Historical Fantasy – Where does the history end and the fantasy begin?

This is a question I’ve been asked a few times.

There is no clear answer. Many authors will have different approaches and so I can only answer for myself.

I would begin by saying that all historical fiction is a fantasy of sorts. Authors might have historical sources to read through, dates and names, evidence and physical locations to visit. However, when it comes to human nature, thoughts, ambitions, and desires, what can we ever know for certain? The human mind is always the greatest of mysteries to unravel, is it not?

But I digress.

There is more than just emotional guesswork for the historical characters in my novel. I have also imbued some of these people with magical powers derived from Irish mythology. There are certainly no accounts of Queen Gormflaith setting ships on fire.

However, there was enough to intrigue in the historical documents I read that couldn’t be easily explained. We have accounts of blood rain destroying ships, an elderly queen being so attractive that multiple men proposed marriage to her, and of dead kings being sighted years after their supposed death. The mythology inside of my story explained everything so easily that I sometimes wonder how I would have tackled these events if I’d stayed within the confines of traditional historical fiction.

As to magic - there is also a legacy in Irish culture of the unexplained occurring within the ordinary.

My grandmother used to talk to my father about the hungry grass. It was a feeling of pain, hunger or suffering that she had when she walked across a certain piece of land. Other people can sense the hungry grass too and it is said that this area of land must be a place where real suffering or hunger once took place. There are other folk tales too. Tales of changelings and banshees and of hawthorn trees people are too afraid to cut down.

And so, with all these things swirling in my head, weaving the mythology into the history didn’t seem so strange at all. In fact, it felt stranger contemplating leaving it out.

But the thing is this, by weaving the mythological elements into my story, I knew I had to stay close to the actual history. I think I’d have lost the anchor to my story if I’d moved away too much – and that the fantasy could only be believed if everything else felt absolutely real.

And that’s my explanation.

I hope you enjoy my trilogy. Historical fantasy is its own genre, perhaps given less attention than I would like in recent years. Why not give it a go and make up your own mind?

If you are interested in what you've read, you can order Shauna Lawless' books using this link

About Shauna Lawless

Shauna Lawless is an avid reader of Irish mythology and folklore. As an Irish woman, she loves that Irish mythology has inspired so many stories over the years, however, she wanted to explore the history and mythology of Ireland in a more authentic way. She lives in Northern Ireland with her family. Follow Shauna on twitter @shaunaLwrites, or on her blog at www.shaunalawless.com