Jennifer Kwon on "Defining Fantasy Through Tolkien's Looking Glass"

Defining Fantasy Through Tolkien’s Looking Glass

By: Jennifer Kwon

I personally favor low fantasy novels than high fantasy novels because the world presented in low fantasy novels usually mirrors the world that I live in except it contains magical elements. High fantasy novels are great too, but the world that is introduced to me is far different than the one I know, a separate reality. The world in low fantasy novel is one that I can make more connections with because I am plunged into a familiar world rather than a total foreign one.

But what makes a book high or low fantasy in the first place?

Well, according to Tolkien, three key aspects of stories exist in the “fairie” world: recovery, escape, and consolation. These three aspects are present in both The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany and in Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. These three aspects are present in each story and they’ve helped me define what is low or high fantasy.

            So recovery is different for both stories. In Dunsany’s story, the main character already knows that magic exist and so in this case, the character doesn’t need to recover that childhood belief in magic. More so, it is the reader who mostly recovers the belief in magic than the character. In Gaiman’s story, however, the main character recovers that childhood belief in magic and convinces himself to believe along with the reader. Both the character and the reader become open to the magic around them.

            In The King of Elfland’s Daughter, people know that magic exists and Alveric’s quest begins because the people want to be ruled by magic. This sets him off to marry the Elf King’s daughter and he ventures into Elfland, a world of mystical power. On the other hand, in Neverwhere, Richard’s life is as normal as it gets. He has a stable job, a house, and a girlfriend. But as soon Door comes in, he suddenly becomes a resident of her world, London Below, where magic is omnipresent.  

Furthermore, in a high fantasy book, escape is more exploring deeper into the magical world, the one that the main character lives in. For example, in Dunsany’s book, Alveric goes on a search for Elfland, venturing toward North into the unknown lands as he tries to retrace his steps to get back Lirazel.

 Escape in a low fantasy novel is when the character finally falls into the magical world, leaving behind the modernistic world. In Gaiman’s book, the main character, Richard, “falls through the cracks” into London Below, away from the mundane world, where he has become a resident of. In such a low fantasy novel, the character and I are not that far apart since we both plunge into a whole new world at the same time. Meaning, we are at eye-level throughout the experience.

            Finally, consolation is in different forms in these two books. Consolation in high fantasy is when the plot is resolved and everything reverts back to normal. In Dunsany’s case, Orion and his parents are reunited once again and Earth and Elfland merge together.  Consolation in a low fantasy novel is when the main character returns to the normal world and his quest comes to end. In Gaiman’s book, Richard gets his old life back and becomes a resident of Above London once again, even though in the end, he chooses to go back to London Below where he feels happiest in.

So how do I determine if a book is high or low fantasy?

            It’s simple. I figure out whether a book is low or high depending on my connection with the main character. If I feel like I know just as much as the character knows about the world they fall into, then I consider that to be low fantasy novel. If the character has more knowledge of the magical world than I do, then I consider that to be high fantasy novel. Anyway, most fantasy books contain Tolkien’s three elements: recovery, escape, and consolation. How their authors work with three aspects can define whether the novel is low or high fantasy. Through Tolkien’s looking glass, low fantasy equates the reader with the main character while in high fantasy, the connection between the character and the reader is further apart.