A Brief History Of Fantasy!

The fantasy genre has existed in one way or another for far longer than most realize. Let's talk about the history of the fantasy genre!
Sources:
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: The Makers of Heroic Fantasy
A Short History of Fantasy
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[@DanielGreeneReviews]

So couple clean up points! 1. Did not mean to drop Doc Savages name. Not even sure what I was going for. That’s unrelated basically. 2. Dracula reinvented/popularized the modern vampire. Not the original. 3. There is a lot of blending between fairytales and romanticism. I kinda made it seem like they were unrelated. They are HIGHLY tied together.

[@RatBrain]

Wait what’s wrong with Doc Savage?

[@jackwriter1908]

I didn't know, that before Dracula there were Vampires. I mean yeah there are Monsters that drink blood, but I was never sure if Bram Stroker took Blooddrinking Monsters to Dracula or if there were monsters beforehand labeled Vampires. The Problem is that back then the Brüder Grimm Stories were maybe Fairytails, but today the Originals are pretty brutal, so no one would see their work as a Fairytail. Oh yeah and I love your new Green Screen Style.

[@totallynotjeff7748]

@@jackwriter1908 from what I've heard, vampires before Dracula were more like modern zombies in some ways. They had the same name but no real characteristics aside from being undead and drinking blood.

[@svjetlicasvjetlic6784]

Dracula didn’t reinvent modern vampire; Bram Stoker was inspired by Carmilla a gothic novella written by J. Sheridan Le Fanu in 1872. The novella introduces a vampire as a dark creature with sexual cravings, obsessions, and other similarities to a modern vampire. What Bram Stoker did was transform an actual historical figure, Vlad Tepes III Dracula, widely known for his cruelty, into the fictional character Dracula, the first vampire.

[@Cinemallennials]

Where’d you get a replica of Joyeuse?!

[@pipitameruje]

Barefoot, holding a sword and wearing a smartwatch on a rainbow wristband. Yeah, that's Daniel. And this is a lovely study break, beautifully timed.

[@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t]

"Smoochy smoochy squeaky squeaky" - ladies and gentlemen, we now all know how Daniel Greene flirts.

[@dynamicworlds1]

I lost it at that line 😂

[@22freedom33]

Pré-historic fantasy must've been wild, things like "once hard rock water fell from the sky" or "I saw bird hatch from egg, but snake also come from egg"

[@trevortriestocollege]

Lmao this gave me a chuckle

[@kerneywilliams632]

Probably on shrooms, which explains a lot. Magic mushrooms/potions probably influenced ancient religion which in turn influenced fantasy.

[@nenadmilovanovic5271]

You should check out aboriginal 'dreamtime' stories, they are possibly the oldest stories we have

[@nathanwilson7600]

@@kerneywilliams632 "magic mushrooms" definitely influenced even modern religions XD

[@MKTraxel]

As someone who has tried to explain snow to someone in a (part of a) country where "cold" meant 60*F and ice wasn't readily available until the last 5-10 years - can confirm, felt like I was explaining magic.

[@newguy7209]

Damn. Yesterday, when you said "tomorrow" you weren't kidding. I thought you meant like 9 am or something.

[@adeverse4840]

You can see his excitement dripping from the video

[@DanielGreeneReviews]

Oh I did. Thanks KZbin.

[@trevortriestocollege]

Bro I gotta say. I’ve been in an extremely dark period of my life and 2020 has just compounded my misery like the lord ruler. But goddamn it seeing your content level up and your channel grow really has been some of the best parts of my day for about a year. I’m so happy and proud of you and this channel’s community.

[@rosesnewbeginning3547]

Stay strong after rain comes sunshine is what translates best what i always said to myself even i feared complete darkess light always pops up somewhere. After night comes day i hope you have fam, friends or sm people you can talk 2 for suport. Ill send you a little prayer . Kind regards from somebody who knows the dark

[@thefuckisgoingon]

I can strongly relate, it's gonna get better.

[@josephwoodard9885]

I would point to Shakespeare as having a huge influence on elements of modern fantasy. Macbeth had its witches, and Hamlet has its ghosts, fake ghosts, and rumors of ghosts. And perhaps more influential were his historical plays, which popularized "court drama" and house-vs.-house political conflicts that we see in fantasies such as ASOIF.

