Over the past half century, dwarves, hobbits, elves, magic, dragons, runes, and other staples of fantastic realms have become firmly entrenched in popular culture and mainstream media, from The Lord of the Rings to the Harry Potter series. Are such strange phenomena merely the products of fertile imaginations, or are there substantive historical inspirations behind them? Historian Justin M. Jacobs discusses the evolving conceptions of fantastic elements in Eurasian history and lays bare the truth behind what he sees as four distorted myths of fantasy in popular culture surrounding magic; elves, dwarves, and hobbits; Norse runes; and medieval bestiaries.   

Jacobs, a professor of Chinese history at American University, is the author of several books, including Plunder? How Museums Got Their Treasures.

Session Information

Medieval Bestiaries

Belief in fantastic monsters from exotic far-off lands has been a constant phenomenon in world history, but only a handful of civilizations have taken the trouble to codify such beliefs in meticulous reference works known as bestiaries. Using illuminated medieval European manuscripts and Chinese and Japanese monster catalogues, Jacobs shows what the production of bestiaries in ancient and medieval Europe and East Asia can tell us about the world and mindset of those who made them, from the often abstract symbolism of European dragons to the politicized representations of so-called barbarian peoples on the Chinese periphery.

Additional Sessions of A Journey through Fantastic Realms Series

• October 9: A History of Magic
• October 16: Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits
• October 23: Old Norse Runes

General Information

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