In his lecture, literary scholar Sándor Chardonnens explores the characteristics of other, fictional worlds. In what ways do they resemble our own world, and what are the differences? And what is the proper place for human beings within such a world? Chardonnens discovered that fictional worlds in older texts, modern literature and popular culture are constructed in remarkably similar ways. In many stories, people appear to feel most at home in places that most closely resemble our own earth: on the boundaries between the four elements of water, earth, fire and air.
“Human beings exist somewhere between the elements and often have to find their place within that world. We feel most at home on the surface of the elements. The deeper we go into a single element, the stranger it becomes. Less human, more corrupted,” says Chardonnens. “The orcs in Lord of the Rings are a well-known example. They live within the earth, which we perceive as very strange and corrupted.” The reverse is also true: the further removed a place is from the world, the better. “Compare heaven and hell, for example: hell is hidden away deep within the earth, while heaven is found far above and away from it.”
Elements in balance
In these stories, the most human-like characters often search for their position in relation to the elements and the beings that truly belong within them, such as dwarves in a mountain or Elsa from Disney’s Frozen in a world of ice. Elements are also frequently protected by a creature, such as fire guarded by a dragon. “In many stories, someone must confront the elements and the beings that live within them,” Chardonnens explains.
According to Chardonnens, the representation of the elements in ancient and modern stories is no coincidence. “The ancient Greeks and Romans believed, in the theory of the four humours, that the four elements existed within the human body in the form of bodily fluids, and that these needed to remain in balance. But when one element begins to dominate within us, we can become ill.”
During the Middle Ages, this theory often provided the answer to medical questions. Chardonnens explains: “If you had a fever, it was thought to be caused by dwarves living in the warm gold mines inside the mountains, giving off too much heat to humans. These stories were told and passed down for centuries, which is why we still see them reflected in stories today.”
Good or evil
According to Chardonnens, the structure of these worlds also reveals something about how we perceive good and evil. “Stories are often very black and white: the more solid an element becomes, the more evil it is perceived to be. Think of the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: she is so evil that she can live in a world of ice, in other words frozen water. It cannot become any more solid than that.”
Yet there is also hope in these worlds ruled by the elements. Chardonnens says: “Ice can melt again, of course, so it is a form of evil that can be dissolved.”
But before that can happen, the human-like characters must confront the elements and sometimes venture further into them than feels comfortable. “The hobbits, for instance, must enter Gollum’s cave. He is literally and figuratively in his earthy and watery element there, but for the hobbits it is a frightening environment that they must endure in order to move forward,” says Chardonnens.
According to Chardonnens, our awareness of the elements begins from an early age, even in real life. “When a child first learns to ride a bicycle, you make sure they do not fall onto the hard ground. We are also wary of water so that we do not drown, and careful around fire in the kitchen so that we do not burn ourselves. We need the elements in order to exist, for example for cooking and drinking, but we do not want to become too deeply immersed in them,” Chardonnens explains. “In fact, we are constantly searching for a healthy balance on the boundary between the elements.”
And what about all those beings such as dwarves, elves and demons? Chardonnens concludes: “Because of those beings, we are not alone in this world of animals and plants. There are also other human-like creatures that are at home within the elements, much like moles and birds, yet in whom we recognise something of ourselves. That is quite a comforting thought, isn’t it?”