D&D = American + European Fantasy

[Ubiquitous]

Dungeons & Dragons draws on a rich mythology from the works of European
authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and Michael Moorcock. And yet D&D was also
influenced by American authors like Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H.P.
Lovecraft, and R.E. Howard. The end result is that D&D's tone sits
somewhere between the two.

European Folklore
The bones of D&D have obvious roots in European myths and legends; we
see it in the dwarves, elves, hobbits, and orcs of J.R.R. Tolkien and
the fairies, giants, and dragons that are scattered throughout the
Monster Manual. Colleen Gillard explains how British fantasy flourished
by staying in touch with its pagan roots -- and was even influenced by
the landscape:

Landscape matters: Britain’s antique countryside, strewn with
moldering castles and cozy farms, lends itself to fairy-tale
invention. As Tatar puts it, the British are tuned in to the
charm of their pastoral fields...

But D&D has many influences, not the least of which are co-creators Gary
Gygax and Dave Arneson, who brought their own American sensibilities to
the game. For a fantasy role-playing game that is distinctly European,
look no further than Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, now in its Fourth
Edition.

American Influences
American fantasy, like the Europeans, was influenced by its terrain:

America’s mighty vistas, by contrast, are less cozy, less
human-scaled, and less haunted. The characters that populate
its purple mountain majesties and fruited plains are decidedly
real...

But perhaps the strongest difference is a sense of control over one's
destiny. This belief, carried over with America's earliest settlers from
Europe, reinforced that self-enrichment was a moral right, as outlined
by Max Weber:

...Weber wrote that capitalism in Northern Europe evolved when
the Protestant (particularly Calvinist) ethic influenced large
numbers of people to engage in work in the secular world,
developing their own enterprises and engaging in trade and the
accumulation of wealth for investment. In other words, the
Protestant work ethic was an important force behind the
unplanned and uncoordinated emergence of modern capitalism.

No wonder then that Gygax strongly adhered to a leveling system in which
heroes can rise to success through the accumulation of wealth at
significant risk. This was how heroes like Conan, Fafhrd, and the Gray
Mouser did it, and it draws on a long tradition of American folklore:

Popular storytelling in the New World instead tended to
celebrate in words and song the larger-than-life exploits of
ordinary men and women: Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Calamity
Jane, even a mule named Sal on the Erie Canal. Out of bragging
contests in logging and mining camps came even greater
exaggerations—Tall Tales—about the giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan,
the twister-riding cowboy Pecos Bill, and that steel-driving
man John Henry, who, born a slave, died with a hammer in his
hand. All of these characters embodied the American promise:
They earned their fame.

Unlike in European fantasy where boys become kings (or in Harry Potter's
case, orphans become wizards), characters in D&D aren't usually born
heroes; the very nature of leveling systems and experience points
ensures they earn it.
A Motley Mix
Adding these two influences together creates Dungeons & Dragons, a rich
tapestry of fantasy that draws on the works of European authors and then
throws in American sensibilities where the heroes are in control of
their destiny -- or at least their skills and attributes.

For all their American influences, D&D heroes are still small in the
weave of the world. In early D&D games, they died by the handfuls at the
whim of dice, a lesson distinctly at odds with American determinism.

D&D has come full circle to influence the fantasy that created it. You
can see its motley pedigree's fingerprints on sweeping fantasies like
Game of Thrones. As the fantasy genre continues to flourish and the
world becomes more interconnected, it seems likely that we'll see more
works that draw on other cultures...D&D included.

: Mike "Talien" Tresca is a freelance game columnist, author,
: communicator, and a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates
: Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means
: for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to
: http://amazon.com. You can follow him at Patreon.

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