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High or Heroic Fantasy
constitute a large part in modern children’s fantasy novels. 
For our purposes, High Fantasy and its sub-category Heroic fantasy do not differ too widely 
so as to make meticulous dissection necessary. Using them as synonyms here is to 
acknowledge their similarities in order to simplify. Nevertheless, it should be noted that 
critics consider them as two separate entities. High fantasy is well defined by Sullivan:
“‘High’ can refer to style, subject matter, theme, or tone. It can also refer to the characters themselves – 
their elite or elevated social status or the moral or ethical philosophies which they espouse or exemplify. 
It can even refer to the affective level of the story itself. ‘Fantasy’, as a literary term, refers to narrative 
possibilities limited, at least initially, only by the author’s own imagination and skill as a story-teller. 
When combined, high fantasy identifies a literary genre which includes some of the most universally 
praised books for young readers.”
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High fantasy continues the traditions of old. Its themes, style, settings and protagonists 
are strongly influenced by the oral traditions of “myth, epic, legend, romance and folk-tale.”
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Conventionally, the story is set in a secondary fantasy world. The latter is presented as real, 
logical and coherent; thus totally credible in its own right. Over time, there distilled a strong 
preference for the Middle Ages on the part of both authors and readers. Far from being simply 
idealised Middle Ages romance, the era is portrayed in all its details. Against this background, 
the hero’s deeds and honour gain additional weight and importance. The grandeur of High 
fantasy is further conveyed by the rest of the characters. Since the hero has to prove himself 
not only in his quest, but also in society, it is in his interest to be received into the circles of 
distinctive, respectable, noble or wise characters.
Whereas High Fantasy considers the creation of a world including its heroes as a 
whole, harmonious total art work, heroic fantasy focuses more on the hero and his adventures 
against a colourful background. According to Pringle, the protagonist in Heroic Fantasy faces 
adventures in a secondary realm where magic and supernatural events are nothing unusual.
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Pringle understands “heroic” in its widest sense. For him, it is a characterisation of all the 
elements involved; a “whole world conceived on a heroic scale.”
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Eventually, “[w]hat 
matters most, and what gives the work its unity and consistency, is the world, and that is why 
it is typical for books of this kind to open with a map, or a whole set of maps.”
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C.W. Sullivan. “High Fantasy”. In: Hunt; Ray, International Companion, pp. 303-313, p. 303.
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Ibd., p. 305.
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Compare Pringle, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy, p. 35.
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Ibd. 
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Ibd., p. 36. 

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Today, most people associate Tolkien’s work with High Fantasy. Indeed it was this 
author who “set the standard by which other high fantasy would be judged.”
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And he set it so 
high that later authors are still experiencing difficulties trying to venture out of Tolkien’s 
shade and to write themselves free. One reason for this may lie in a prominent feature of 
Heroic and High Fantasy: its epic form. Nine times out of ten, especially in High Fantasy, the 
action is deployed on a large scale. Huge canvases of nature, society, genealogies, battles and 
so forth require several tomes; thus making the trilogy a favourite publishing format. The 
other variation on conveying the idea of an epic is to serialise novels.
Almost by definition, Heroic or High Fantasy looks back through time. The epic hero 
is intrinsically linked with a glorious or otherwise desirable past. Nostalgia for better, past 
times and a progressive, technicised future seem to be mutually exclusive. Yet, innovation is 
only possible by introducing something new, not by holding on to old forms. Therefore, 
Heroic Fantasy will not change significantly over time, “[b]ecause it is a form which draws so 
heavily on the past for virtually all of its context, content, and style”.
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High fantasy, which is 
not as inseparably linked with the past as heroic fantasy, has a greater scope, thus offering 
more potential for future developments.
High fantasy novels cover a spectrum between Tolkien’s The Hobbit, The Lord of the 
Rings
, White’s The Sword in the Stone, Paolini’s Inheritance cycle, in some aspects Lewis’ 
The Chronicles of Narnia
, Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, Le Guin’s Earthsea, 
Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Nicholson’s The Wind on Fire and, to an extent, the Harry 
Potter
novels.
Interestingly, Sullivan claims that “high fantasy appeals to a kind of reader rather than 
a reader of a certain age.”
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If a reader enjoys High Fantasy, then it should not make a 
difference whether he is a child, an adolescent or an adult. Sullivan explains this by High 
Fantasy using traditional forms and contents
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young people already are familiar with and 
deeper implications for more mature readers who can possibly discern more levels of meaning 
due to their greater experience.