[@atharvadeshpande4749]

Midsummer night's dream is an Absurdist Fantasy. 😂 He definitely has an influence.

[@RichardDicksondlyrch68]

Tolkien himself noted that he created Ents partially in response to his disappointment that the mention of Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane Hill in Macbeth was metaphorical and not actual trees marching to war.

[@RevivalMH]

Certainly, Castle of Otranto in particular rips off a lot from Hamlet. The gothic as a sub genre owes a lot to Shakespeare.

[@eadlc]

@@RichardDicksondlyrch68 Also Éowyn killing the witch king. The "man not born of a woman" prophecy.

[@supremeleadersmeagol6345]

Also the tempest. The lead character Prospero is an exiled sorcerer who wields magic by binding elemental spirits to his will and using magic circles of power. A lot of perceptions of the modern wizard were popularized by Shakespeare as well.

[@Piqipeg]

A couple points: 1. Arthurian legends are older than the written stories, accounts going back to the bronze age. 2. Bram Stoker didn't invent vampires, he reinvented them, prior to his book a vampire was something in folklore more akin to what we today consider ghouls or zombies.

[@thevorpalbard7245]

There's even a possibility that Arthur came from some sort of ancient bear god. He's pretty darn old.

[@atharvadeshpande4749]

He made Vampires Popular because People call every Vampire, Dracula now a days. At least people who don't Know how to Separate them.

[@aalin5701]

Carmilla is a sexy non zombie vampire that predates Dracula too

[@charliewrigg1319]

I don’t think Daniel said Stoker invented vampires, and besides the vampire appeared in fiction before Dracula, in a book written by Lord Byron’s doctor (can’t remember his name). English folklore doesn’t actually have vampires as such, the closest is probably the Irish figure of the Leanan sídhe, which definitely have some of the more romantic qualities of modern vampires.

[@Piqipeg]

@@charliewrigg1319 the way he (Daniel) said it made it seem he (Bram Stoker) invented vampires as a whole. *edited* for clarification.

[@r1ddhima]

The photo of the man looking completely defeated and dejected for the Chosen One is a vibe and definitely the most accurate image you could have chosen.

[@TheHUmAnSaReWeAk]

That isn't just a man. That's celebrity sex idol Rich Evans!

[@Roby1Kenobi]

It's just modern Kaladin, he'll be alright (I hope)

[@DanielGreeneReviews]

RICH EVANS IS A NATIONAL HERO

[@Hup.]

Mr. Plinket?!

[@kurtisnimmert7555]

"for children" should not be a badge of shame. Fairy tails are bose and lots of the best story's that ring the most true are for "children"

[@Loganva]

Wasn’t the hobbit for children?

[@robertblume2951]

Even fairy tales weren't for children for more than one generation.

[@andrewmusiclaughton]

Tolkien touches on this in his essay On Fairy Stories! Very interesting and I definitely agree!

[@MrDanielEarle]

“When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” - CS Lewis

[@luthientinuviel3883]

SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

[@AsiniusNaso]

Fun Facts! Bram Stoker did not invent vampires, or even Victorian vampire stories (Carmilla predates it, along with others). However, he did help massively popularize them. Conan actually predates The Hobbit by a couple of years and was quite popular in its time, and Sword and Sorcery as a whole likely influences video game fantasy as much as Tolkien does (they certianly didn’t get bikini armor from Tolkien). Finally, Robert Jordan wrote several Conan novels! Not a lot of people know that.

[@StergiosMekras]

Funny that you mention bikini armour. One of its most famous proponents (Red Sonja) was called out for its lack of practicality by none other than Conan. It's treated as absurd even in-universe, and yet it's what most people remember.

[@jasontankable]

Dracula could walk in daylight and was killed by a Bowie knife. Nosferatu (a blatant copyright-dodge) and Bela Lugosi's Dracula created the visual look that still survives. But The Count from Sesame Street perfected the vampire, because a legendary method of evading a vampire was to toss rice or seeds at it: a vampire would be compelled to stop and count every grain or seed! We need more of that!

