History of fantasy

Though the fantasy genre in its modern sense is less than two centuries old, its antecedents have a long and distinguished history. While the categorization of many of these earlier works as fantasy is one that only a small minority would agree with outside the context of the fantasy genre itself and discussions of its origins, this relatively uncommon custom of placing mythology in the context of the fantasy genre is especially useful to those that scrutinize the fantasy genre as others would mainstream fiction. This gives fantasy a rich history of inspirations for critics to disect and apply to the modern genre. Likewise, the fantasy genre is often examined as the modern counterpart to mythology, the exemplar of this being Star Wars saga and its (debatable) description as the United States' equivalent of a national epic. Whether one of these practices inspired the other, and which inspired which, is unknown, and perhaps unknowable.

Related Topics:
Fantasy - Mythology - Star Wars - United States - National epic

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The following lists include works which contain significant elements that might be considered "fantasy" by today's standards, or which modern fantasy authors have drawn upon extensively for inspiration in their own works.

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