Magic (fantasy)

Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.

Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests. Magic has long been a component of fantasy fiction, where it has been a mainstay from the days of Homer and Apuleius, down through the tales of the Holy Grail, Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, and to more contemporary authors from J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis to Mercedes Lackey and J. K. Rowling.

Within a work of fantasy, magic can function to move the plot forward, providing both power for the hero of the story, and power for those who oppose him. The use of magic is often transformative of the character, if not the world.

In order to carry out this function, magic often carries a price, equal to its value.

Historically, many writers who have written about fictional magicians, and many readers of such works, have believed that such magic is possible -- in William Shakespeare's time, witches like the Weird Sisters in Macbeth and wizards like Prospero in The Tempest (or Doctor Faustus in Christopher Marlowe's play) were widely considered to be real -- but modern writers, and readers, usually deal with magic as imaginary.

Such magic may be inspired by non-fictional beliefs and practices, but may also be an invention of the writer. Furthermore, even when the writer uses non-fictional beliefs and practices, the effect, strength, and rules of the magic will normally be what the writer requires for the plot. There may be a well-developed system in fictional magic, or not, but when the writer does not systemize the magic, there is always the difficulty of ensuring that it is not merely used when convenient for the writer.

It is by no means impossible, moreover, for fictional magic to leap from the pages of fantasy to actual magical practice; such was the fate of the Necronomicon, invented as fiction by H. P. Lovecraft, who described it so well that there have been several attempts by modern authors to produce it as a grimoire.

Magic is called by many names, usually derived from non-fictional terminology: magic, wizardry, witchcraft, sorcery. The usage varies widely, and terms have different meanings in different settings.

Enchantment is normally used in one of two senses. One is a permanent magical effect on an object, so that the object can be used without reference to any person who enchanted it. The other is a form of magic that affects minds, producing sometimes illusions but more often affecting thoughts and emotions.

Terms derived from more specific magics, such as voodoo, alchemy, or necromancy, generally remain closer to their real-world inspirations. Fantasy necromancers often work magic that has something to do with death, although the exact connections vary widely from work to work. Alchemy is the study of magical transformation of materials -- sometimes, as in Teresa Edgerton's Green Lion trilogy, using the actual historical terminology -- although fantasy alchemists tend to be involved with exactly those branches of alchemy that were not incorporated into modern chemistry.

The archaic term "gramarye" (in any of its various spellings) is sometimes used to indicate magic in fiction as it was historically, but generally in a context where it is as archaic to the characters as to the readers. Similiarly, Latin terminology may be used, as in ars arcana -- the arcane art, the art known by few -- to indicate magic as an exotic subject.

Sometimes, too, a place will have magic; perhaps a certain location is "close to the spirit realm" or there are residues from powerful spells once cast here, or a place is magical by nature, as in the case of an enchanted forest. Ancient battlefields may be haunted. When the battles were fought by magic, on civilizations erected by magic, the location can be dangerous indeed; in Patricia A. McKillip's Riddle-Master trilogy, the ruins left behind by the powerful Earthmasters contain dangers.

Such places are often the homes of powerful beings. The woods in A Midsummer Night's Dream is haunted by fairies, including Oberon and Titania, their king and queen. In Earthsea, the wizards hold their school on Roke Island, which contains such magical locations as Roke Knoll and Immanent Grove. Lórien in Middle-earth was also a magical location, but its magic stemmed from the powers of those who lived there. This is true of other apparently magical locations in many fantasies, and in many more, it may not be clear whether a place is magic because of its inhabitants, or its inhabitants have chosen to live there because it was magic. Within one work, as in Andre Norton's Witch World series, there may be all three types of apparently magical places.

One such magical place is Faerie or Elfland. Its location may not be fixed -- in some cases it acts as a parallel world -- but magic is both found and occurs there. Though it stems from folklore, it is found in such works of fantasy as Hope Mirrlees's Lud-in-the-Mist, or Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter.

In any given fantasy magical system, a person must have limits to his magical abilities, or the story has no conflict: the magic can overwhelm the other side.

One of the most common techniques is that the person has only a limited amount of magical ability. In The Magic Goes Away, Larry Niven made it a factor of environment: once the mana is exhausted in an area, no one can use magic, and innately magical beings, such as centaurs, die or lose their magical aspects, such as werewolves, which revert to being entirely wolves. A more common use is that a person can only cast so many spells, or use an ability so many times, in a day, or use a measured amount of magic. This is the most common use in role-playing games, where the rules rigorously define them.

Powers can also be restricted to a certain kind of ability. This is more common for innately magical beings than for those who have learned it. The person can be rendered defenseless by a situation to which his powers do not apply.

Magic can also require various sacrifices. Blood or life can be required, and even if the magician has no scruples, obtaining the material may be difficult. Harmless substances can also limit the magician if they are rare, such as gemstones.

The need for learning may also limit what spells a wizard knows, and can cast. When magic is learned from rare and exotic books, the wizard's ability can be limited, temporarily, by his access to these books. In Earthsea, the changing of names weakens wizards as they travel; they must learn the true names of things in their new location to be powerful again.

Magic may also be limited not so much inherently as by its danger. If a powerful spell can cause equally grave harm if miscast, wizards are likely to be wary of using it