Monotheism in Fantasy Worlds- Thoughts?

[SeverinR]

I think there is some truth to this, but I find it interesting that, in answer to the poll, at least two writers said it "has no place" in Fantasy. Think about that. You've basically got two writers telling other writers that they don't think it can be done in a Fantasy world, of all things. It is absurd, when you think about it.

I believe it is their opinion, not saying it can't be done, the op did ask. IMHO anything a writer can make believeable can be done. In the world of fantasy, why set limits?

I'm a little surprised nobody's said anything, but I'm one of the two who voted "no" in the poll and I posted about it pretty much right away. It's on page two and opens with "I voted 'no,' but I don't really mean it."

I was mostly reacting to a number of threads with poor details of a religion that is "essentially" a real-world religion, followed by a terribly ignorant, lopsided or shallow portrayal of said group. But honestly, if the question simply asked "Does religion have a place in fantasy writing?" I'm not sure my answer would be much different. The number of D&D-style religions saddens me. The culturally-wrong portrayals of Greek, Norse and other religions makes me wonder at our inability to capture a historical mindset.

I think handling religion poorly is a good way to get your manuscripts in the garbage bin, and that most writers would do better to leave it aside until they've developed better skills at handling the subject. As I said earlier, if I had to set a rule, the rule would be "No, skip it," because I think, on average, you're more likely to have it harm your work than improve it. But I think rules are meant to be broken once you know what you're doing.

I'm aware that's not really what the question was asking. I figured it was better for the discussion to take the question less literally.

I try to stay away from real world religions, because to honor a religion, even an ancient religion, you have to study it fairly well. And there are some followers of old gods that will complain about inaccuracies.

So far I have created only the Elven gods, and I think I mentioned a Mythic God, but nothing specific. Human people worship human gods, so I mentioned it. I could create my own human gods, or even god, but we have so many to chose from already...

 

[Christopher Wright]

For a specific example, Katherine Kurtz' Deryni novels aren't just Monotheistic, they're also pretty Catholic, and the Catholicism[1] plays heavily in the politics at hand (when countries are denied access to the sacraments by the head of the church, an the role the church plays both in the persecution and protection of the Deryni race).

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[1]I'm not sure the Church as portrayed in the books really is the Catholic Church -- it's been a while since I've read them and I don't remember if a Pope is ever mentioned -- but it's definitely modeled after it.

 

[Erica]

You can have mono and polytheism in one culture.
Just because in our worlds history, poly evolved into mono doesn't mean that every world would do it.

Polytheistic cultures and religions exist still today, and they dominate in some countries, including one of the most populous countries on Earth. Some are very old and some are new or are reinterpretations of older religions that died out or were assimilated. The ways in which people from different cultures have incorporated religion into their collective and personal lives is endlessly fascinating and certainly fun to explore in fantasy worlds.

 

[undertheshepherd7]

It's really up to you what you want in your world! I think monotheism works very well in a fantasy world. It creates a much more powerful, personal god that actually makes a great character. The god would always be present and referred to. And actually, in my world, I have only one god, but he made these prodigies that usurped him and his power. A monotheistic pantheon works really well and I hope to see it more often!

 

[Konstanz]

People who think monotheism has no place in fantasy need to evaluate their opinion again I think. Dragon Age has a monotheistic religion (the Maker) and it works really well. Monotheistic religions are in general a lot less tolerant and a lot more aggressive since they clearly dictate there is only one god. Polytheistic religions often don't specify the exact amount of gods and even if they do, if there are 10 gods, why can't there be an 11th that is overlooked?

I think monotheism makes for a lot more interesting religions if you want to write dark fantasy...

 

[Anders Ämting]

Monotheistic religions are in general a lot less tolerant and a lot more aggressive since they clearly dictate there is only one god.

Well, they are more aggressive in the sense that they are far more prone to evangelism. Which makes sense: If you have a polytheistic faith, there's no reason to be concerned if someone else worships a different set of gods; each to his own. But if you are monotheistic, everyone else are worshipping false idols out of ignorance and you have a duty to enlighten them.

I think calling monotheistic religions less tolerant is a bit of a generalization, though - they're not naturaly oppressive or anything. Just as an example, Muhammad himself declared religious freedom for Muslims, Jews and Pagans so if you lived in a medieval Muslim caliphate you were allowed to pray to whoever the heck you wanted as long as you behaved and payed your taxes.

Polytheistic religions often don't specify the exact amount of gods and even if they do, if there are 10 gods, why can't there be an 11th that is overlooked?

There's a hilarious scene in Frans G Bengtsson's The Long Ships where a bunch of vikings end up in Al-Andalus and start working for as bodyguards for Al-Mansur. They are treated very well but the catch was that they'd have to pray to Allah.

The vikings discussed this and decided that their own gods probably found the climate in Spain far too hot anyway, so they reasoned that they may as well pray to this Allah guy while they were there and go back to their old gods when they made it home to Scandinavia.

(Which, of course, is exactly what they do, except for the main character who converts to Christianity because his mother insisted on it.)