Low fantasy

Low Fantasy is a term used to describe a variety of works within differing sub-genres of Fantasy fiction. The word "low" refers to the prominence of traditional fantasy elements within the work, and is not any sort of remark on the work's quality. Within the fantasy genre, low fantasy is often contrasted with high fantasy, which typically takes place, partly or entirely, in a completely fictional setting and places an emphasis upon fantasy elements such as magic, monsters, and non-real literary devices. Low Fantasy works typically place relatively less emphasis on such fantasy elements and often take place within real-world environments, as opposed to entirely fictional settings.

Definition

Low fantasy contrasts with the sub-genre of High fantasy. Low fantasy is characterised by being set in the real ("Primary") world, or a rational and familiar fictional world, with the inclusion of magical elements. The opposite, high fantasy, is set in an alternative, entirely fictional ("Secondary") world with its own, albeit internally-consistent, rules that separate it from the real world. Low fantasy can be described as non-rational events occurring in a rational setting.^[1]^[2]^[3] It is important to note that the use of the word "low" is not an indication of quality but of the relative level of "fantasy" contained within a particular work of fiction.^[4]^[5]

History of low fantasy

Fantasy fiction diverged into the two subgenres, high and low, after the Edwardian era. Low fantasy itself diverged into further subgenres in the subsequent decades.^[6]

Distinguishing between subgenres

High and low fantasy are distinguished as being set, respectively, in an alternative "secondary" world or in the real "primary" world. In many works, the distinction between whether the setting is the primary or secondary world, and therefore whether it is low or high fantasy, can be unclear. The secondary world may take three forms:^[3] Gamble defines three characteristics of high fantasy as;

Primary does not exist (e.g. A Song of Ice and Fire.)
Entered through a portal from the primary world (e.g. The Chronicles of Narnia)
World-within-a-world (e.g. Harry Potter^{[citation needed]})

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is largely set in an alternative Oxfordshire, a real location, but the fact that it is an alternative world at all places it in the high fantasy subgenre. J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is again set in the real world; however, the primary setting, mostly the school Hogwarts is said to be located somewhere in Scotland^[7] ^[8], but is physically separated from the real world and becomes a "world-within-a-world."^{[citation needed]} Hogwarts is therefore as much of an alternative world as C. S. Lewis' Narnia, which means that both series are in the high fantasy subgenre.^[3]

A few high fantasy series do not easily fit into Gamble's categories, for example; J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is set in primary world of Earth in the ancient past^[9], and he adamently disagreed with anyone who thought otherwise, see The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.^[10] According to Tolkien, he had set it in the inhabited lands of geographically north-west Europe^[11]. The Professor himself disagreed with the notion that his stories diverged from reality, but rather defended his position that the "essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N.W. Europe), so naturally it feels familiar, even if a little glorified by enchantment of distance in time."^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]) and hence high fantasy .

Low fantasy in gaming

Low fantasy exists in role-playing games such as Shadowrun, Hârn, Seventh Sea, and the products of many d20 manufacturers like White Wolf and Skirmisher Publishing LLC. Examples in computer and video games include Darklands, and Shadow Hearts.

Examples

The Borrowers by Mary Norton^[6]
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper^[3]
The Doll's House by Rumer Godden^[6]
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit^[3]
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks^[6]
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren^[6]
The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo^[3]
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit^[2]
The Green Mile by Stephen King

