What are the roots of fantasy?
The standard response has been to point to Tolkien, mutter some stuff about Western folklore and Arthurian romance, throw in some educated remarks about Greek and Roman mythology and the Kalevala, and then declare the Lord of the Rings the foundational text, full stop. But it seems to me, at least, that fantasy is a genre with many fathers. Tolkien casts a long shadow, to be sure – anyone writing epic fantasy for the last few decades has basically been following in the path laid by LOTR, despite many heroic efforts to the contrary. But that shortchanges other authors as well, who have had just as much of an impact on the development of the genre.
If there were such a thing as an ancestral temple of Fantasy Founders, I would put a statue of Robert E. Howard right up there next to JRR – REH basically invented Sword and Sorcery (predating Tolkien by several decades) and introduced a whole other style of (anti)hero very much the opposite of Aragorn and Frodo. (For the record, I think Conan could wipe the floor with Aragorn, stomp Sauron too mush, and pick his teeth with the splinters of Gandalf’s broken staff…just my humble opinion, of course.) Also, an honorable bust of Edgar Rice Burroughs – yeah, he’s considered a scifi writer, but his Barsoom series is still one of the most impressive examples of speculative world building ever.)
Anyone else care to venture a thought?