Today is Valentine’s Day – a feast of all lovers, which inevitably occurs every year and always causes a stroke of venom from frustrated people (ohhh, commerce, huh, stupid love, ohh, a holiday for women). And how are relationships and love in fantasy? How do our favorite heroes love?
You ask what the main thing in my life is, let me tell you: death and love – both of them. ” Isn’t that a very apt sentence in a world where death is lurking at every turn? Heroes are always fighting death, always chasing another adventure. Where’s the love in all of this? Well, sometimes it drives them to act, and sometimes they just meet her along the way. However, it is always – though usually more bitter than sweet.
First the hero, then the lover
The world is waiting to be saved, the villain to be exterminated. Humanity’s hero doesn’t have much of a choice. First, she fulfills her destiny, only then can she be with her beloved. There is no need to look for examples! And the famous love and sacrifice in the relationship between Aragorn and Arwen? Although in the book we get to know a woman as almost a wife, the descendant of kings had to travel a long way and fulfill his task before he could rest in her arms. Ah, fate is cruel and gives no respite even to the heroes. On the other hand, at the beginning our beloved hero did not want to accept his fate and wandered around the world back and forth. Was it not the inability to bind himself, but the prospect of a married woman terrified him and the peasant wanted to go crazy?
Somewhere nearby
Saving a country or the world does not often end at one time. What if the fatherland calls every now and then and there is no way to refuse (he could not even do it – after all, he is a hero, so he has to save the world in his position)? Of course, her beloved is waiting longingly at home, hoping (or knowing it perfectly well) that the love of her life will safely return home. An interesting example of this can be Samuel Vimes, who, as the commander of the city guard, tirelessly fights against all unlawful evil together with his faithful companions. He met his love quite unexpectedly and simply at the same time. Their love is not fiery, it is not too talkative, but it makes our weary hero smile. And only this basically matters – Samuel knows perfectly well that his wife is waiting for him,
Childhood friends
You know this pattern: childhood friends have adventures together and suddenly, when they are teenagers, it turns out that they love each other to death. Let’s be honest, teenage heroes must have extraordinary abilities to combine maturing and saving humanity at the same time. No wonder love complicates things even more. If even like Willl Treaty from the Scouts in the end, he confesses his feelings, the relationship is initially quite… sporadic. With a lot of chores, learning, and fulfilling destiny, it takes a while, so love takes a back seat. Nevertheless, the feelings for the teenage hero are important, because thanks to them he knows that he has someone to fight for and there will always be someone to give him a helping hand. Especially if, by a twist of fate, his chosen one also has extraordinary abilities and is at first stronger and cleverer than the hero inexperienced in saving the world.
Too complicated , to be happy
Love is not easy and it doesn’t have to be. Loving someone is difficult, even if you are an ordinary innkeeper who receives all the suspicious guests in the area for a pint of beer. Special people have it even worse. You know, they still have to take care of their own and other people’s lives, making sure that someone does not have a knife at you or your loved ones in a dark alley. And how can you be sure that your chosen one is not some succubus or a witch who wants to kill you and turn you into potions? What if you are a hunter for hire and your chosen one is a powerful sorceress? And if we add to that failed experiments on children that end up with a weakness for women instead of a lack of feelings? – an unenviable situation. Especially if we add great pride and genie to the mix. Above all, it results in a total mess and a lot of suffering. You probably know that the love story of Geralt and Yennefer is well known and so often told that it is not known where the truth ends and the lie begins. Nevertheless, the relationship between the witcher and the proud sorceress does not bode well for the future offspring (it is good that there could not be such a thing). Ultimately, their love is a constant breakup and comeback. And with the uncertainty that gnaws at them from within, it cannot all end quite happily. Either way, such unhappy relationships can arise when you are the lonely hero that the crowd hates. Nevertheless, the relationship between the witcher and the proud sorceress does not bode well for the future offspring (it is good that there could not be such a thing). Ultimately, their love is a constant breakup and comeback. And with the uncertainty that gnaws at them from within, it cannot all end quite happily. Either way, such unhappy relationships can arise when you are the lonely hero that the crowd hates. Nevertheless, the relationship between the witcher and the proud sorceress does not bode well for the future offspring (it is good that there could not be such a thing). Ultimately, their love is a constant breakup and comeback. And with the uncertainty that gnaws at them from within, it cannot all end quite happily. Either way, such unhappy relationships can arise when you are the lonely hero that the crowd hates.
Together in an unhappy world
And what when the loving heroes are together (of course, after overcoming many obstacles), but their relationship is surrounded by an unhappy world? Because sometimes the hero decides to have everything – he wants to be with his beloved and save the earth. This is extremely rare, but you can afford it when your significant other is able to take care of yourself (which she was trained to do from an early age). But what when, after a long fight, the protagonist finally manages to grab his chosen one into his arms and make her his wife? But what if the world around, instead of enjoying being saved, falls into another war? Richard, the protagonist of the Sword of Truth series, takes the risk and has his beloved wife with him on her journey. Although they are together, the road to peace and happiness is long, difficult and stained with blood. As you can see, fate does not spare even the defender of the world, giving him happiness, but surrounding him with even more suffering.
What about this love?
Is love in a fantasy world possible then? Of course! If only the hero has the strength to endure the enormity of the suffering that will befall him, and his beloved turns out to be patient enough to wait. It is possible provided that they both survive the destiny awaiting them and in the last pages of the book show us that love, although it can be difficult, is a motivation that allows us to fight against all adversities. And this is what I wish all of us, that we start treating love as a motivation to live, and not just red, chocolate hearts on February 14th.
Sources:
- JRR Tolkien The Lord of the Rings
- Terry Pratchett Guard! Guard!
- Terry Goodkind – The Sword of Truth cycle
- Andrzej Sapkowski – the saga of the Witcher
- John Flanagan – Scouts series