Why is Saurons Ring Still Important

Since "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy became a hugeare surpassed and he or she contributes to the
blockbuster hit, sales of epic fantasy stories, or alsosolution of at least one major problem.
known as high fantasy stories, have tremendouslyTo better understand epic fantasy literature, one
risen. People with disperse backgrounds and interests,should attempt to examine the etymological meaning
who have left the world of fairy tales to move to theof the two Greek words used in order to categorize it.
real one a long time ago, found themselves visiting their"Epic" and "fantasy" convey different meanings and if
local bookstores or ordering online the masterpieces ofexamined as two components of a story that are
J.R.R. Tolkien, among other epic fantasy writers. Thoselinked to create an "unbreakable" sequel, the reader
who visualized how Frodo looked like prior to thecan realize that they were selected exactly because
release of the first of the trilogy films were annoyedthey serve more than one purpose. Specifically, "epic"
with the hysteric reaction of the vast public. For them,has two components; heroic and vast. In an epic story
epics or high fantasy stories are part of a literatureone can find a hero or one that performs heroic feats,
world that one has to be induced and explore in detailwhile the setting of the story is vast in scope. Often an
and should not be seen as an opportunity to buyepic describes a whole world in which the hero
another trendy book to place on a coffee table.interacts with others and manages to accomplish the
Whether you consider yourself to be an epic fantasyimpossible deed vested upon him or her. On the other
story expert or amateur, it would be interesting tohand, fantasy is defined as creative imagination and is
know what epic fantasy stories are and be able tocharacterized by highly fanciful or supernatural events.
answer one of those "Trivial" game questions withIf the two words are combined, one realizes that the
confidence.epic fantasy story is a sequence of events based on
Although the definition of Epic Fantasy is still a subjectthe writers creative imagination that portray a hero's
of debate between fans, critics, and scholars, it isfeats that take place on an epic scale and have
rather challenging for a researcher to come up with atremendous consequences to others.
single definition that includes all the necessaryAccording to Joseph Cambell, in his work "The Hero's
meanings the words epic and fantasy convey. One ofJourney," one of the most important aspects of epic
the most descriptive definitions found, stated that "Epicfantasy stories is the development of the main
Fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy and very similar tocharacter from an "average person" to a "hero." The
high-fantasy where a seemingly average personsteps that he identifies are simple and easily found in
undergoes many trials and ordeals which develop heany epic fantasy story. First, the main character has to
or she into a hero capable of feats needed to thwartbe called to undertake a journey during which he or
challenges of an epic scale. The story takes place inshe is aided by a guide or a mentor that has
an imaginative world and often the setting is medievalsupernatural powers and as the story develops the
in nature, complete with swords, castles, strange"average person" is transformed through a series of
creatures and a magical system." What one cantasks and ordeals to a hero. Sounds familiar? Perhaps
understand from the above definition is that the epicnow you can picture yourself as that "hero" and your
story's hero is not born as such, but life's events andeveryday life seems not that "real" anymore!
misfortunes mold him or her to one, as the obstacles