Fantasy has long been a major aspect of literature. The earliest stories known to man feature tales of epic adventures and fantastic beasts.

Traditional fantasy takes the forms of myths, legends, and fairy tales. Many epics, handed down orally through generations, contain fantastical elements.

A myth is an anonymous story with roots in primitive folk beliefs of races or nations.

Myth presents supernatural episodes as a means of interpreting natural events in an effort to make concrete and particular a special perception of man or a cosmic view. They often relate stories of gods and goddesses.

Thus most cultures have, for example, a creation myth.

Like myth, legends have origins in oral traditions and often feature larger-than-life characters. Legend differs from myth because legend is often rooted in fact.

For example, legends of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table are rooted in knowledge of an historical king who tried to unite England.

An epic is a long narrative poem relating the story of a hero whose life and adventures are important to the history and culture of a people.

Traditional epics such as The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer have been handed down orally and eventually organized and put into written form.

Literary epics such as The Aeneid by Virgil and Paradise Lost by John Milton are deliberately composed at a certain point of time.

In an epic a protagonist will often visit enchanged islands, encounter fabulous creatures, or visit the underworld.