References

^ Buss, Kathleen; Karnowski, Lee (2000). Reading and Writing Literary Genres. International Reading Assoc. p. 114. ISBN 9780872072572.
^ ^a ^b Perry, Phyllis Jean (2003). Teaching Fantasy Novels. Libraries Unlimited. p. vi. ISBN 9781563089879.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Gamble, Nikki; Yates, Sally (2008). Exploring Children's Literature. SAGE Publications Ltd. pp. 102–103. ISBN 9781412930130.
^ Oziewicz, Marek (2008). One Earth, One People. McFarland & Co. p. 78. ISBN 9780786431359.
^ Boyer, Robert H.; Zahorski, Kenneth J. (1978). The Fantastic Imagination II. Avon. p. 2. ISBN 9780380415335.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Jean-François, Leroux (2004). "The World Is Its Own Place". In Jean-François, Leroux; La Bossière, Camille R. (eds.). Worlds of Wonder. University of Ottawa. p. 192. ISBN 9780776605708.
^ "Hogwarts ... Logically it had to be set in a secluded place, and pretty soon I settled on Scotland in my mind." Fraser, L., An interview with J.K.Rowling, Mammoth, London, 2000. ISBN 0-7497-4394-8. pp 20–21.
^ Happy ending, and that's for beginners". The Herald via AccioQuote!. 24 June 1997. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
^ Letters 151, 165, 183, 211, Letters 325, 17 July 1971, Letters 328 Autumn 1971
^ Letters 211, "...steed of the Witch-King...it's description even provides a sort of way in which it could be a last survivor of older geological eras.", "...it would be difficult to fit the lands and events (or 'cultures') into such evidence as we possess, archaeological or geological, concerning the nearer or remoter part of what is now Europe; though the Shire, for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region (I p. 12).", "Arda 'realm' was the name given to our world or earth......I hope the, evidently long but undefined gap* in time between the Fall of Barad-dur and our Days is sufficient for 'literary credibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known as 'pre-history'. I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place. I prefer that to the contemporary mode of seeking remote globes in 'space'. However curious, they are alien, and not loveable with the love of blood-kin. Middle-Earth is... not my own invention, It is a modernization or alteration...of an old word for inhabited world of Man, the oikoumene: middle because thought vaguely as set admidst the encircling Seas and (in the northern-imagination) between the ice of the North and the fire of the South. O. English middan-geard, mideavil E. midden-erd, middle-erd. Many reviewers seem to assume Middle-earth is another planet! *I imagine the gap to be about 6000 years: that is we are now at the end of the Fifth Age, if the Ages were of about the same lenth as S.A. and T.A. But they have, I think quickened; and I imagine we are actually at the end of the Sixth Age, or in the Seventh.", The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien, pg 282, 283
^ Letters 294: "...Middle Earth. This is an old word not invented by me, as a reference to a dictionary such as the Shorter Oxford will show. It is meant to be the inhabitable lands of our world, set amid the surrounding Ocean. The actions of the story take place in the North-west of 'middle-earth', equivalent in latitude to the coastlands of Europe and the north shores of the Mediterranean...Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be about the latitude of Oxford, the Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is about the latitude of Florence. The mouths of Anduin, and the ancient city of Pelargir are about the latitude of ancient Troy.", Letters, pg 375,376
^ Letters 210: "The Lord of the Rings may be a 'fairy-story', but it takes place in the Northern hemisphere of this earth: miles are miles, days are days, and weather is weather.", Letters pg 272
^ Letters 211: "I hope the, evidently long but undefined gap* in time between the Fall of Barad-dur and our Days is sufficient for 'literary credibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known as 'pre-history'. I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place. I prefer that to the contemporary mode of seeking remote globes in 'space'. However curious, they are alien, and not loveable with the love of blood-kin.", pg 283
^ Letters 151: "Middle-earth is just archaic english...the inhabited world of man. It lay then as it does. In fact just as it does, round and inescapable. That is partly the point. The new situation, established at the end of the Third Age, leads on eventually and inevitably to ordinary History, and we see here the process culminating. If you or I or any of the mortal men (or hobbits) of Frodo's day had set out over sea, west, we should, as now, eventually have come back (as now) to our starting point..."Letters of JRR Tolkien, pg 186
^ Letters 165: "'Middle-earth' by the way, is not a name of a never-never land without relation to the world we live in (like Mercury or Edison). It is just a use of Middle English middel-erde (or erthe) altered from Old English Middengeard: the name for the inhabited lands of Men 'between the seas'. And though I have not attempted to to relate the shape of the mountains and land-masses to what geologists may say or surmise about the nearer past, imaginatively this 'history' is supposed to take place in a period of the actual Old World of this planet.", Letters, pg 220
^ Letters 183: "I am historically minded. Middle-earth is not an imaginary world. The name is the modern form (appearing in the 13th century) of midden-erd>middel-erd, an ancient name for the oikoumene, the abiding place of Men, the objectively real world, in use specifically opposed to imaginary worlds (as Fairyland) or unseen worlds (as Heaven or Hell). The theatre of my tale is this earth, the one in which we now live, but the historical period is imaginary. The essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N.W. Europe), so naturally it feels familiar, even if a little glorified by enchantment of distance in time., Letters pg, 239",

[1] Buss, Kathleen; Karnowski, Lee (2000). Reading and Writing Literary Genres. International Reading Assoc. p. 114. ISBN 9780872072572.

[Perry-2] Perry, Phyllis Jean (2003). Teaching Fantasy Novels. Libraries Unlimited. p. vi. ISBN 9781563089879.

[Gamble-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Gamble, Nikki; Yates, Sally (2008). Exploring Children's Literature. SAGE Publications Ltd. pp. 102–103. ISBN 9781412930130.

[4] Oziewicz, Marek (2008). One Earth, One People. McFarland & Co. p. 78. ISBN 9780786431359.

