Welcome to Gaia! ::

I am reintroducing the topic of how religion influences fantasy. When I introduced it in the old guild under the title of Fantasy Theology I thought it would be a touchy topic, but everyone actually seemed to enjoy talking about it.

Religion in fantasy seems to take the following forms:

Medieval: Fantasy that is more historic in nature often involves traditional religions of the Medieval European period particularly Christianity and Islam, but also others depending on scope. Often even when the names of the religion is changed they follow a similar monotheistic them as these religions.

Ancient: Fantasy worlds often involve pantheons of gods and godesses, similar to those of ancient Greece, Rome, or Egypt.

Shamanist: Often coexisting with other forms of religion, shamanist spirituality involves nature and spirits as divine forces more so than gods and godesses. This is often depicted as the religion of elves and druids. Sometimes it is at odds with other religions, much as Wicca and earth worship are with major religions in real life.

In fantasy, religion is often linked with spellcasting and healing as well as with worship and with prophecy. All these take certain elements from real life, but also add their own unique fantasy elements as well.

This is a discussion thread, so what does everyone think. What is the role of religion in fantasy?

I think a lot of theology in fantasy conforms to what the Romans and Greeks believed - that there were many gods/goddesses. That could also tie in with Paganism.

I could go into detail about how I work theology into my world, but again, that's a post for a time when I'm much more competent.

I agree. One of my main characters has a grudge against the "gods" because his entire family were slaughtered and only he was left alive. Later on, a few more heartbreaking things happen and the hatred continues. However, what I intend for him much much later on is that he comes to respect one particular deity, but isn't inclined to worship her.

He's just one example though. I think making characters believable along with their beliefs is vital.

I think in part - going of another thread coupling fantasy and history - that because monotheistic religions are currently practiced they don't feel as historical and don't feel as much like fantasy, though Christianity would be very logical for fantasy in a medieval European setting, since that was the religion of medieval Europe. Also the gods of ancient civilizations were viewed as more interactive with mortals I think, which works well in fantasy.

It sounds like you got my point, only in reverse. I was just saying that modern religions don't always seem to work in fantasy as well because they are so familiar to us in real life - but they can still work in fantasy with an accurate historical setting.

I see your point. Especially in fantasy games where deities are connected to spellcasting.

Heh heh, this thread has been dead for a while, hasn't it... I hope it doesn't mind being revived ^_^

A lot of the fantasy is heavily influenced by Christianity because it's Medieval or Renaissance, or when it is influenced by polytheistic religions, it's generally Celtic; but that's just what I read. I have a theory that the reason a lot of fantasy is based on ancient polytheistic religions is because a lot of fantasy writers (or maybe it's just me) have a great love for mythology, and that's what gets them writing.
There is a ton of monotheistic fantasy out there - think Tolkien and Lewis. There's also a lot of fantasy writers who are writing their higher powers more as things than beings - Philip Pullman for instance (I guess this was referred to as Shamanism earlier on, so I'll continue to call it that because I can't find the term I'm thinking of). You can have only one supreme being or none at all and still be insanely creative with the theology of your world, and it also depends on your purpose. Authors that use polarity tend to - though not always - use a monotheistic theology (insofar as Christianity is monotheistic). Using a polytheistic theology or shamanism generally allows for more grey area in the morality. (Note that I'm using a lot of 'generally's here)

I've actually been trying to use a combination of monotheism (Celtic Catholicism) and polytheism (Celtic polytheism - specifically the Morrigan), though I still need to smooth the edges on what the actually theology involves.

Religion in my world is basically spirituality the religious characters have special powers such as magic and of sorts.