Talk:Heroic fantasy

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Sorry about the no-ID on adding the quotations section; I can't seem to stay logged in for more than a few minutes at a time tonight, and didn't notice that I had been logged off. — B.Bryant 03:37, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC)

How does the "heroic fantasy" described here differ from "high fantasy" or "sword-and-sorcery" sufficient to merit a separate entry? The authors listed here are also listed under those genres. Goldfritha 00:22, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. If there are any differences, they should be listed to avoid confusion.--SidiLemine 12:00, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Bit the bullet and proposed the merge. Goldfritha 00:15, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

In the Encyclopedia of Fantasy, John Clute says something like 'There may be a relevant difference between heroic fantasy and sword and sorcery, but nobody has identified it yet.' He compares it to the difference between 'horror' and 'dark fantasy'. Chris Thornett 10:28, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

All right, so if we go ahead and merge them, which one is going to be the main article? --SidiLemine 11:18, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

Sword and sorcery. The Clute quote is the beginning of a one-paragraph entry on "heroic fantasy", chiefly talking of its uselessness, while the "sword and sorcery" one in that Encyclopedia takes up over a page. Goldfritha 01:38, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

I don't know. I was under the impression that Heroic Fantasy was kinf of broader (as including LOTR, The LanceDragons and others, while Sword and Sorcery was more of a pejorative term for books about a "muscular hero(ine)" fighting evil sorcerer-kings. The key difference between the two terms might be the "fantasy", that lets you think there's going to be elves, gnomes, and... Well, unexpected stuff. But then again, if there is such a big difference, we might as well keep. Separate articles. No, I just felt like "sword and sorcery" is a bit pejorative for such a vast genre, just like I wish the article about sword and sandal would be named Peplum.--SidiLemine 09:57, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

That means the term Heroic fantasy was used for High fantasy as well. That would be an argument for making it sword and sorcery, because it is more precise. As for "pejorative" -- actually Heroic fantasy is the euphemism. Goldfritha 15:57, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

If you merge the two articles then the Heroic Fantasy article needs to be greatly revised as it is integrated into the S&S sorcery entry. I would not classify the Lord of the Rings the works of CS Lewis as Sword and Sorcery at all. They might have influenced the genre but go above and beyond especially in works other than those whose setting was Middle Earth or Narnia. If you merge the two articles, I would not want to see the Lord of the Rings or CS Lewis relegated to a sub-genre. I could accept that the genre of Sword and Sorcery was greatly influenced by either author but there should be a distinction in the article because I would make the argument that both the Lord of the Rings and Narnia (the works that arguably could be labeled as S&S) transcend and greatly differ from the genre they influenced. So if you do merge the articles I feel that certain authors should be removed from the classification if they do not fit the sword and sorcery classification or their role and relevance of the works to the genre even though they arguably do not fit into the genre.Blueskelton 10:07, 3 March 2007 (UTC)Blueskelton

[edit] pov

shouldnt this be tagged first as being fulil of POV and questionable contend? not just pov btw, overstated opinion with attempt at persuation.--Lygophile 14:06, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Done! Goldfritha 00:29, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] origins

Fantasy was long distinguishable from mythological tales long before LOR. In fact, it was distinguishable from them in the medieval romances, when it was not exactly fantasy. Goldfritha 19:12, 17 December 2006 (UTC)