[5] Boyer, Robert H.; Zahorski, Kenneth J. (1978). The Fantastic Imagination II. Avon. p. 2. ISBN 9780380415335.

[Jean-François-6] Jean-François, Leroux (2004). "The World Is Its Own Place". In Jean-François, Leroux; La Bossière, Camille R. (eds.). Worlds of Wonder. University of Ottawa. p. 192. ISBN 9780776605708.

[7] "Hogwarts ... Logically it had to be set in a secluded place, and pretty soon I settled on Scotland in my mind." Fraser, L., An interview with J.K.Rowling, Mammoth, London, 2000. ISBN 0-7497-4394-8. pp 20–21.

[8] Happy ending, and that's for beginners". The Herald via AccioQuote!. 24 June 1997. Retrieved 5 October 2007.

[9] Letters 151, 165, 183, 211, Letters 325, 17 July 1971, Letters 328 Autumn 1971

[10] Letters 211, "...steed of the Witch-King...it's description even provides a sort of way in which it could be a last survivor of older geological eras.", "...it would be difficult to fit the lands and events (or 'cultures') into such evidence as we possess, archaeological or geological, concerning the nearer or remoter part of what is now Europe; though the Shire, for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region (I p. 12).", "Arda 'realm' was the name given to our world or earth......I hope the, evidently long but undefined gap* in time between the Fall of Barad-dur and our Days is sufficient for 'literary credibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known as 'pre-history'. I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place. I prefer that to the contemporary mode of seeking remote globes in 'space'. However curious, they are alien, and not loveable with the love of blood-kin. Middle-Earth is... not my own invention, It is a modernization or alteration...of an old word for inhabited world of Man, the oikoumene: middle because thought vaguely as set admidst the encircling Seas and (in the northern-imagination) between the ice of the North and the fire of the South. O. English middan-geard, mideavil E. midden-erd, middle-erd. Many reviewers seem to assume Middle-earth is another planet! *I imagine the gap to be about 6000 years: that is we are now at the end of the Fifth Age, if the Ages were of about the same lenth as S.A. and T.A. But they have, I think quickened; and I imagine we are actually at the end of the Sixth Age, or in the Seventh.", The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien, pg 282, 283

[11] Letters 294: "...Middle Earth. This is an old word not invented by me, as a reference to a dictionary such as the Shorter Oxford will show. It is meant to be the inhabitable lands of our world, set amid the surrounding Ocean. The actions of the story take place in the North-west of 'middle-earth', equivalent in latitude to the coastlands of Europe and the north shores of the Mediterranean...Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be about the latitude of Oxford, the Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is about the latitude of Florence. The mouths of Anduin, and the ancient city of Pelargir are about the latitude of ancient Troy.", Letters, pg 375,376

[12] Letters 210: "The Lord of the Rings may be a 'fairy-story', but it takes place in the Northern hemisphere of this earth: miles are miles, days are days, and weather is weather.", Letters pg 272

[13] Letters 211: "I hope the, evidently long but undefined gap* in time between the Fall of Barad-dur and our Days is sufficient for 'literary credibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known as 'pre-history'. I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place. I prefer that to the contemporary mode of seeking remote globes in 'space'. However curious, they are alien, and not loveable with the love of blood-kin.", pg 283

[14] Letters 151: "Middle-earth is just archaic english...the inhabited world of man. It lay then as it does. In fact just as it does, round and inescapable. That is partly the point. The new situation, established at the end of the Third Age, leads on eventually and inevitably to ordinary History, and we see here the process culminating. If you or I or any of the mortal men (or hobbits) of Frodo's day had set out over sea, west, we should, as now, eventually have come back (as now) to our starting point..."Letters of JRR Tolkien, pg 186

[15] Letters 165: "'Middle-earth' by the way, is not a name of a never-never land without relation to the world we live in (like Mercury or Edison). It is just a use of Middle English middel-erde (or erthe) altered from Old English Middengeard: the name for the inhabited lands of Men 'between the seas'. And though I have not attempted to to relate the shape of the mountains and land-masses to what geologists may say or surmise about the nearer past, imaginatively this 'history' is supposed to take place in a period of the actual Old World of this planet.", Letters, pg 220

[16] Letters 183: "I am historically minded. Middle-earth is not an imaginary world. The name is the modern form (appearing in the 13th century) of midden-erd>middel-erd, an ancient name for the oikoumene, the abiding place of Men, the objectively real world, in use specifically opposed to imaginary worlds (as Fairyland) or unseen worlds (as Heaven or Hell). The theatre of my tale is this earth, the one in which we now live, but the historical period is imaginary. The essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N.W. Europe), so naturally it feels familiar, even if a little glorified by enchantment of distance in time., Letters pg, 239",

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