[@Dino23968]

It’s October and I got a question. What is a good horror book (series) that matches these qualities?: -A mainly werewolf-themed series(no vampires) -Mostly horror, along with a little sense of humor, and some romance(none of that Twilight-related garbage) -a monster mythology that focuses generally on werewolves, and maybe some ghosts, witches, and warlocks -Keeping things with the traditional werewolf lore, such as death by silver, transformation reversed or blocked by wolfsbane, uncontrollable transformation from the full moon, and werewolves looking like actually werewolves(not regular wolves, Lon Chaney lookalikes, or a bunch of shirtless underwear model-wannabes like in Twilight or the Teen Wolf show)

[@mysticmagicsmurfdarklord6844]

Vampires came from Slavic Mythology.

[@GodofTrek]

A video like this must have taken a lot of academic research, and we the community appreciate it!!! Hopefully it was a labour of love. You sir, have earned my 'Thumbs Up'

[@becklebooks]

"I don't know if I'm saying that right, I'm dyslexic as shyt" made me spit some of my tea, just a lil. Hahaha! This must have required SO MUCH DANG RESEARCH, DAYUM. Super rad, dude. :D

[@calista3371]

I think mythology also has a HUGE influence on fantasy. Fighting monsters with swords and voyages against magical beings.

[@bramvandenheuvel4049]

The real question is of course: how many T-shirts did Daniel wear?

[@iulia5677]

Remember when he had his pants in his socks?

[@bozimsaho5590]

and are his socks in the wash

[@meretgross6517]

@@iulia5677 Oh yeah I was so focused on that I completely forgot to watch the video hihi

[@rachelkraft1138]

I wrote a college paper on how fantasy actually created real world influence. The big example is that California is named after Calafia, an amazonian queen in a Spanish adventure novel popular at the time of the exploration. In the story the amazonians ride griffins, and that's why a griffin was the mascot and logo of my college.

[@skywriter9532]

That song at the beginning sounds disturbingly close to Hymn of Fayth from Final Fantasy X LOL.

[@haughtygarbage5848]

I open the vid I see this comment... I PRAISE YU YEVON 🙌

[@dbrickell89]

I'm glad you commented because I knew I recognized it but didn't know what it was and it was driving me insane

[@kylecunningham9793]

Lol I thought so too! Praise be to Yevon

[@J_MM]

Glad im not the only one who noticed.

[@Shiva182Katarina]

Yeah, that's was my first reaction too!

[@AMAR9933]

They fall in your epic poem bit, but I'd say the Iliad and the Odyssey are definitely part of this evolution. Of course, there's a sidenote ofc on religion and whether the Olympians were fantastical or not to the people back then. But I mean, the Odyssey in particular is a travel quest with witches and monsters. As are the trials of Hercules in general (and many other mythological stories).

[@lessls]

Was going to mention The Iliad & The Odyssey too. Wherever we look, legends and myths have been the forefront of fantasy always. Norway, Germany, the Balkans, all throughout Asia and Africa.. got to agree with Daniel on the importance of the fantastical for people throughout history.

[@mrgodliak]

He mentioned stories like Beowulf, he doesn’t need to mention The Iliad, the Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, Metamorphoses, Aeneid, Waltharius, Táin Bó Cúailnge. It’s not a video on epics, I think we get the desired picture.

[@Xobik1]

Being epic is a quality of a fantasy stories. Epic genre don't exist... Daniel should have at least mencioned Gilgamesh and Odissey...

[@cheezettegazette]

@@Xobik1 Gilgamesh👏needs👏 to 👏be👏 talked 👏about !

[@Dino23968]

I got a Question. What are some really good and recommended examples of a High Fantasy series that has these qualities?: -A fantasy world that is its own mythology -Epic fight scenes and wars -Intense magic battles -A hugely expanded magic system -The archetypical hero’s journey -Dragons, Unicorns, Griffins, Sea Monsters, Phoenixes, and other known mythical beasts -Stunningly beautiful and smart female characters and love interests -Romantic story arcs that involve love and sex -Conflicts involving politics -Political/Social themes of conservatism but without getting too preachy or controversial for the readers -Themes and elements and faith and religion -Spiritual and psychological themes -Elves, Dwarves, Goblins, Ghouls, Vampires, Merfolk, Fairies, Centaurs, and other non-human races -Different languages that are spoken by non-human languages -A feared and all-powerful dark lord who is after the main hero -the archetypal wise wizard -a community of wizards and sorceresses -Dark themes of tragedy, corruption, betrayal, and genocide -A tone that turns into being dark and gritty while always being mature from the start -Characters that are realistic and relatable in personality -Light and positive themes of faith, love, friendship, loyalty, honor, sacrifice and optimism

