The Complete History of Fantasy

In this video we go over pretty much the complete history of the fantasy genre, from the ancient greeks and medieval ages, to "The Lord of The Rings." If you enjoyed the video please consider liking and subscribing, thanks! Have a great day!!!!
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[@kengillespie7797]

Finally, someone did this subject justice! I've looked up similar videos about the history of fantasy but this is definitely the best I've seen so far. Next, you could explore the origins of science fiction and compare with fantasy, the two are thoroughly intertwined.

[@MrBallsworth69]

Dude this video is great, I couldn’t believe it when I saw you had less than 200 subs, keep up the great work man

[@matthieuwilliams4527]

It's a shame to not mention William Morris because of he is one of the father of Fantasy and he had a lot influence on Tolkien's writing.

[@HistorySimplified1]

Thanks for the pointer! I wasn’t aware of his works until now, but I’ll definitely look further into his stuff!

[@johnaucamp7106]

A good overview; I like that you didn't leave out McDonald, but people like Fritz Lieber, Lord Dunsany, William Hope Hodgeson and Robert E Boward had big influences as well.

[@mcrumph]

I agree, especially about Lieber & Dunsany, but would also add Spencer's Faerie Queene.

[@stephenbarrett8861]

Shakespeare’s fantasy plays deserve a mention.

[@HistorySimplified1]

👍🏻

[@ThomasAnderson1111]

Always good to see someone giving attention to classic fantasy! I'd like to make one correction, though, about George MacDonald: Lilith is a completely separate book from Phantastes. It was published in 1896, at the end of MacDonald's literary career. The two books are, in modern times, sometimes published together as an omnibus, which may be the source of the confusion. So, the full title of Phantastes is just: "Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men amd Women."

[@JJMarkin]

Excellent synopsis of the field, although I agree with the comment that this is mainly an overview of English-language fantasy and its underpinnings. A simple change in the video's title would solve that problem. As for the omissions -- you hit all the highlights, which suffice for a short video. Including all the works and authors that typify and influence the genre would take an entire series of videos. One little quibble, though. The illustration of the "hippopotamus" at 3:21 is from an edition of Olaus Magnus's 1539 _Carta Marina_ and actually portrays a walrus. The tail is one giveaway; the caption, "Rosmarus", is another. (Rosmarus is the species name of the walrus, _Odobenus rosmarus_ .) It helps also to know that this map was of the Nordic countries, where the hippo dwells only in zoos and the walrus dwells anywhere it bloody well pleases.

[@HistorySimplified1]

Thanks for the great feedback!!!

[@JJMarkin]

@@HistorySimplified1 Glad to be of service, one researcher / academician / scholar / whatever to another. : )

[@debbierhodes5861]

Truly one of the best videos on fantasy that I’ve seen 😮 love the music, imagery, and facts you put together. Would watch it again and again

[@keyboarddancers7751]

Charles Kingsley's 'The Water Babies' - wonderful book. mumak oliphaunt

[@Tales-OfOld]

This awesome! Great quality for the amount of subs, keep going!

[@sanny8716]

Okay, I'm convinced terms "high fantasy" and "low fantasy" don't actually mean anything. Everybody gives completely different definitions of the terms, and I've seen Lord of the Rings being described as both high and low fantasy.

[@ren_dhark]

I liked the video, but it should definitely be called the Incomplete History of Fantasy as you leave out whole Fantasy subgenres like e.g. fairy tales, sword & sorcery, romanticism and european fantasy stories like the Nibelungenlied from the middle ages or the sagas of Dietrich von Bern to name just a few.

[@22Doriano]

Great video, seen others with this subject but this really broke down everything from the beginning and was easy to follow. I grew up reading Harry Potter and Greek Myths and have been a fan since then. Harry Potter opened the door for more fantasy for me and I love it. Hopefully one day I can show the world my work in fantasy.

[@HistorySimplified1]

Thanks for the kind words, it really means a lot!!!

[@JamieAlice92]

I think you may have confused Valyria with Valinor

[@rowangarel3417]

Agreed

[@ChrisLawton66]

Excellent work. Liked and subscribed. 1:35 could you please remind me what this is from? 6:53 respectfully, I think the next major leap in fantasy would be the Renaissance. Unless you feel, as some do, they the Renaissance is merely an extension of the Middle Ages. Shakespeare, Milton, Spenser, Cervantes, and others had a tremendous impact on fantasy writing. 8:11 Mary Shelley would be pre-Victorian. Specifically Georgian. Washington Irving is another wonderful writer of fantasy from that era. Also, the impact of Grimm's Fairy Tales from the Georgian era can't be overstated.

[@HistorySimplified1]

Thanks for all the wonderful advice!!! 1:35 is from “The Northman.” Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ChrisLawton66]

@@HistorySimplified1 thanks so much.

[@bacul165]

The whole video seems pretty much literature in English only?

