In the modern cultural mind, fantasy takes a backseat. If you asked most academics to rank the genres of literature, fantasy, and more broadly all of fiction, would likely be put in last place- Mythology, folklore, and historical legend would likely not be named at all. If you asked most grown men their opinion of faerie tales, they’d laugh.
This is no surprise. We live in a dying culture, and of course our values and priorities are inverted and backwards. It is backwards, because nothing is more important to a culture’s spirit than its legends. I believe that Fantasy is in fact the most essential genre of literature, taking precedence over history, science, or philosophy. It is of the utmost importance. Of course, that means in our culture it is also the most neglected and misunderstood.
Discussing the literal truth and history found in myth is a subject for another time, as is discussing the many distinctions between the terms mythology, folklore, legend, fiction, and fantasy.
I am simply using the word fantasy in this article, because in the popular consciousness it encompasses all of the above categories. And as modern “fantasy” is really made up of and a continuation of the same stuff as our mythology and legends (even if the authors do not realize that they are taking part in this greater work), they are all of the same essence.
For now, I am concerned with the effect that ignoring fantasy in all its forms has done to the Western cultural spirit.
What I am vehemently against is the popular conception of fantasy, that it is the least “real” of all genres, that it is for children and immature adults. That it is “make believe”. This view is completely backwards. The opposite is true- Fantasy, the realm of “faerie”, is more real than our own.
Legend, mythology, folklore… they are the vessel for a culture’s spirit. They contain the meta truths that make a civilization what it is. In the cultural context, there is actually nothing more real or more important than a myth. In fact, it could be said that the clearest sign that a culture is dead is that its children no longer know its stories. They no longer are sang its songs in the cradle.
For example, nothing is more important to the spirit of Greece than the Iliad. No historical record, no artifact, no monument is more important. Legend and myth are the realm of a culture’s archetypes, of its greatest heroes, its core values, and its purest ethos. The Iliad is fundamentally true in the way no plain historical record could ever be. It is untainted, unbridled Greek spirit.
In this context, the question of which things “really” happened is irrelevant. It does not even matter if the fantasy in question is the Iliad or something written in the 20th century that we know is nothing but a work of fiction. It is all made of the same stuff.
In any case, it is fundamentally true. When a young boy reads a story of the orphaned young hero using his father’s sword to slay the dragon that holds his sister captive, the boy does not love the story because is it just a cool story, he loves it because it is fundamentally true. Somewhere in his psyche, he knows it is more than just a story. Children know the myths are true. It is only adults that have forgotten.
“Our young lads dream of ancient swords,
Of dragons fell and castle walls,
Of maidens fair and noble lords,
Of armies bright and golden halls,
Albion’s blood, its children calls.”
Fantasy is also our purest expression of our desire for the supremacy of good over evil. No subversion, no “nuance”, no unexpected twists and turns. The people don’t actually want the morally grey slog of Game of Thrones, people want real stories of heroes slaying monsters. It doesn't matter if it be a myth or an epic historical poetry or a modern work of fantasy like the Lord of the Rings. They are all made of the same stuff, and the West is in need of it.
We live in a fallen, broken world. Any story or chronicle of events in our realm is held back by our fallen state. Anything taking place in “the real world”, no matter how beautiful, is limited. History is marred by evil and imperfect heroes. Philosophy is marred by a separation from God. (Seriously, don’t bother with most philosophy).
Only in myths can our heroes live uncorrupted. It is only when we leave the confines of Midgard and its fallen nature that true beauty can be found.
Only in myth can true reality be glimpsed, wholly and unspoiled. Only in fantasy can goodness be untainted, heroes be pure, and evil be wholly defeated. For now, only in fantasy can our deepest God-given desires be fulfilled.
Fantasy is loved by children not because they are immature, but because they are not yet jaded, downtrodden, and bitter. They do not need the cloak of the morally grey fog to hide behind.
It is a grave indictment of our culture that we think ourselves too good for such black and white tales. We are not too good for these stories, they became too high and grand and beautiful for us.
Convincing men that fantasy is for women and children has done incredible harm to the Western spirit, a true crime against humanity. Men that no longer look for magic swords in lakes, or dream of battles and great armies, or climb mountains to speak to their ancestors are no men at all. A fate worse than death.
You want to talk about “saving” the West? Discussion of politics, economics, immigration, etc, that’s all well and good. But if a generation of boys is allowed to be raised having never heard of Arthur’s court, of Beowulf’s fight with Grendel, of Achilles and Hector and the gods of Olympus, then it will all be in vain. The West will be dead in the cradle.
On the other hand, as long as just one remembers Logres and Germania and the dark wilds of Mirkwood, hope remains.
A cultural mythos is what keeps the spark aflame.
Very good post.
What an excellent article. All too true.