[@Zetamen7]

Well, Lord Dunsany and his world of Pegana was also a great influence on Tolkien and I would argue that it was full blown Fantasy, and it was published in 1905 (The Gods of Pegana, that is). Also, it is impossible to talk about the origin of fantasy and not mention the Epic of Gilgamesh

[@JimmyDaKoik]

Any "history of fantasy" that omits Lord Dunsany is one that can't be taken seriously. Come to think of it, any "history of fantasy" that omits the vast influence Robert Howard had on the genre, ignores landmark works like the Dying Earth, or landmark characters like Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser or Elric of Melnibone' is one that can't be taken seriously. Lord Dunsany was the Tokien before Tolkien. He was a popular writer and a true renaissance man. Soldier, chess player (invented his own variation on the game) big game hunter, playwright, fantasist. William Morris created the first fully fictional world, Dunsany took it to the next level with two books: the aforementioned Gods of Pegana and Time and the Gods. The first recounts the creation of the world by the gods, the second focus on the humans in that world. Sound familiar? It should because Tolkien would later follow that exact same pattern in The Silmarillion. Dunsany also had a good sense of wry humour that makes his works feel timeless and somewhat modern. And he's a better story teller than Tolkien by far. After Dunsany comes Tolkien, who took world building to the next level, as Dunsany's Pegana could be nebulous and dreamlike. Not only that, but Tolkien brings European influence back into the picture as a lot of fantastical tales in Dunsany's time looked to the Orient to elicit a sense of mystery and the exotic. HP Lovecraft's entire Dream Cycle was him trying to do Lord Dunsany. Neil Gaiman's "Stardust" was essentially a love letter to Dunsanian fantasy (and yes, Dunsany was big enough and unique enough to have a style named after him)

[@grimreads]

You jumped over Lord Dansany, who was actually the first person to use the word "phantasy" for his writings. His Pegana was a huge influence on Silmarilion

[@JeremyJensen_FiveKids]

My favorite aspect about the "Fantasy" & "Sci-Fi" genres is the reason why Brandon Sanderson says he writes in them. Those 2 "genres" are more like settings as they can and often do encompass overlap almost every other genre. You want a political action adventure story? You want a grim-dark romance story? You want a murder mystery story? They can all be found in Fantasy/Sci-Fi.

[@agavebeats5651]

I feel like The Wizard of Oz gets left out of these conversations alot but was a huge entry in the early Fantasy genre

[@wolfhunter578rr]

I feel like he was so proud of how this turned out to be that he had zero patience to post it 😂 but it is pretty interesting and awesome

[@AroundTheCampfire]

But when do we get the video going back to campfire times? 👀

[@christianelthorp8601]

Daniel couldn’t wait until his normal time to release a video with this one, that’s how we know he’s proud of it.

[@JohnWilliamDye]

I'll never not appreciate a surprise Rich Evans.

[@DX064]

Relevant book: "Tales Before Tolkien" / Douglas A Anderson. A collection of those "fairy tales" that influenced later fantasy writing, starting in the early 19th century.

[@aneweliseonlife]

Yes! So glad you mentioned the serial fantasy magazines! Did a paper about how they shaped the genre! ❤️ And now how creepypasta and stuff is our new fairytales.

[@MazrimTaim]

I'm glad that you immediately identified the Chosen One as our savior, Rich Evans.

[@sarahconnor4883]

I took a class on fantasy and had to read several epics before building up to LOTR, so at least my professor is definitely arguing that epics were the earliest forms of fantasy (well the hero’s quest specifically)

[@EricMcLuen]

Which Tolkein drew from heavily particularly Norse and Die Niebelungenleid. Dont have to go much farther than the Dwarven names and ironically Gandalf was a dwarf.

[@andrerobinson3233]

I don't agree. The epics like the illiad were stories that people believed were real history at the time. It was not fantasy from the perspective of the writer or original audience. The Aenied comes close as people knew it was fiction at the time but it was not written to be enternaining literature it was written as political propoganda for the Roman empire.

[@sarahconnor4883]

I was referring to Gilgamesh and Beowulf.

