book A Short History of Myth, has carefully definied the six major stages in human development over time and how our myths have changed to reflect these stages.

In Summary

- More stuff on this website

• The definition of Epic Fantasy
• The Heroes Journey and Joseph Campbell
• The History of Epic Fantasy
  
  

- Resources on other websites

• The Wikipedia definition of High Fantasy
• The Epic Fantasy WIKI - Help Build it!l
• The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first book!
• Quality In Epic Fantasy by Alec Austin