Religion in Fantasy

[lea_hazel]

Supposing you picked up a book (secondary world fantasy, FWIW) and from beginning to end, it didn't have a single mention of religion in it. What would you think? I mean, none of the characters, major or minor, are religious, no places of worship, no names of gods, no forces beyond mortal ken, no epithets or swears or the like. How hard would you roll your eyes?


When I look at all the things I want to add to my story's worldbuilding, religion isn't one of them. Right now the world is very frail and basic, I have to add a lot regarding language, currency, economy, border politics and documentation, even technology. I also want to expand a few things I did address, like food and clothing, arts, and class differences.

Ostensibly religion is too big and too important a part of people's lives, even (sometimes especially) if they are not adherents themselves. Certainly I doubt I'd ever write a contemporary or historical story without addressing religion at least a little. However, building a whole set of religions suitable to four POV characters of four different species frankly sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

I don't really like religion, and don't find it fascinating enough. Then again, I don't find economics very interesting either, but I look at my story and see that it's necessary to address things like trade and craft, currency exchange and the value of certain goods, in order to accomplish the story I'm setting out to tell.


Can I accomplish my story in a world with no religion, or is that just too implausible?

Comments

[attackfish]

It can be done without easily, especially if you're focusing on only one or two characters. (Books with huge casts frequently need more meticulous world-building, because you're seeing the world from so many perspectives. Read some recent fantasy (or reread, more likely, amirite?) and highlight every reference to religion you spot. Except for books like the "Percy Jackson" books or the "Queen's Thief" books where the gods walk around and make trouble, there aren't many.

I've been doing a lot of thought on the matter, as I'm going the opposite direction, as my WIP has multiple religions including monotheistic ones, no gods as characters, religious and ethnic tensions, and a main character who considered becoming a member of her religion's clergy before the rest of her life got in the way and is still quite religious. It's whatever works for you, your characters, and your world. Most people won't notice it's gone unless they're looking for it. Curse words, however, will be fun. I suggest sticking to "fuck" and "shit."

[lea_hazel]

Well "fuck" is probably my favorite world in the English language, so I imagine that will be easy. :) Actually, when it comes to pejoratives, I imagine most of them will be class and species-based.

Looking back at my recent reads, many of them have been heavily centered around religion, which seems to stand in strong contrast to a lot of other recent books I haven't read yet. Maybe it's because so many of the epic heroes I read about are chosen ones, and I have to dip into the political end of the fantasy pool.

[attackfish]

Funny, mine to! My whole family's really foul mouthed. My protagonist is from a very militaristic society, and their word for "coward"'s a major obscenity, used as an expletive as well as an insult.

the "chosen one" trope isn't my favorite, and usually I'm in it for the character drama and the politics. Since I'm a political science major, and my expertise is on the Middle East, ethnic and religious politics is something that fascinates me.

[ailelie]

Would those words be as strong in a different society, though? For example, if sex is not seen as forbidden in any way, would curse words based on it have the same power? What about a society without much fertile land? Wouldn't shit be seen as something to prize?

[attackfish]

One of the few fairly universal expletives is some variation on a term for excrement. Humans have a natural aversion to the disgusting, (which tends to be the dangerous germ filled, or potentially poisonous) which, no matter how useful animal dung may be for a specific society, still includes shit.

Also, most societies that have marriage, and I have no reason to believe the societies in this novel don't, have some sort of prohibition on illicit sex (as marriage is a way of regulating a powerful human drive) and therefore the potential to develop a profanity that refers to illicit sex, even without a religious reason for said prohibition.