[@andrerobinson3233]

@@sarahconnor4883 People didn't believe in gilgamesh and beowulf at the time they were written?

[@zibbi.is.reading]

Dude. I can feel the energy and your immense passion for fantasy in this video. Thank you always for your efforts and I'm always looking forward to your content!

[@nokturnalhatred]

I think that the importance of opera should be mentioned, mozarts the magic flute and then wagners ring cycle amongst others of course.

[@imogenmcgartland9676]

While narnia may not be perfect it’s still how I came into fantasy

[@mattk3373]

King giving us such golden content that Jasnah Kholin would expect you to know all the Greene Lore

[@UkuleleProductions]

Awesome video - Thanks man! Incredible, how you can talk 18 minutes about this topic, and there is still so much more to say about it. You could probably dedicate a whole channel just around this topic!

[@robertJ14]

Tolkien did do original stuff especially around the creation of language, hobbits and making a world so detailed there's books about its plants. It was groundbreaking to make a whole mythology and then produce widely read stories from it

[@tungstentrain1956]

The Walpoles at it again! (Horace Walpole author of Castle of Otranto, son of the infamous Robert Walpole)

[@Zetamen7]

Walpole Facts are universal

[@justinbell7309]

On a long enough timeline, all history is just Walpole.

[@joshuakusuma5953]

The Walpoles strike again.

[@eman19283746]

The key bit of Athurian stuff is the Mabinogion, medieval welsh literiture, check out one of the translations, its amazing!

[@doc837]

I have a PhD in medieval lit and love fantasy. You did an awesome job covering a lot of territory accurately, clearly, and in under 20 minutes. Impressive!

[@tiberiusjones7]

One of your best videos IMO, Daniel. The hard work paid off! This kind of content, the deeper dives, is my favorite stuff. And of course great use of the Greene Screene.

[@ryanratchford2530]

5am in the UK. Good to see you hear 😂

[@thatguy2756]

Wait! You're telling me that Tolkien didn't invent everything in the universe?

[@tonyjohnson1424]

The weapons in your videos started with a kitchen knife and have evolved to a bonafide sword. At this rate it won't be long before you're wielding comically-large weapons like those seen in Monster Hunter/Final Fantasy/World of Warcraft.

[@anniecrego525]

Just have to say I'm kinda glad your taking a break from reading this video was awesome AND it will give me a chance to catch up on my TBR pile without your reviews adding more to it. Thank you for sharing your views and passion for the fantasy genre.

[@Severian1]

This opens up so many avenues for discussion and I love it. We can talk about the 2 streams of Fantasy, "Sword and Sorcery" and Tolkien "Epic Fantasy"; we can talk mythology like the Enuma Elish, we can talk Science Fantasy like The Book of the New Sun or Dune. So much to talk about, so much content. Ah Daniel you mad lad, this is exciting just thinking about the possibilities. I hope authors chime in from time to time too. Thank you for giving me much to think about. Especially Romanticism which I hadn't considered deeply.

[@JessGoggin]

I really enjoyed this video! Would love to see more of this kind of thing. So interesting to get to the roots of where certain genres really started.

[@bethanygreenwood8259]

Thanks for taking the time to put this all together, it was really interesting 😊

[@lillythai7939]

Love how the music is edited in to match the timeline. Good job Daniel!!

[@PhoenixCrown]

Never heard that hot take at the end before: 'Take any story, and add fantastical elements if/where you need to amp it up.' I also love the perspective that Fantasy uses extreme (impossible, unbelievable etc.) fiction to make great commentary on the real world. That's what I try to do in my writing... with a light hand. Thanks Daniel!

[@thevorpalbard7245]

"Bram Stoker created the vampire" was a joke though, right? Because vampires are wayyy older than Dracula. Or did you mean Dracula was the first vampire to have a big cultural impact?

[@genghisgalahad8465]

The Vorpal Bard yeah, an earlier inspiration came from a story Stoker had come across, I believe, called The Vampyr.

