What The Heck’s A MacGuffin, You May Well Ask…

Wikipedia (aka ‘the font of all wisdom’ ) describes a “MacGuffin” as a “plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or another motivator that the protagonist pursues, often with little or no narrative explanation. The MacGuffin’s importance to the plot is not the object itself, but rather its effect on the characters and their motivations.”

If you dig a little deeper, the last sentence does appear to be open to some question. For example, although Hitchcock was allegedly of the view that “The MacGuffin is the thing that the spies are after but the audience don’t care [about]” (Boyd, David; Perspectives on Alfred Hitchcock, G. K. Hall, 1995, pg 31), George Lucas takes a different stance. He believes that the MacGuffin should be powerful and that “the audience should care about it almost as much as the dueling heroes and villains on screen” (Vanity Fair, February 2008.)

I believe what everyone agrees on, though, is that the MacGuffin, or MacGuffins, motivate the protagonists and antagonists to undertake the actions that comprise the story, usually by finding the object, or achieving the goal that constitutes the MacGuffin. In most cases, particularly in Fantasy, this involves some sort of hunt or search—aka the quest-journey that featured in the very first instalment of this series: “A Farm Boy/Gal Goes On A Journey.”
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Is A “MacGuffin” A New Thing, Then?

The next question, if I follow the format of preceding posts in this series, is whether what we now term “MacGuffins” have antecedents in the myths and legends, fairytales and folklore that form the background to contemporary Fantasy fiction. The answer is a resounding yes, with perhaps the most obvious and well known being the Grail Quest in the Arthurian Cycle, which is sometimes known as the “Matter of Britain.”

The hunt for the grail, which encompasses both goal and  object, is of vital importance to the knights of the Round Table. Its primary place in the story, however, is to spark the Grail Quest, aka a MacGuffin Hunt, with all the tests and vicissitudes that go along with the traditional quest-journey.

I would also argue that Arthur’s story begins with a MacGuffin quest as well, with the MacGuffin being the sword in the stone, which exists in the story so Arthur can pull it out and be recognized as the true king. If we go back earlier,  to the Greek myths, the golden fleece was the “MacGuffin” that set Jason and the Argonauts on their quest journey to steal/retrieve it.

Norse myth, too, has its examples, such as when the giants steal Thor’s hammer (Mjolnir) in hopes of exchanging it for the goddess, Freya, as a wife for their leader.  The quest to recover Mjolnir is really an excuse for the customary Thor/Loki shennanigans that characterize a significant proportion of Norse myth.

Another legitimate question is whether all MacGuffins are objects, such as the Holy Grail or Excalibur, or alternately the statuette of The Maltese Falcon or the plans of the death star (several times over now) in Star Wars. In my view, the answer is “not necessarily”—although in Fantasy, they very often are.

Arguably, though, one of the most famous “MacGuffins” of Greek myth is Helen of Troy, who was abducted by/fled with Paris to Troy. According to the legend, the reason the Greek armies laid siege to Troy for ten years was to get Helen back. Otherwise, though, the Iliad and other related stories, are only peripherally concerned with Helen: what they’re really all about is the battles and individual heroic contests, the tragedy and drama of the heroes and the siege.
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“MacGuffins” in Fantasy Literature:

I believe it would be fair to assert that MacGuffins in all their forms are integral to epic fantasy literature, and also that objects (as opposed to “goals…or other motivators”) are probably the preferred, although not exclusive, form of epic MacGuffins. I believe this trend is particularly pronounced in epic fantasy written for Children and Young Adult readers, but again, not exclusive to it.

1. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien:

Both observations bring me directly to The Lord of the Rings, which comprises probably the single most famous MacGuffin quest in epic literature: Frodo Baggins and his eight companions quest to take the evil One Ring to Mt Doom, which is the only place it can be destroyed—destruction being the protagonists’ overarching goal. All other action in the story hangs of this quest, although the ring itself is more of a background threat. In this sense it is aligned to Hitchhock’s definition of a MacGuffin, although its importance to the overall story is probably closer toward Lucas.