[@ChrisLawton66]

@@bacul165 ok?

[@LauraHutchings-w1q]

Well done! And you should make $$$$ doing voice overs!

[@laurieellenferreiraschuber9353]

Damn, not going to mention Twilight...

[@Hud_Dollaz]

This is a gem of a video, nice job!

[@HistorySimplified1]

Thanks!

[@3rrrtrey]

This is a good watch

[@comentedonakeyboard]

The Wizard of Oz even managed to infiltrate the Fortress of Materialism and get a reinvention by a soviet Author.

[@mccasper5721]

Wow, I actually learned some stuff. Thank you.

[@anubis2814]

You are missing quite a few fantasy fathers I believe extra credit covered. complete is a terrible name for this but otherwise a good video.

[@inkbythebarrelandpaperbyth6905]

I'm shocked you don't have like a million subscribers

[@HistorySimplified1]

Thanks, it means a lot!!!

[@CTechAstronomy]

Dr. Jackal

[@metaltigerdude5780]

Great video, but no Conan!

[@HistorySimplified1]

I know… the pulp fiction side of things I wasn’t super familiar with, but will definitely include it in the future!!!

[@docsavage8640]

The Iliad and the Odyssey are histories, not fantasies

[@Justjustinp]

I love this video, but I think it would be more aptly titled “The Complete History of Fantasy in the West.” As China and Japan have their own history of fantastical development that happened pretty much completely apart from European fantasy.

[@docsavage8640]

Everywhere does. But it's clear what the topic here is so you're just doing the triggered snowflake routine to call attention to your virtue.

[@Justjustinp]

@@docsavage8640 I’m going to assume you’re a conservative since you’re calling me a snowflake. I, too, am a conservative. And as a conservative, I value traditional values and traditional things. One of those traditional things is traditional folklore, such as that of Scandinavia, mainland Europe, and the British Isles. But I’m also a historian who loved the folklore of other countries. Folklore is not fantasy though, so it needs only a mention in videos like this. And the creator did a great job of this. Every country has folklore. But not every folklore turns into fantasy novels. However, Asia had folklore that turned into fantasy novels, much like in Europe. “Journey to the West” is the biggest example of this. And it was foundational to Asian fantasy, which developed separately from European fantasy. I don’t see how I’m a snowflake for caring about traditional history and literature. I greatly enjoyed this video, but am only pointing out there is far more out there in the “history of fantasy” for us fantasy nerds to explore. Sorry if that offended you so. But I don’t care about emotions, just pointing out more facts for people to delve into.

[@John-tc9gp]

Now do the complete fantasy of history

[@HistorySimplified1]

😂

[@NoeMontie]

Amazing

[@anthonywritesfantasy]

Nothin on Dunsany?? His made up mythologies were a huge inspiration for Tolkien. Earthsea is also such a cornerstone. And Pern. I mean... so many, and this video is great! I don't mean to be critical. But I'd love another video like this on some more obscure works!

[@HistorySimplified1]

Thanks for the recommendations, it’s really helpful, I’ll definitely look further into the authors you mentioned!

[@anthonywritesfantasy]

@@HistorySimplified1 The gods of Pegana is an excellent place to start! You can practically see the seed of the Silmarillion in those tales.

[@matthieuwilliams4527]

@@anthonywritesfantasy The Silmarillion was also more inspired by the Kalevala (very good mythology Book by the way)

[@anthonywritesfantasy]

@@matthieuwilliams4527 I haven't heard of that one yet!

[@arekkrolak6320]

Version without music!

[@sirexuiz]

Not a single reference to vídeo games... 🤔 An industry bigger than the combination of all the others mentioned

[@HistorySimplified1]

Yeah… I’m kind of out of my element in terms of gaming, so I probably wouldn’t do it the justice it deserves.

[@sirexuiz]

@@HistorySimplified1 tottaly understandable then! :)

[@daniellevitch25]

Why no mention of Robert E Howard?

[@catherineearnshaw8472]

This is very good, but it's BRITAIN not England.

[@HistorySimplified1]

Thanks for the heads up!

[@sercastamere9853]

You must be Scottish.

[@catherineearnshaw8472]

@@sercastamere9853 No. WELSH 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@catherineearnshaw8472]

@@sercastamere9853No. WELSH. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@johnshawdocherty7594]

England especially London if Tolkien could see it now would make him cry

[@paulsarnik8506]

🏋🏻‍♀️

[@G-Blockster]

Fantastic essay, and you nailed the ending. Well done!

[@paulsarnik8506]

Fantasia means imaginary creation? I THOUGHT it was Hippos in Tutus🦛👯‍♀️. 🤓😎✌🏼

[@weylinwebber4180]

bro, is one piece fantasy??

[@HistorySimplified1]

Yeah… I definitely think that you could probably consider it fantasy!