Distinctive fantasy fiction stories that delight the mind and stir the soul.
A story is literally a narrative (an account of events or experiences, whether true or fictitious. History comes from the same root and is a true story, narrative, or accounting of past events. Well, at least presumed to be true. I have had two people give me an accounting of the same past event, and one “history” or the other could not possibly be a true history.
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When I speak of Christian Fantasy Myth Illuminating Truth I am speaking of solid, good, meaningful Christian fantasy, not mere fluff.
One definition of myth is an imaginary or fictitious thing or person, and philosophically myth is defined as an allegory. Myth comes to us via Latin from a Greek word that means a fable. C.S. Lewis’ Aslan, from his Chronicles of Narnia fits the definition of myth, but Aslan is myth illuminating truth. Through this fantasy fiction myth—Aslan being put to death on a stone table—the truth of what Christ accomplished through His death on the cross is illuminated in a way that touches the heart—not any more powerful than the truth itself, but rather, a powerful witness to the truth.
Some people are skeptical of such ideas, and yet Christ Himself used story to illuminate truth, such as the story of the sower. Some seed fell on the hard trodden path—did not sink into the heart allowing Satan (pictured as a bird of the air) to snatch the truth away. Within the story the seed falls on four types of ground. Christ indicates that the seed is the word of God. It is obvious that the purpose of the story is to illuminate the hearer’s understanding relative to different ways people respond to the word of God.
The purpose of myth making Christian fantasy fiction is to illuminate the truth, to illustrate how the truth applies to life.
Based on the above definition of myth, in writing my Accidental Heroes series I have created a mythology. Thrude is a mythical land, and miffits are mythical people, as are dwarves, elves, uffits and the like, and the story line has an allegorical aspect to it. It is not allegory in the express sense of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, but more in the general sense of Lewis’ Narnia stories—elements of allegory but not overarching allegory. The purpose of my stories is to illuminate truth in such a way that the reader will think, “Ah, so that is how that truth applies to life! I understand it better now.”
Sometime back a “Christian” author asked me to review his book. The story was interesting, but it perverted the truth rather than illuminating it. My response as a reader was, “What? This story certainly does not square with Scripture.” The writer was not entirely happy with my review. I truthfully noted that his story was well written and interesting, but also that it failed to illuminate the purported “truth” of its primary premise.
Stories expose the past, illuminate the present, and envision the future. However, that does not mean the writer analyzes the past with clear insight, has a thoughtful grasp of present realities, or envisages a viable future. The writer gives their understanding, explores the mysteries of life via the imagination, and invites you to explore with them.
An example would be a scene from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Frodo does not understand why Gandalf and the elves have allowed Gollum, Bilbo’s old nemesis, to live.
“‘I am frightened; and I do not feel any pity for Gollum.’ ‘You have not seen him,’ Gandalf broke in. ‘No, and I don’t want to,’ said Frodo. ‘I can’t understand you. Do you mean to say that you, and the Elves, have let him live on after all those horrible deeds? Now at any rate he is as bad as an Orc, and just an enemy. He deserves death.’ ‘Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”
Later Gollum is groveling at Frodo and Sam’s feet and Frodo remembers Gandalf’s words, and he feels pity for Gollum. But Sam does not understand. If he had his way Gollum would die on the spot. Yet in the end Gollum plays an important role in the destiny of the ring and all the players involved.
Throughout Tolkien explores understanding of how the past touches the present and impacts the future. Yet, we find in his response to some unenthusiastic reviews that he did not take his work too seriously. He states, “Some who have read the book, or at any rate reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no reason to complain, since I have similar opinions of their work, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.”