The Legend of Zelda: Epic Fantasy or Sword & Sorcery?
An essay on the debt Zelda owes to Robert. E Howard
In a few days, around the 7th & 8th it’ll be this year’s Howard Days, quite the event for lovers of all things Robert E. Howard, or ‘Two-Gun Bob’ as many like to also call him. Howard was a magnificent writer, who has engraved his name in literature and has proven himself to be something of America or Texas’ J.R.R. Tolkien, no mean feat.
His contributions to literature are many, but most of all he helped to create and shape the genre we now call fantasy, and even that of the sub-genre of ‘Sword & Sorcery’ when truth is Howard wrote primarily in an adventure novel, mythological mode one that could with regards to the Hour of the Dragon almost be called ‘epic fantasy’ if we were to classify it by the later genre names and subgenres.
All of that aside, it is an interesting fact that Howard threw in just as Tolkien did ancient dungeons/ruins and an extensive amount of history to each one of them. This was to become a staple within the genre, with Zelda being one of the most notable for adapting this to its various entries.
Zelda’s own roots within the genre began more as an ‘Elf boy’ running around chopping Moblins (pig-men) down, with the hero having to rescue the Princess Zelda.
Later in 1991, there was a history and mythology added to the mythos of Hyrule, with Link now having to battle not simply against Moblins, but possessed guards, battle in a Dark World and also battle his way through dungeons and crack their puzzles.
This latter detail has remained for the most part a staple, with the question of the roots to this undeniably Howard though it remains questionable if Miyamoto Shigeru even read Hour of the Dragon or the other great Howard works.
But what is undeniable is that the puzzle-dungeons and history of Hyrule derive much more from the Sword & Sorcery side of things than any other.
The question thus remains; is Zelda a Sword & Sorcery universe?
Now most might characterize that sub-genre as being only for human-only fantasy stories but I’d disagree. Zelda has much more in common with that branch of the genre than any other.
Sword & Sorcery is described by google as; ‘a genre of fiction characterized by heroic adventures and elements of fantasy.’
Under this header Zelda certainly falls under the S&S umbrella. Another description that’s been used for this genre is that it must be Dark, but this isn’t necessarily true as there are S&S stories that are pretty cheerful or lacking in the sort of grim-dark elements most commonly associated with it.
That said, Zelda itself can get pretty dark when one considers the likes of Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask & even Twilight Princess.
These stories are definitely tinged with elements of horror, especially the latter two, which are quite different in tone and themes from the first two entries in the Zelda mythos.
The main premise of Zelda though is to sword-slashing, ruin exploring (as mentioned) and the rescue of the princess.
So out of the three integral details or pillars rather that constitute S&S, Zelda has the sword-slashing and ruins exploration, as to rescuing lady fair well there’s plenty of that.
In every Zelda game (or almost every) Zelda appears as a damsel, and you have to rescue her. It is one of the most time-honoured traditions, with Zelda never really exerting herself as might say Valeria or Eowyn.
But on the other hand, it is necessary for Zelda to be in danger, as it usually is part of the inciting force to the plot, and honestly her characterization is usually quite interesting.
Good examples of interesting Princess Zeldas can be found in the Link to the Past comic, there’s also Ocarina of Time where she’s arguably the primary one behind the stratagem to stop Ganondorf from claiming the treasures necessary to getting into the Sacred Realm. Sure it screws up, but that’s kind of more on Link who fails to pay heed to his surroundings, with that said she and Link recover in the second half of the game and manage to almost completely outsmart and out-muscle Ganon.
That said, there is an element of prudishness to Zelda as the princess is never depicted in the sort of outfit one might see Cia depicted in. This is a conscious choice by Miyamoto and his staff, as they are aware that Zelda’s appeal lies not in being a sex-icon but rather as the proverbial goddess that Joseph Campbell speaks of.
Princess Zelda is the Divine Feminine, the giver of the female half to Link’s utterly masculine element, so that the two directly compliment each other.
Naturally Ganondorf is the darker, shadow to Link’s light so that it the story from a psychological point of view a battle between the good and bad within Link’s soul for the prize which is the lady fair as represented by Zelda. The Triforce naturally being the Great Boon.
All this can be borne in mind when playing Zelda, a universe that while perhaps dosed if ever so slightly with themes and ideas from Sword & Sorcery, is also touched by other fantasy sub-genres.
There’s an element of mystery to some Zelda games, there’s obviously ideas of exploration, of the medieval and also of old fairy-tale fairy-stories amongst others. The most important thing with this mythos is to simply enjoy the history, enjoy the fun and to have a good time though.
Excellent analysis!
The Zelda character NOT being an ass-kicking girlboss who is the REAL hero, not that dumb Link, is why she’s such a great character. They blew that in the cartoon though.
Zelda is one of the heroes, just like Link. She’s great. You nailed it.
I’m convinced: Zelda is sword and sorcery.
You raise some good points and provide an interesting perspective on one of my favorite game franchises. I personally would categorize it as epic fantasy more than sword and sorcery, however I recognize the sword and sorcery elements and even would characterize a few main titles as more sword and sorcery than epic fantasy (Majora's Mask comes to mind, as you pointed out). Great post!