[@thevorpalbard7245]

@@genghisgalahad8465 I hadn't heard of The Vampyr (but it sounds cool, is that the 1819 book?). I was thinking more of vampire folklore. There are a lot of Slavic stories about vampires and the creatures that came before them. From what I've read, vampires (or things very, very close to vampires) are a little under a thousand years old now. The only date I've been able to find, with pretty limited research, is 1047AD for the earliest mention, where the creature in question was an "upir". But anyway, one way or another there is A LOT of vampire lore pre-Dracula and I think I should stop before this becomes an essay

[@psychicsocial]

I hope it was a joke.

[@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t]

@@thevorpalbard7245 I mean, there's "vampire lore", which is mostly about creatures that are closer to what a D&D monster manual would call a ghoul or zombie, rather than Lord Ruthven/Marsden(the titular Vampyre) or Count Dracula. And, fwiw, The Vampyre was written by Polidori as his contribution to the same contest that prompted Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. Kind of makes that the literary equivalent of the Sex Pistols gig at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in '76.

[@DeeperStoriesbyTT]

"Stoker created one of the most famous creatures of all time... a vampire." Don't think he's saying he created vampires.

[@mylesadkins7892]

Really enjoyed this video. Your passion for literature and fantasy especially really shines through in these types of videos. Keep up the hard work ✌️

[@findwhy11]

This has been awesome and I feel like I will definitely rewatch this. I want this to hit me a few times before I move on. Thank you.

[@starlightskyes]

This was awesome. Such a huge part of our history and this perspective was really interesting, only wish it was longer with even more details

[@ellynbarclay3121]

Absolutely amazing video! So worth the wait! Actually I learnt a lot from this, thank you. And I always love a good doctor cameo❤️

[@sgtspazz4321]

Thank you Daniel for reminding me. Doc Savage and Perry Rhodan books were my entry into reading as an adolescent. Kitschy enough to be fun and short enough to get through. Gotta dig up one of them old Doc Savage's.

[@lea6385]

These kind of videos are the ones I will definetly come back to, as well as use for my class. I especially enjoyed this one as fantasy is my favourite genre and you have done it so well and worded it so it is really easy to remember these things later on

[@sauron8838]

I think you should have mentioned mythologies, since they are basically the grand-daddys of fantasy overall.

[@minaDesuDesu]

I also thought myths were missing. They have great cultural, philosophical and psychological importance in societies' development

[@petermckenzie602]

I thought that also, but then I went hmm really gods and heroes is well a little far off from magic and dark lords. Its almost as if mythologies kinda fit into more religious text or tales of action adventure than well fantastical fiction to some degree. Say if Homers the Iliad or Odyssey was mentioned it would have been similar in example to Beowulf, oral stories being written down for the first times etc.

[@sauron8838]

@@petermckenzie602 I have to disagree. A proper mythology has creation myths, epic stories, dashing heroes and heroines and evil monsters. I mean, Greek Mythology has all those things, yes?

[@petermckenzie602]

@@sauron8838 Ah it had to be the dark lord replying to this comment. Thanks Sauron, I will get you to refer back to my comment, I did say that 'Its almost as if mythologies kinda fit into more religious text or tales of action adventure than well fantastical fiction to SOME DEGREE.' So yeah I kinda of agree with your point while also exploring other options or should i say perspectives to look at this topic. Its what happens when discussing or debating a subject of interest. Over my years of studying ancient civilizations and history in general I have come to look at most forms of literature fitting into time brackets and if you stepped back in time and were say speaking to Homer would he of said that his works were FANTASY, I don't really think he would unless you explained the term in full. Where as if you spoke to Tolkien or others who fit in our so called fantasy genre that we know to today they most definitely would understand what you or I would mean. Also perhaps they would offer their own definition of what the fantasy genre is in their opinion. So yes the mythologies have creation myths, epic stories, dashing heroes along with heroines and evil monsters/Gods, but they are in a different time bracket one when the genre fantasy didn't exist. People praised and offered tributes to their gods asking for favors or in fear of retribution much like many do to day when they follow certain religions. What I mentioned before is also a valid opinion and so was yours so can we agree and disagree? This come from a person who has extensively studies things such as the Iliad, Odyssey, Work and Days, Homers Epic poems etc. I understand the mythologies from the Titans being bound to Tartarus by Zeus and his brothers to Hermes stealing Apollo's herd of sun cows and Prometheus deceivingly giving the gift of fire to humans, along with Epimetheus and the unleashing pandora's box in which only hope remained. I think I proved my point. Hesiod's Theogony and other works are far to complex and from another time to be put into the fantasy sub genre when they err on the side of being more a religious text form of literature or creation story. Kinda like the bibles Book of Genesis. Formation of lands and the beginnings of the human race and the morale dilemma's that they face partly made by themselves or from the Gods messing with them for the fun of it or meddling, mixing or falling in love with humans when it wasn't permitted etc. Anyways this complexity is probably why Daniel only briefly brought up myths as you could write a thesis on this subject, and still not fully understand everything and its underlying meaning from the Greek myths and ones from other countries like the Norse sagas etc they are just so complex. Many view these myths with a subjective-ness as to what they take from them and without discussion in groups and them being fully explained by trained professors you with struggle to understand what they mean. Let me tell you they really are just that complex and difficult to figure out. Perspective is important in this instance and time span!