The Lord of the Rings is deeply grounded in Norse myth, but it departs from myth and legend in that the MacGuffin quest  is to destroy the ring, rather than recover or restore it.
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2. The Great Hunt (Wheel Of Time, Book 2) by Robert Jordan

As indicated in earlier posts, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series comprises fourteen volumes so there’s plenty of scope for all the epic tropes including MacGuffins.  I am focusing on Book Two, The Great Hunt, though, because effectively it’s an entire book (of ca. 600-700 pages depending on which edition you read) that is devoted to a MacGuffin hunt. The MacGuffin is the legendary Horn of Valere (i.e. an object/artefact of power) and the book’s title frames its contents (as good titles are meant to do.)
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3. The “Fionavar” Tapestry (Trilogy) by Guy Gavriel Kay

Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar trilogy (The Summer Tree; The Wandering Fire; The Darkest Road) contains a number of MacGuffin hunts, including the quest of the seer, Kim, to enlist/conscript powers to combat or match those of the enemy. She has a magic ring, the Baelrath, to help her do this. Consistent with the Helen of Troy precedent, those she is seeking to enlist are not objects but magical beings.

The second hunt is the voyage of the Prydwen to the magical island of Cader Sedat in order to destroy a sorcerous cauldron that is being used to create revenants. In this way Kay manages to incorporate the more traditional MacGuffin hunt and one that reflects The Lord of the Rings, where the goal is to destroy the object of power.
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4. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip

Patricia McKillip’s debut — and World Fantasy Award-winning — novel includes a classic MacGuffin hunt that appears secondary to the main action of the story until the final denouement, while also driving or triggering some of that action. The main character, Sybel, collects magical creatures and the hunt that informs the book is for the magical bird, the Liralen—a hunt that also draws unwelcome attention.  As with Kim’s hunt in Fionavar, the Liralen is a magical being rather than an object/artefact.
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5. A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K Le Guin

The reason I’m including Books One and Two in Le Guin’s classic Earthsea series is because the author employs two distinct MacGuffins in each book. In A Wizard of Earthsea Ged must hunt for the true name of the dark being he himself conjured, in order to master it and so save his own life. In this book, the MacGuffin is vital to Ged and the story, so reflects the Lucas view of the trope.

In The Tombs of Atuan the reason for Ged going into the tombs, and hence sparking the story, is to find the lost half of the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Arguably, though, the finding of the artefact is peripheral to the Atuan story, which is really about Ged and Tenar, love and hate, power and responsibility.
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6. “The Dark Is Rising” Sequence by Susan Cooper

In Susan Cooper’s renowned series (which draws on the Arthurian legends, English folklore, and Celtic and Norse mythology), every book is centered on a MacGuffin hunts to recover a series of artefacts of power necessary to defeat the Dark. These include the grail and the codex to decipher it, the six Signs, a harp of gold, and a crystal sword. Consistent with Lucas’s thesis, the MacGuffins and their recovery are integral to the series.

The five books are: Over Sea, Under Stone, The Dark Is Rising (a Newbery Honor Book), Greenwitch, The Gray King (Newbery Medal; Tir-Nan-Og Award), and Silver On The Tree (Tir-Nan-Og Award.)
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7. The “Sun Wolf And Starhawk” Series by Barbara Hambly

The conclusion of the first book (The Ladies of Mandrigyn) introduces and sets up the MacGuffin quest for Books Two (The Witches of Wenshar) and Three (The Dark Hand of Magic), in which the wizard, Sun Wolf, searches for a teacher for his newly discovered magical ability. This quest is a classic MacGuffin in that it sets up the plot and character motivations but is never resolved.
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8. The Subtle Knife (“His Dark Materials” Series, Book #2) by Philip Pullman

In The Subtle Knife, in particular—of all Pullman’s “Golden Compass” series novels—the hunt by various parties for an artefact of power drives the action and the characters.  In this case, the artefact is the titular subtle knife that opens doors between worlds—also discussed last time in “Fortunately There Was A Portal.”
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9. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, Book #7) by JK Rowling

