True Fantasy Stories are Inherently Christian Stories
Ever since the release of The Lord of the Rings in 1954, fantasy stories have been at the forefront of popular culture. Stories like Harry Potter, The Wheel of Time, Stranger Things, and many more speak to the core of who we are as people and the longings of our hearts to know that in the end, evil will be defeated and joy will be restored to our lives and the world.
What these stories embody is the very hope all people have in the greatest story ever told—that Jesus has come into the world, defeated death, and welcomes us with open arms to be in a restored relationship with him. True fantasy stories are inherently Christian, not because their authors intend them to be, but because they reflect the fundamental truths of the Christian worldview.
Tolkien's Foundation
Tolkien laid out a framework for what fantasy stories are and what they are not in his 1947 essay, "On Fairy Stories," which is based on a lecture he gave in 1939. He explains that true fairy stories have four elements:
Fantasy (the art of sub-creation)
Recovery (seeing familiar things with fresh eyes)
Escape (from the prison of mundane thinking)
Consolation (the eucatastrophe - sudden joyous turn)
We won't cover all these elements in this post and will instead focus on the fourth point, the concept of Tolkien's coined term, the eucatastrophe. To begin, though, a quick note on the first point of sub-creation.
Tolkien says, "It is at any rate essential to a genuine fairy-story, as distinct from the employment of this form for lesser or debased purposes, that it should be presented as 'true.' The meaning of 'true' in this connexion I will consider in a moment. But since the fairy-story deals with 'marvels,' it cannot tolerate any frame or machinery suggesting that the whole story in which they occur is a figment or illusion."
One of the reasons we resonate strongly with fantasy stories is that they are treated as real places, with real people, and real struggles of good and evil. The authors create their worlds to be living and breathing, which allows us, as the readers or watchers, to put ourselves in each of the characters' shoes and experience the unfolding story as if we were there.
This process of sub-creation, as Tolkien calls it, is the process of people participating in their creative nature as a result of being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Just as God created the universe and everything in it, an author creates a universe and everything in it.
Christian Structure of Fantasy
Most fantasy stories have elements or themes that speak to a Christian worldview. These are:
The Pattern of Eucatastrophe
Themes of Sacrifice and Redemption
Themes of Death and Resurrection
Battles Between Good and Evil
Restoration of Lost Kingdoms
Tolkien indicates that "the eucatastrophic tale is the true form of fairy-tale, and its highest function." He defines the term as a "sudden joyous turn" and a tale that "does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe, of sorrow and failure," but does deny the "universal final defeat." The tale is evangelium, which is the Greek word for good news or gospel. The true fairy story offers hope and affirms that evil will not ultimately triumph, which is the same good news that Christians believe and proclaim: that Jesus has defeated death and has the final victory (1 Corinthians 15:57).
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (NIV)
Themes of sacrifice and redemption in fantasy stories mirror Jesus' ultimate sacrifice and his redemption of all people into right relationship with him. "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13). Likewise, the themes of death and resurrection are modeled after Jesus and indicate a character as a savior of some kind in the story, such as Gandalf or Harry Potter (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
The battle between good and evil is the mark of a true fairy story, and one which many modern works do not hold to as creators try to make their characters and world as morally gray as possible. This cosmic conflict reflects the spiritual reality Paul describes in Ephesians 6. As such, stories that blur these moral lines may have fantasy elements and be considered in the fantasy genre, but they don't meet the criteria of Tolkien since there can't be a final defeat of evil if there wasn't one present in their story.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. – Ephesians 6:10-12 (NIV)
The restoration of lost kingdoms is an element of fantasy stories that I have always adored, and again, is one that is fundamentally Christian. There is a sense in these stories that the characters know what the world was once like, and part of the hero's journey is to return the world to the Eden-like state that it should be. As Christians in the real world, we are also waiting for a restoration of the world in the New Heaven and Earth and to be one with God in perfect relationship with him and our fellow human beings.
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” – Revelation 21:1-5 (NIV)
Modern Examples
If you're looking for some examples of fantasy stories that demonstrate these elements and themes that aren't The Lord of the Rings, here are a few with an explanation for each.
Harry Potter has been historically attacked by the Christian world, but it's a series that has an essentially Christian narrative. The books follow the fundamental Christian pattern: sacrificial love ultimately conquers death and evil. Harry's willing walk to face Voldemort echoes Christ's passion (Isaiah 53:4-5), while the series consistently presents clear moral distinctions and emphasizes that love, not power, is the ultimate force for good. Even though J.K. Rowling didn't set out to write Christian allegory, the story naturally embodies what Tolkien called the "evangelium"—the good news that evil does not have the final word and that redemption is possible through love and sacrifice.
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is not as well-known a series, but is one that is clearly influenced by Tolkien and Christian themes. The narrative consistently emphasizes themes of sacrifice, redemption, and the ultimate triumph of good over evil, while Tad Williams weaves in clear parallels to Christian theology through prophecy, resurrection imagery, and the restoration of rightful kingship. The story's resolution brings not just military victory but spiritual renewal and the healing of ancient wounds, embodying Tolkien's vision of how true fairy-stories reflect the "Great Story" of redemption and restoration.
Why This Matters
Fantasy stories are more than just escapism, but an engagement with the fundamental truths of who we are as human beings made in the image of God who long for a return to a world made new and perfect (Ecclesiastes 3:11). When we recognize these patterns, it helps us to appreciate all the more the sacrifice of Jesus. We can more clearly see the depravity of man, the evil in our hearts, and how glorious the New Heaven and Earth will be.
The call is this: do not approach these stories as mere forms of entertainment but as encounters with real-world truths that prepare the hearts of those who read them for the ultimate fairy story. The Gospels contain a fairy story, a true fairy story. I'll let Tolkien have the final word:
"I would venture to say that approaching the Christian Story from this direction, it has long been my feeling (a joyous feeling) that God redeemed the corrupt making-creatures, men, in a way fitting to this aspect, as to others, of their strange nature. The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels—peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: 'mythical' in their perfect, self-contained significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable Eucatastrophe. But this story has entered History and the primary world; the desire and aspiration of sub-creation has been raised to the fulfillment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the Eucatastrophe of Man's history. The Resurrection is the Eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends in joy. It has pre-eminently the 'inner consistency of reality.' There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many sceptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or to wrath."