[@sauron8838]

@@petermckenzie602 All are entitled to their own opinion, of course. Yet as a purely inspirational piece, ancient mythology should still have been mentioned in my humble opinion.

[@TsvetanSt]

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was written before Bram Stoker's Dracula. One would argue, that she popularized the gothic story... But awesome video, my man. Keep doing what you're doing. You have a bigger impact, than you think.

[@JohahnDiechter]

By Frankenstein the gothic genre was old hat. Gothic was popular well before Frankenstein. Shelley's story was a throwback with a science twist.

[@onfaerystories]

That's probably my favourite videos of yours (that I've watched, I'm still kinda new here :P). It was insanely interesting! Loved that you talked about how fascinating the human psyche is, I absolutely agree and that's why I love literature so much!

[@uptown3636]

Is this the highly-anticipated video he mentioned earlier?

[@emilywalker1885]

As always, another great video. Great information, well rounded exploration of it, visually enjoyable, fun script, and an interesting topic for fantasy nerds of all ages. 👏👏👏

[@sarathomas4346]

What an outstanding video. A work of art! I have been following you for quite a while. I have witnessed your evolvement over time. This video by far is your best yet. Videos like this one bring your imagination and intelligence to the forefront. Thank you for being you. Stay safe and healthy.

[@CaioKellermann]

You really stepped up with the sound effects! I love it!

[@israaahmed7168]

Love this video!!! Learned a whole lot than in my school days!!!!! Looking forward to your next genre history (and hopefully horror?)!!!!!

[@samuelrobertblakeledge9568]

I have been waiting for a video like this in years... Thanks Daniel!

[@akernis3193]

Nice work. Even relatively brief, this was an excellent overview of the fantasy history.

[@Modswer]

Great job Daniel. You obviously out tons of work and research into making this video and it came out amazing.

[@julianhenderson7628]

Perhaps my favorite video you've done! Sums it all up so well!

[@brady6951]

Very entertaining, engaging, and super informative!!!! The hard work you put into this is very apparent, thank you for this

[@senorbe]

I appreciate the work that went into this show - like you said, you are barely scratching the surface. I hope there will be more content like this coming and that some of your debates will feature controversy about where fantasy has been and where it's going. One quibble - if you are going to talk about history, you should *always* cite your sources. Watch The History Guy to see how it can be done unobtrusively.

[@hedleyr666]

Keep up the good work mate! Love these type of videos you keep mixing things up

[@astraestus8828]

Daniel Greene with an excellent Greene screene video at night?? Yes to that!!

[@paigevb758]

These are probably my favorite Danial Greene videos. The green screen educational/rant. The YA fantasy ones were the first ones I watched that got me to subscribe to the channel. Hearing all the amazing stories that came before in fantasy just makes me all the more inspired to write great fantasy, and to make it even more unique. I think as a writer it can be hard to go more unique because you're told by modern publishing that that won't sell, and while all us writers want to write our stories to be amazing, we also really wanna be sold. Excited for when we get a video on the history sci/fantasy! I know a lot less on the sci-fi side and would be really interested to learn more!

[@mateoazcueta]

This has to be one of the top Daniel Greene videos!

[@ILoveManCity.]

Great video, I love it. Now I feel some type of nostalgia about the early almost medieval written books you mentioned. I will search for them because I want to read them.

