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    R.M. Archer replied to the topic Fantasy Is NOT the Same Thing As Magic in the forum Fantasy Writers 5 years, 1 month ago

    Yes that spiritual world is very real, in fact, it is realer than the physical realm, but that does not mean that we should write anything about it. In fact, I believe messing with the spiritual realm in writing is a very dangerous and anti-biblical thing to do.

    I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this point. I don’t believe it’s anti-biblical to portray a fact of the world, be it physical or spiritual, so long as it’s done with biblical truth in mind and with care not to mislead readers.

    If you meant a name for readers to use instead of magic system, readers can call it a plethora of different things. The powers of that world, the fantastical elements, the power-system, the special abilities, the list goes on.

    Fair enough.

    I’m a little confused by that quote. Care to elucidate on it for me? xD

    Tolkien is differentiating between Fantasy and Enchantment, which characterize a Secondary World that feels real to a reader even if they include fantastical elements (e.g. powers not found on earth), and Magic. He’s drawing a similar distinction to what you were describing, that the fantastical world characterized by Enchantment does not necessarily involve Magic, and Magic is more a sub-set that seeks specifically to dominate wills and is therefore negative, whether in the Secondary World or the real world (there’s also an implication that Magic is somewhat the same whether in the real world or the Secondary). I suspect he would characterize Sauron’s power—and particularly the One Ring—as Magic, given their purpose to dominate wills, while he would not consider the powers of the Elves or Wizards to be Magic.

    I don’t know if that was any clearer. I feel like my description was more complicated than the initial quote. 😛 But, then, I had the context in which to read the quote, so that might make the quote seem clearer to me.

    You might enjoy reading the whole essay this was pulled from, or at least the section “Fantasy” where this quote is found, not only as context for the quote but simply as a discussion of literature and story in general. It’s a great essay, at least so far as I’ve read. (It is long, lol.)

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