What is High Fantasy?
It is difficult to commit to a concrete definition of High Fantasy (otherwise known as Epic Fantasy) without feeling dissatisfied that you have either been too specific and excluded many important works, or have been too vague which would include a lot of novels clearly not High Fantasy. When it comes to defining High Fantasy, it seems best to apply the old axiom of "I know it when I see it".
There can be no doubt that High Fantasy owes its identity to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, and in particular Lord of the Rings. It is therefore perhaps easier to consider the elements of a work of High Fantasy.
Generally a High Fantasy novel includes:
High Fantasy novels can have all of these elements, or just a few, but that being said it does not follow that all novels which contain some of these elements will be High Fantasy. When judging if a novel is High Fantasy, its best to use an intuitive approach.
BTW - I have been as broad as possible in my definition to make room for all novels I consider to be within the sub-genre. Of course, there will always be ambiguities and what one person may class as High Fantasy, another may claim is Romantic Fantasy etc. I will err on the side of a novel being High Fantasy if I think it feels right.
There can be no doubt that High Fantasy owes its identity to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, and in particular Lord of the Rings. It is therefore perhaps easier to consider the elements of a work of High Fantasy.
Generally a High Fantasy novel includes:
- An imaginary world (usually an entirely imaginary world, but can be a parallel world or a world-within-our-world)
- A battle of good versus evil or other epic theme, with terrible consequences if the hero fails
- Multi-volumed works with a complicated plot, a large cast of characters and an expansive timeframe
- Magic
- Non-human races such as elves and dwarves and/or magical creatures such as dragons and unicorns and/or monsters such as orcs and trolls
- Medieval technology and feudal structures
High Fantasy novels can have all of these elements, or just a few, but that being said it does not follow that all novels which contain some of these elements will be High Fantasy. When judging if a novel is High Fantasy, its best to use an intuitive approach.
BTW - I have been as broad as possible in my definition to make room for all novels I consider to be within the sub-genre. Of course, there will always be ambiguities and what one person may class as High Fantasy, another may claim is Romantic Fantasy etc. I will err on the side of a novel being High Fantasy if I think it feels right.