[@Painocus]

William Morris was writing and publishing historical romances and fantasies in his Oxford and Cambridge Magazine in 1856, two years before MacDonald's Phantastes. I think it might be more accurate to say "English fantasy" then "Western fantasy", as different things were going on in French, German, Norwegian, etc. at this time. And hybrid- and non-European cultures were common-place in fantasy; (Lord Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Edgar Rice Burroughs, etc.), long before Tolkien committed the word "Hobbit" to print.

[@saketjha8515]

Thanks for my Birthday gift.♥️. Amount of effort is appreciated.

[@grendelentertainment9642]

Oh, just a little video about THE HISTORY OF THE FANTASY GENRE! Great video as always!!!

[@peribabbles8603]

That's a DAMN PRO video, I'd say! Very interesting and well done. Keep up the good work, mr. Greene. Greetings from far-away Greece.

[@Ppanos423]

"We will not go back to campfire stuff. Proceeds anyway to go back as far as to Arthurian legends and Beowulf. Lots of love man. I love your videos ;)

[@MiaJoBella]

Yes! I've wanted to learn this for a long time, thank you! Love the work :)

[@mattsully5332]

Enjoyed this video, Thank You for all the work it took to make it!

[@SaintJimmy36]

Excellent video! The extra effort really shows!

[@sarahbeth4643]

This was an amazing video!! You're so smart and I love watching your videos, it's awesome to see such a cool fantasy nerd 😊

[@mariat.1442]

Damn I love fantasy and I love your channel. This was a great video. Around-the-fire-story-time? That's how it felt watching this. I declare myself heart-warmed.

[@petermckenzie602]

Editing leveled up! One tiny glitch at 10 min mark made me think was my comp dying hehe. But in General so good bro!

[@jaredsilvey2109]

Tolkien wrote an essay on fairy stories, where he briefly goes into both the history of the genre as well as what specific values he sees fantasy imparting to the reader. Good, instructive read.

[@henriknielsen9092]

This is awesome! If I remember correctly Bram Stoker didn’t create the vampire, the first vampire was Nosferatu and Dracula wasn’t even that big of a thing when it first got put out but everything else is awesome!

[@AnEruditeAdventure]

Phew, there was a lot in that video. Another amazing, well thought out video here. So much to unpack here, and presented in a very clear, interesting way. Great job. (Gets stuck staring at Daniel’s circling hand) -T

[@kdcadet]

Wow! Amazing! I really appreciate the level of detail in every aspect!

[@lucasschatz2209]

Always look forward to another fantasy video!

[@lucadesanto1692]

This was such a great video! Keep up the great work!!!

[@ryanratchford2530]

I think this is your best scripted video (YA videos are close contenders) It’s obviously taken a lot of work to produce & research and I found it extremely enjoyable. Hope other appreciate it too

[@Amazatastic]

I would LOVE video about the similarities and differences between sci fi and fantasy, and how they come together

[@astraestus8828]

Man I love these genre history videos. The SciFi one was also great.

[@ThePurpleBookWyrm]

Oh man I so called it with The Castle of Otranto! I'm so knowledgeable. 😜 Also it's not quite accurate to say Bram Stoker invented the vampire as such, but sure, he definitely set down the modern version we are most familiar with today (tho the vulnerability to sunlight thing wasn't from him, that was from Murnau's Nosferatu apparently). And I wouldn't call the Romance literature of the later Middle Ages Romanticism either; in art and literature, Romanticism denotes a very specific current that starts around the end of the 18th century and runs into a big chunk of the 19th century (that being said, some fantasy/fantastical - even an early SF one like Frankenstein - stories belonged to that current, and Gothic literature could be argued to be a darker shade of Romanticism as well). Finally, fun fact, but some of the iconic stories we attribute to the Brothers Grimm were actually "ripped off" a French author called Charles Perrault who wrote earlier versions more than a 100 years before them!

[@jg1335]

Used to love the Princesses and the Goblin the animated film as a kid. I had know idea the the book it was based off had a claim as one of the first fantasy books ever! Very cool, thank you man.

[@Vermbraunt]

I would love to see you make a massive hour-long deep dive into the history of fantasy

[@GeeOff]

Nice work on this, Mr. Greene. I actually wouldn't mind seeing this type of thing in deeper focus at some point in the future. Of course, that might risk growing out of the purview of your channel, since a lot of how history has developed is related to changes in the real world. But something to keep in mind as a possible future concept to play around with.