Is it agreeable to all to say that Tolkien's concept and definition of "fairy tale" is one aspect of fantasy? Seems to me that fairy tale is in fact a particular kind of fantasy, which is Tolkien's real subject in "On Fairie Stories".
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What fantasy stories can you point to that show that a "most evil" opponent ... is not necessary?
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Give examples of fantasy stories that do not have the "evil" element [and] [are] not serious but [are] still good [fantasy].
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I wanted to get those two challenges together to discern the difference between them. I was having trouble with that. I hope my editing for the sake of making sense (to me) out of it is okay with you. Whereas
fantasy can function without the deep evil in the background,
fairie tale cannot. One example of a well-written (so far) dulogy (2) if Meghan Whalen Turner's "Thief" and "Queen of Askalon" (I think that's the title of the second one. There is no "evil", but there are three nations tied by race, land, trade, and deities, for an interesting power struggle. Whereas there is no deep evil, there is a nation that is power hungry and wants to become an empire at the expense of the other two. Serious? I thought so. Delightful? Definitely. Highly recommended. In the tradition of Tolkien? Not really. Good fantasy? You bet. I hope that answers your question (as well as I know how), Eol.
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T.H. White's Once and Future King ... Is it no longer really fantasy, but an elegant, lovely and worthwhile parody of fantasy?
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I'd say that it is fantasy, but a particular kind, which Tolkien would have called a "romance" in a broader sense than is generally used today. The Romance came into being (and fashion) in the 1300s, with all the stories about King Arthur and his court (actually based on Celtic myth). It's not very popular these days, as such. Knight in shining armor, helpless maiden-princess-queen, cuckold king, affair between knight and lady, heroic bastard sons, etc. You can still find derivatives of it all over the place, but only ever as part of something else like a mystery, action thriller, you name it.
Gotta run.