I have chosen this specific book in the Harry Potter series for two reasons. Firstly, because the series became increasingly epic in character as it progressed. And secondly because The Deathly Hallows contains a classic MacGuffin hunt: Harry and Hermione’s quest to find and destroy the remaining horcruxes that preserve the life of Voldemort, the series’ Big Bad…
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10. The Drawing Of The Dark by Tim Powers

MacGuffins come in many different forms and in this Tim Powers novel that form is “the dark.” The dark is an ancient and potent brew of (presumably very dark) beer that has the power to restore the Fisher King (aka Arthur and before that Sigurd) and tilt the international balance of power, stemming the ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire. Needless to say both the protagonists and antagonists (in this case, the Ottomans who wish to preserve their hegemony) are in a race to gain control of the dark first.  In the classic fashion of MacGuffins the tale is not so much about the beer as the ups and downs of the race…
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So Who Wins, Hitchcock or Lucas?

On balance, I’d say the honors are fairly even between the MacGuffin being important to the protagonists and antagonists, but not vital to the reader’s enjoyment of the story, and those quests that are significant in their own right and where we (as readers) care about the outcome, e.g. whether the MacGuffin is found, recovered, or destroyed.

So What About My Own Books, Then?

I am reasonably certain (although I stand to be corrected) that a MacGuffin hunt does not feature in Thornspell. The protagonist does find a magical sword, but he isn’t aware of its existence until he stumbles upon it, and he certainly doesn’t go looking for it. Since Thornspell is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the prince, arguably the quest to find and wake the princess could be the ‘MacGuffin’—but I feel that would only follow if the princess were the traditional non-player character. As I made the princess a far more active part of the story, I’m inclined to the view that she can’t be considered a ‘MacGuffin.’ However, I am happy for readers to make up their own minds on this point.

On the other hand, the MacGuffin hunt is very much part of The Wall Of Night series. One of the many challenges facing the protagonist, Malian, is to find the lost weapons of power that belong to her predecessor, the hero-mage Yorindesarinen. (Yes, I know, long names—it’s probably another trope. 😉 )

There are three weapons, a helmet, sword, and shield, with the finding of each one being a thread, but not the principal action, in each of the first three books in the series. That is: The Heir of Night: helmet; The Gathering of the Lost: sword; Daughter of Blood: shield. In this sense, my approach is closer to that of Le Guin in The Tombs of Atuan, than to Susan Cooper in “The Dark Is Rising” series.

The fact that the MacGuffin hunt is a supporting cause, rather than the central purpose of each book may also seem to point more to Hitchcock than Lucas. Except that each MacGuffin quest ends up being integral to the plot, rather than an outlying element, which I believe brings the creative ellipse back toward Lucas again…

In fact, I suspect the MacGuffin trope is similar to a binary star system, with most epic stories orbiting somewhere between the two approaches put forward by the two famous directors.

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Next Time:  Having read this post you’ve probably figured out that MacGuffins and artefacts of power are closely aligned. So check back in on Monday 6 August for Instalment 9: “Artefacts of Power — and Doom — And Where To Find Them.” 😉

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Previously In This Series:

Introduction: Having Fun With Epic Fantasy—Meet the Tropes

Instalment 1: Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes: A Farm Boy/Gal Goes On A Journey…

Instalment  2: A Prince/Princess Finds A Destiny

Instalment 3: Dreams and Portents, Prophecy and Destiny

Instalment 4: “Apocalypse Now”

Instalment 5: Meet The Big Bad

Instalment 6: The Sweep Of Time & Its Twin, War Without End

Instalment 7: Fortunately There was A Portal

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On SF Signal: The “Having Fun With Epic Fantasy” Series

1. “Making the Grand Tour” (aka the Road Journey);

2. “The “Band of Brothers”; and the

3. “Soul-Sucking Sword.”

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© Helen Lowe