Our next author is someone you just might have heard of: C.S. Lewis. He is one of my personal favorites--hence the reason I'll be talking about him today.
If you haven't heard of him, then I'm pretty sure you've heard of his most famous series of books: "The Chronicles of Narnia."
Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought so. With Disney's recent releases of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and "Prince Caspian," there are few who haven't heard of that series.
What few do know, however, is that "The Chronicles of Narnia" is an allegory about the Christian faith for children. Do you think that C.S. Lewis may have wanted to distance himself from pagan magic? You better believe it. Those who possessed "magic" were the witch and Aslan.
Magic was by no means the central theme of the books. And it was not attributed to nature, a "spirit realm," and could not be acquired through special worship or rituals. Instead, "magic" was attributed to the major players of good and evil.
Why is all this important? Well, as you shall see when I review my third author next week, how magic is presented is pivotal to the theme and feel of the story.
As a Christian author, I, like C.S. Lewis, do not want to be associated with paganism or spiritism, though I still do want to write fantasy. This genre is not closed to just those who write about magic wielding wizards and a group of gods and goddesses who play with the lives of the hero/heroine. There is a way to write strictly fantasy, but not abandon your morals. Tolkien and Lewis led the way in this and are considered the masters in the genre.
Stay tuned for a different perspective on fantasy by author, Terry Goodkind, next week.
Showing posts with label Fantasy fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fantasy fiction. Show all posts
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Magic and Fantasy (Part 1)
Is it necessary to have a magical element in a fantasy story? Well that depends, really. You're probably wondering what I mean by that, so lets take a look at some fairly well known fantasy authors.
I think it's pretty safe to assume that when you see the name, J.R.R Tolkien you automatically think of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. But do you also think of magic and/or paganism? Well, I certainly hope not, and I'm willing to bet Tolkien would have hoped not too. He went through a lot of care to keep magic, for the most part, out of his novel. What do I mean by "for the most part?" If you've read "The Lord of the Rings," you may have noticed that the word "magic" made its appearance from time to time. But who did it typically come from? The hobbits, Gimli, and sometimes even men. What about the wielders of this supposed magic? Well, when asked about it, they were usually pretty emphatic that it wasn't magic at all. Now wait a second! You might be saying. Gandalf and Saruman were wizards! And they certainly used magic! Hmm...this actually requires some deeper reading...
"The Silmarillion" is a very detailed look at the world of Middle Earth and even beyond. It's full of Elves, Men, Dwarves, and Valar. What? Valar? Yes indeed. They were in "The Lord of the Rings" too. Anyone remember Tom Bombadil? He's better known as Tulkas in "The Silmarillion," and he's a Valar. The Valar, with the help and guidance of Eru, created Middle Earth. And there aren't just Valar, there are Maiar too. I could go into a very detailed explanation of what these beings actually represent, but let's keep this particular post as short as possible (it's already getting pretty long and I haven't even gotten to the other two authors). What you need to know is that Gandalf, Saruman, and Sauron are Maiar.
This all is just a long, roundabout way of saying that those who are accused of using magic are done so by those who don't know any better.
You may be thinking that this doesn't change the fact that some of those characters had special abilities. And you would be right. But you have to stop and see where those abilities are coming from. Are they coming from special potions, rituals, sayings, etc.? Or are they coming from some supreme being who doesn't give the ability to just a rare few, but to all within a certain race?
There is a difference and I'll go into why in Parts 2 and 3.
Stay tuned!
I think it's pretty safe to assume that when you see the name, J.R.R Tolkien you automatically think of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. But do you also think of magic and/or paganism? Well, I certainly hope not, and I'm willing to bet Tolkien would have hoped not too. He went through a lot of care to keep magic, for the most part, out of his novel. What do I mean by "for the most part?" If you've read "The Lord of the Rings," you may have noticed that the word "magic" made its appearance from time to time. But who did it typically come from? The hobbits, Gimli, and sometimes even men. What about the wielders of this supposed magic? Well, when asked about it, they were usually pretty emphatic that it wasn't magic at all. Now wait a second! You might be saying. Gandalf and Saruman were wizards! And they certainly used magic! Hmm...this actually requires some deeper reading...
"The Silmarillion" is a very detailed look at the world of Middle Earth and even beyond. It's full of Elves, Men, Dwarves, and Valar. What? Valar? Yes indeed. They were in "The Lord of the Rings" too. Anyone remember Tom Bombadil? He's better known as Tulkas in "The Silmarillion," and he's a Valar. The Valar, with the help and guidance of Eru, created Middle Earth. And there aren't just Valar, there are Maiar too. I could go into a very detailed explanation of what these beings actually represent, but let's keep this particular post as short as possible (it's already getting pretty long and I haven't even gotten to the other two authors). What you need to know is that Gandalf, Saruman, and Sauron are Maiar.
This all is just a long, roundabout way of saying that those who are accused of using magic are done so by those who don't know any better.
You may be thinking that this doesn't change the fact that some of those characters had special abilities. And you would be right. But you have to stop and see where those abilities are coming from. Are they coming from special potions, rituals, sayings, etc.? Or are they coming from some supreme being who doesn't give the ability to just a rare few, but to all within a certain race?
There is a difference and I'll go into why in Parts 2 and 3.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
What on Earth is Aurumenas??
No doubt you read through my welcome post and couldn't help but ask yourself what an Aurumenas was, or even how to pronounce it. No worries. That's what this post is all about.
Yes, Aurumenas (hour-oo-may-nahs) is my very own made up word, or what I like to call an Emism. My book has a lot of Emisms, but this particular one is the most important. Inspired by J.R.R Tolkien's "The Silmarillion," I wanted a title that had a deep meaning that was special to the story. I wanted to give the reader a sense of what my story was like before he even opened the book.
So what does Aurumenas mean? Well, it literally means (however literal you can get with a made up word): The search for the Child of Auru. I will go into more detail about Auru and the Auri in a later post, but for the time being all you need to know is that it is a planet, and the Child of Auru is the one who rules it. While my main character, the Aurume, is indeed missing and all of Auru is searching for her, the deeper meaning behind the term actually has to do with the character's need to discover who she is and what it means to be the Child of Auru.
Pulled on all sides by the supporting characters, the MC (Nathadria) finds herself wanting to escape and live her own life. But being the mean author that I am, I rarely give my characters what they want. Instead, Nathadria is forced to make a decision between her own desires and the needs of those counting on her. By doing so, she discovers just how strong she really is; the real Child of Auru.
Yes, Aurumenas (hour-oo-may-nahs) is my very own made up word, or what I like to call an Emism. My book has a lot of Emisms, but this particular one is the most important. Inspired by J.R.R Tolkien's "The Silmarillion," I wanted a title that had a deep meaning that was special to the story. I wanted to give the reader a sense of what my story was like before he even opened the book.
So what does Aurumenas mean? Well, it literally means (however literal you can get with a made up word): The search for the Child of Auru. I will go into more detail about Auru and the Auri in a later post, but for the time being all you need to know is that it is a planet, and the Child of Auru is the one who rules it. While my main character, the Aurume, is indeed missing and all of Auru is searching for her, the deeper meaning behind the term actually has to do with the character's need to discover who she is and what it means to be the Child of Auru.
Pulled on all sides by the supporting characters, the MC (Nathadria) finds herself wanting to escape and live her own life. But being the mean author that I am, I rarely give my characters what they want. Instead, Nathadria is forced to make a decision between her own desires and the needs of those counting on her. By doing so, she discovers just how strong she really is; the real Child of Auru.
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