Falling Down the Rabbit Hole

Fantasy is an ever-shifting genre full of imagination. We often associate mythical creatures, complex worldbuilding, and magic with the genre, but how did it grow to the scale that it has? Well, in recent years Fantasy is one of many genres that have grown to extraordinary heights with the rise of BookTok: a niche internet community that shares their common love of reading. Fantasy rose with this community more commonly a subgenre coined Romantasy — a mixture of Romance and Fantasy. But how did Fantasy begin?

Fantasy arose in early British Literature around the era of the scientific revolution with author Margaret Cavendish who pondered the existence of “other worlds” existence. By doing so, she unknowingly laid the foundation for one of the largest genres to bloom. Cavendish’s prose piece The Blazing World (1666) follows a kidnapped noblewoman who is transported to another world, located in the North Pole. Here, this Lady survives while her kidnappers perish, and she soon ascends the ranks of this fantastical world; she eventually becomes the queen and rules over a Kingdom of animal men. Cavendish is a monumental figure in literature due to her experimental nature and her portrayal of gender in a hugely patriarchal society.

Cavendish is not considered the mother of Fantasy though—most of what we see in modern Fantasy stems from J.R.R Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings (1954). Tolkein with his extensive academic background, and Doctorate in Philosophy and letters, crafted a rich fantastical world known as Middle-Earth. He created languages, cultures, histories, races, and species for this fantastical world. Orcs, Elves, and Dwarves all stem from Tolkien's work, and it is still held as the blueprint for all modern fantasy. We see these creatures, world-building style, and linguistics transcend his work and into all modern Fantasy. Thus he was bestowed the title Father of Fantasy—without Tolkein the genre would not be what it is today, and his work is still consumed and admired.

In the modern day, we see people who attend Renaissance Fairs, binge-watch Game of Thrones, and play games like Dungeons and Dragons. Fantasy as a genre provides a sense of community, regardless of what subgenre you read there is common ground. Most Fantasy stories are a part of a long series which allows the story to be incredibly complex in world and character, and often you develop emotional attachments to the story. For me it is a form of escapism and nostalgia; I always go back to the classics like Harry Potter. Often, readers of Fantasy grow up reading it, and returning to the same stories feels like coming home. Characters like Daenerys Targaryen instill female readers with confidence and power. Romantasy allows for differences in romance stories and complexities not available in real-world fiction. Fantasy opens its arms for all those who feel bored with the mundane and crave the freedom of imagination.

Strike Out,

Jaden Rudd

Saint Augustine

Editors: Indigo Carter and Maya Kayyal

Jaden Rudd is a Staff Writer for Strike Magazine, Saint Augustine. She loves Fantasy and wishes to one day have a pet dragon. You can find her at @jadenrud on Instagram, at jadenrudd95@gmail.com, or check out her poem “The Fae” at Midsommar Magazine.

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