Truth be told, I don’t have a story immediately ready at present, for shame I know. But I do have this essay, an essay that’s been tickling and circulating around the back of my mind for quite some time.
In Fantasy fiction it has come about in the past 30 or 40 years that Fatherhood has been under attack.
Now this might not seem at first apparent, as the ‘babies ever after’ trop as it is scornfully called in some places still decorates the wall of quite a few stories (good on them). But what I’ve noticed is that fatherhood when around is either something that only appears at the end of a story (makes some degree of sense), or is scorned by a certain crowd.
The thing is though we need fathers’ in fiction. Mythology and literature are the best ways to pass down the ‘meats and potatoes’ of a society, it is the best way to pass down our culture’s teachings, ideals and values down to the next generation. And no genre is better at this than fantasy in some ways (romance & sci-fi are also quite skilled at it), so that an attack on fatherhood in fantasy is an attack on the culture.
Motherhood in some stories such as those of Tad Williams in recent decades or those by Martin and Rowling is celebrated, yet fatherhood is scorned. Fathers are shown to be incompetent, stupid or otherwise broken in many places.
Or the genre has its good fathers, but they only father children at the end of the story, such as in the case of Samwise Gamgee, Merry, Pippin and others. I have no criticism of any real sort here, and encourage more writers to do as Tolkien did with the ending of his story.
But on the other hand I do kind of think that Howard’s successors may in fact be onto something, by having stories of Conan post-fatherhood on display. The reason I say this, is because it presents a present image of fathers.
One in which the father as an archetype is not just portrayed at the end of the proverbial road (it should definitely be a goal as it is a worthy one). My point (rambling as it is) is this; we need fantasy versions of stories like ‘Taken’, ‘Road to Perdition’, ‘Ivanhoe’ and so many other stories where fathers are presented yes as flawed individuals but as protectors, active fighters and supporters of their kids.
The Father archetype is an important one, he is the one who provides for his children, who journeys the earth to protect his wayward children and who rises to the occasion to protect his wife the ‘Earth-Mother’ archetype. He can also be a provider of wisdom and knowledge to his children.
Theoden in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is one such character who passes along wisdom and knowledge to his adoptive children, and who overcomes character flaws, rises to the occasion and proves himself the finest King of the Rohirrim who ever lived. There is also Thingol who is a great father to Luthien, a tad over-protective at times but nonetheless given the circumstances who could blame him? I realize this somewhat contradicts the earlier point, but at the same time I see a movement of favouring the Epilogue Tolkien rather than the ‘Tolkien in Motion’.
That is to say a favouring of the ending, without tapping into the great mentors and fathers who appear along the way.
I hope people don’t mind my using my own tales as examples; in Bear & Cub Hroðgar the lead is a father, he treasures his son but doesn’t have the best way of showing it on account of his trauma at the loss of his two eldest children. The bond between father and son lies at the centre of the story, with Hroðgar needing to learn to soften towards his beloved third-born.
The importance of fatherhood permeates the story, and as it is a ‘fantasy rendition of Wolf & Cub’ as I’ve told my good friend
it is meant to highlight the protective spirit of fathers. There is also the Darkspire Conspiracy where one of the leads is the impulsive Guðleifr, though in his case he has adult children, most notably Thorgils whom is in some ways more temperate and level-headed than his beloved father who often relies upon Thorgils for counsel and friendship.The bond between father and son in these two stories are presented differently, in the hopes to show case two different types of bonds; one is that of an overprotective father of a child and the other is that of a father of a confident and full-grown son.
But there are others who have written stories with great father-figures hereon Substack, such as
who must be mentioned at every opportunity when discussing fiction (especailly fantasy), notably his Jarl's Son gets into this I’m told (I’ve yet to sadly get started, but have plans for after the 24th). There’s who must be mentioned as having a major character in his story who is foster father/adoptive father to Felanar and Kara his twin leads. And amongst essay writers we have who has been analyzing such epics as those written by Homer & Virgil, wherein she highlights the importance and journey of characters such as Aeneas and Odysseus both of whom are fathers to incredible sons.While the son is often the more interesting character and journey, the father can and often does play his own journey. It should be remembered that inter-generational stories were once the norm and are still quite popular as there is something in humans that is fascinated by the idea of hereditary legacies, of building something and passing it along and of men risking it all for their beloved sons and daughters.
There are others to be sure. I’m not advocating for fathers only as leads, the journey of Simba is so much more interesting than that of Mufasa, I’m just saying that remember Liam Neeson’s various roles in film or that of Sanada Hiroyuki in countless Samurai dramas where he’s father to an impetuous son or two.
Fathers’ are well represented in a lot of movies and stories just not fantasy. Though there have been valiant attempts such as Fire Emblem, Redwall, Suikoden, and of course Conan & Lord of the Rings/Silmarillion.
Let us add a few more before the sands of time catch up with us, is all I’m arguing. I also feel that congratulations must be given to those writers who have taken up this cross this past month. Truly thank you all for writing as deeply and passionately about those characters who endeavour to make the world a better place for their children.
Its not high fantasy, but I have always loved Arthur Weasley from Harry Potter. An all around good dude, loves his wife and kids, and works his ass off for them. Maybe a little too passive but when push comes to shove he is completely devoted to his moral compass and guides his family to become the bedrock of the resistance against evil. 10/10
In animation, there are quite a few fathers who are very ill-mannered, out of touch or plain stupid, so they haven't contributed entirely positively to improving the stature of fathers as a whole. But there are also many fathers or father-like figures in the genre who are exceptions to the rule.
On the O'Jays song "Family Reunion", singer Eddie Levert speaks about fathers as "the head....the leader...the director" of their familial units. The worst ones try incompetently to be that, but the best ones just...are.