There is so much more to fantasy literature than a fantastical story-line, magical beings,

and the enjoyment one gets from reading a really great book. I learned a great deal from my

fantasy literature course and was able to see how seemingly unrelated topics could be applied to

the fantasy literature genre. Through my classmates I have been able to look at concepts such as

music in the context of fantasy literature, environmentalism in fantasy literature, and the impact

of fantasy literature on people.

One classmate, Chris, looked at Led Zeppelin's song Ramble On in comparison to The

Lord of the Rings while another, Sara W., looked at Tolkiens use of poetry and music in his

work. Chriss paper went through the lyrics of Led Zeppelins Ramble On and made the case

that this song was influenced and is a retelling of The Fellowship of the Ring. Chris makes a

strong argument that the her referenced to in the song is actually The Ring. The importance of

recognizing Tolkiens influence on this song is that symbolizes how Tolkiens work has seemed

to embedded itself into popular culture. Despite its age, it continues to have an influence on

todays popular culture. Saras paper looked at the types of music and poetry that may have

influenced Tolkien. She also looked at the various functions that music and poetry play within

The Lord of the Rings series. They are, essentially tools. Songs are used to tell stories, historical

events, ward off evil, and of course Sara notes that Tolkien used iambic heptameter (commonly

associated with the meter used for ballads). Led Zeppelin took Tolkiens series and made it into

a ballad. They took his story and used their song to tell it. Led Zeppelins song plays the same

role as Tolkiens poems and music. Led Zeppelin used their music to tell a story and were able to

bring that story to more people than it would have as just a book series.

Two classmates talked about environmentalism in their projects (Frank and Mary). Frank

looked at Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings while Mary looked at The Lord of the Rings,
both noticed that not only did the texts have a theme of environmentalism but that the texts could

be seen as a call to action to do what we can to stop the degradation of the earth. Frank noted that

Rowlings final book in the Harry Potter series, The Deathly Hallows, is one of the most

environmentally-friendly books printed. Within the Harry Potter series the environment plays an

extremely important role. One of the classes students must take is Herbology where the students

learn the importance of various plants used in magic. Tolkien felt that industrialization dangerous

to society and the environment. Through their work and their personal lives, Rowling and

Tolkien have brought about discussions regarding our environment.

Aleah and Becca looked at fantasy literatures impact on people. They both looked at the

value fantasy literature has for young children. Both projects disagreed with this common notion

many people have that fantasy literature is something that only children can read. They both

talked about how once children are seen as grown up adults feel that they should leave the

fantasy genre behind and focus on the real-world (Becca) or something that is in some way

fruitful (Aleah). Fantasy literature gives us strong role-models, especially for young girls and

women. Strong female role models can evoke leadership and pride in young girls (Becca). This

is extremely important as young girls and women do not have many characters that they can look

up to. Popular culture has, for the most part, reduced women to sexual objects. While many

claim that this was not their intent, it still shows through the way they have the female characters

dress, they are usually caucasian, and speak less than leading male characters. Harry Potter, for

example, gives us a fantastic female role model. Hermione wasnt described as traditionally

beautiful, she had brains, and valued school. She also stood up for herself and others. Hermione,

in my opinion, has paved the way for more female characters to be strong, independent, and not

looked at solely for their looks. Fantasy literature allows children to understand and process
difficult topics. Fantasy literature teaches us about standing up for what is right and what it

means to be a good friend, things that adults could stand to learn more about. When young

children and young adults see characters in fantasy literature making changes to their world it

reinforces the idea that they too can make changes in their world, the real-world.

The themes of environmentalism in fantasy literature and the value of fantasy literature

serve to show that fantasy literature is not just about reading for pleasure. This genre also teaches

us valuable life lessons. All of the themes I mentioned show that fantasy literature is not just

something for entertainment. It spreads out and touches reality in very real ways. It has given us

music, values, morals, and teaches us life lessons. It has given us role-models and inspired us to

make changes within our own world. After reading my classmates projects, I have an even

greater love of fantasy literature. These projects have made it even clearer that fantasy literature

is not just something for entertainment, it has value outside of entertainment.