Portent and Fate: The Mythic Aspect of Dream in Contemporary Fantasy
Dream magic plays a relatively significant part in both Thornspell and The Wall Of Night series and one of its more important aspects is that of portent, with fulfillment locked into whether—or how—the foretold doom or destiny will play out.
This aspect of dream and fulfillment is an essential element of both the Greek and Norse myths, as well as folklore. We all recognize, after all, that if our hero or heroine is told something three times, especially by an oracle of some kind, then the foretelling is likely to prove true …
(This is not just in Fantasy, by the way. In the SFF television series, Babylon 5, I believe careful perusal will show that the captain, John Sheridan, is warned three times that, “If you go to Z’ha’dum, you will die.” Just sayin’)
Yet any exploration of dreams and their “fated” fulfillment in Fantasy also gives rise to the alternative consideration: the extent to which characters have free will. Can they, like Will Thatcher (the mourned Heath Ledger) in the film, A Knight’s Tale, change their stars? The Greek and Norse myths would answer that question with a resounding “no”—in fact it is usually the protagonist’s endeavours to avoid his or her prophesied fate that brings about the doom.
In The Wall of Night series I keep the fate vs free will aspect open by having the prophetic dreams occur very much in the “jumbled workings” of the subconscious. There is truth in them, but they may only imperfectly reflect events that occur in the daylight world. Nothing is certain … and every action a protagonist takes acts on the dream, creating alternative possibilities of fulfillment.
In exploring the prophetic dream tradition, both through reading other writers and in my own work, I suspect that we are also talking about aspiration—the innate human desire to affect our fate and exert control over destiny. The myths, of course, would say that any such aspiration is doomed, its fulfillment stillborn before it has taken the first breath of life.
But what do you think? Do you have a view on the use of dreams and portents in contemporary Fantasy, or a favourite book or series that deploys them to good effect?
I’m rereading GATHERING at the moment, so I can discuss with my Teen who loves to discuss reading and just finished HEIR. (you’re getting more sales BTW, as Teen prefers paper & I bought Kindle.) So your handling of dreams is very fresh in my mind and I approve of it. I’ve seen it done clumsily, where the dream/prophecy is fulfilled in far too obvious a way. what you’re doing, having characters aware of the limitations, using them against each other, such as Malian escaping Nindoreth in Caer Argent, frex, is well done.
Rowan and the Heralds have a conversation in HEIR about prophecy that means it can be .. umm.. .if not avoided, shifted somewhat. Malian has a seer’s feeling that Kalan won’t get the future he wants as a Knight.
CJ Cherryh did that well in her FORTRESS series. Have you read it? There’s prophecies about what will happen with the promised King to Come arrives, with the usual interpretation being that it will be curtains for the current ruling line. The Crown Prince of that line likes the guy who turns up and decides rather than fight prophecy, he’ll enthusiastically help it be fulfilled.
Not too surprisingly he gets a much better fate than Oedipus.
i tend to think that people who are aware of prophecy/portents can still be masters of their fate by insisting on choosing what they deem right portents be dammed. As I think Rowan did.
Won’t provide examples of books I think do it badly because Imostly put them down and forget them.
Thank you for the positive comments regarding the use of dreams and dream magic in the WALL series. I’m glad that it is working for you—and I hope many others!
I am reasonably certain I have read the first novel in the FORTRESS series: I remember enjoying it—as I do most if not all CJ Cherryh novels—and also recall a complex mythology infusing the story. And yes, I do say that as if it’s a good thing. 🙂
I’ve used dreams in my RPGs for years, making them into tools of prophecy, communication and myth.
That sounds like interesting RP-ing. Are you involved in a grand campaign, or do you tend to run shorter quests?