From J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit:
As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.
I love this quote because it nails the reason why I love (good) fantasy fiction: It elevates your spirit and lifts you above the mundane. A well-told tale can stir the hearts of even the smallest, meekest fellows.
Absolutely! Fantasy (and some other heroic-adventure genres) inspires the desire for greatest in all but most dully unimaginative individuals. Tolkien certainly understood and exemplified this.
ReplyDeleteRight on, Wolfkahn.
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