The Beauty of Simple Fantasy

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:02]At the beginning of the greatest fantasy story ever created, we get a conversation. [music] This conversation is not held between kings, wizards, dark lords, or even the main character and his uncle. The first full conversation held in [music] The Lord of the Rings is between the father of one of the main characters and his neighbors. This introduction [music] conversation struck me in a humorous way. These characters were giving needed exposition [music] on the most important aspects of the story: Bilbo, his adventures, his odd lifestyle, and his nephew [music] Frodo. While the content of this conversation wasn't odd, it felt abnormally natural. It didn't come across as info dumping. Instead, it followed the course of a [music] few neighbors chatting it up, gossiping about some of the town drama, unaware that they are talking about the most [music] important hobbits in Middle-earth history. It's important to note, a little obviously, that these neighbors were never going to play a major part [music] in the overarching story. Despite that, they felt like very well-rounded characters with the perfect little quirks that the author J.R.R.

[00:01:06]Tolkien [music] gave them. The main speaker carrying this conversation is the gaffer, who is the father of Samwise Gamgee, one of the main characters in The Lord of the Rings. He had been given a bit more personality and backstory.

[00:01:19][music] The other characters are paper cutouts with the tiniest quirks [music] that are meant to affect the gaffer more than the reader. As the gaffer gets mildly annoyed with one of his fellow hobbits, the reader might find themselves either getting [music] annoyed with him or finding the whole situation a bit funny.

[00:01:35]Either way, this introduction may seem unimportant, but the little details that are interwoven into it make it a fitting piece for the bigger puzzle of the fantastic story [music] and world of The Lord of the Rings.

[00:01:49]Hey there, my name is Ethan. I love [music] talking books and stories. In this video, I'd like to analyze The Lord of the Rings as well as another [music] story, in hopes that I can unpack the secret ingredient that is in every powerful [music] story.

[00:02:03]Simplicity.

[00:02:06]The concept of simplicity in stories has been something I've been really interested in for the past few months.

[00:02:11]In my last video, I went over the contrast between a simple and extraordinary storyline and art, how they can be perfectly meshed together to convey a balanced story. In that video, I mainly touched on visual media, anything ranging from manga, anime, comic strips, movies, video games, and and much more. I talked about some of my favorite pieces of media, Frieren Beyond Journey's End and Calvin and [music] Hobbes. Frieren is about an elf and her journeys that take place decades after the [music] original quest ended. And Calvin and Hobbes is about a boy's childhood adventures with his stuffed tiger. Both of these possess the simple and extraordinary qualities that I brought up in that video.

[00:02:46]>> [music] >> But for some reason or another, the need to discuss Frieren even more was still hanging over me.

[00:02:52]The bittersweet story of an elf who has outlived her closest companions who changed her life kept tugging at me. Its story, characters, and world completely knocked me off my feet. The depth was what really got me, though.

[00:03:05]How was a story with such a simple premise so powerful? The question bugged me, but then an even bigger thought caught hold of my attention. This thought had been looming in my mind for a few months, but now it persisted [music] in my every thought concerning Frieren.

[00:03:21]And that was this, Frieren was extremely similar to the Lord of [music] the Rings. At a surface level, this isn't entirely shocking. All modern-day fantasy is in one way or another distantly related to J.R.R. Tolkien's work. That being said, Frieren doesn't feel distant at all. It instead reflects that more of a spiritual child to the expansive and beautiful story [music] that fathers all of fantasy. Lord of the Rings really is the foundation that has been laid for authors and storytellers.

[00:03:48]Whether it be J.R.R. Tolkien's books or their [music] big screen adaptations from Peter Jackson. This incredible story is universally acknowledged as the highest standard for its genre. Right?

[00:04:00]I'll admit one thing that begins to annoy me is when people start to over glaze stuff. I'm talking the Krispy Kreme level of glazing.

[00:04:09]Well, yeah. I realized I've been doing that for the past 7 and 1/2 years since I first read The Lord of the Rings. And that had unfortunately been the first and last time I read it. Since then I'd watched the movies multiple times over the years, [music] but I hadn't read the books since I first initial go around.

[00:04:27]I've read hundreds of other books since then, but I read through this book series [music] once in my childhood.

[00:04:32]Does that mean it could still hold up after all of this time? Was I looking back on these [music] books with rose-tinted glasses?

[00:04:40]Long story short and without getting into any of the details because that would take just a whole 'nother video. I have officially started rereading The Lord of the Rings. I'm not too far into it due to my busy [music] schedule, which I'm fine with. I'm in it for the long run is the mindset I'm locking into [music] for this journey with Frodo alongside his companions as they experience the beauty and treachery of Middle-earth, which is exactly how you should approach both of The Lord of the Rings [music] and Frieren. These characters and their worlds that surround them have a deep richness that can't be summed up in a short blurb.

[00:05:12]There isn't a certain gimmick from either of these that's meant to carry the entire story like a special warrior school or an elaborate magic system [music] or anything else unique that you find in fantasy nowadays. We got elves and dwarves [music] with the occasional dragon. The difference between the two of these stories though is how they [music] treat the general fantasy tropes. J.R.R.

[00:05:32]Tolkien's work goes deep into the lore and history of the world. Maps, calendars, languages, and lineages are some of the aspects that [music] make up the DNA of Middle-earth. Each of these pieces, major or minor, were created with [music] so much fine detail that in turn make the backbone for The Lord of the Rings extremely strong. This [music] allows all the little details to shine because they have a real backing and reasoning behind them. In a sense, Tolkien created these tropes, but also sharpened them so they cut [music] deep with their depth. On the other hand, we have Frieren who takes these same tropes and dulls them down to the simple a hero alongside his friends go on a journey and defeat the Demon King. Except those face value characteristics [music] and tropes are set up as springboards. We get our perspective on how the characters and how they see the world constantly flipped around. The caring [music] hero turns out to be vain. The warrior dwarf is fearful. The priest is a drunk and the near [music] immortal elf is a cold and uncaring individual.

[00:06:26]But even those specific characteristics are only a piece of each individual.

[00:06:31][music] There happens to be even more to each of the four adventurers besides their contradictory [music] personalities. It feels like you're flipping through pages highlighting just one aspect of each detail of a character in the world [music] building of Frieren Beyond Journey's End.

[00:06:46]And that all ties back to this thought here that these seemingly useless details about hobbits and their diet or silly spells Frieren has learned [music] it could be easily discarded. But then if that were to happen, their world would lose a piece of its soul. Some of these little intricates have their own depth while others are meant to be setups for other deeper meanings in the [music] story. They're meant to deepen the immersion of the story you're experiencing, not randomly thrown in to mark off an imaginary checkbox. [music] And that brings us to this. Not every scene needs intense action. Not every conversation needs to lead to a large revelation. Not every action needs a secret heroic motive. Not every turn needs a twist. We as humans are constantly picking up on subtle details.

[00:07:29][music] Consciously or not, these small aspects will influence our greater outlook on the rest of the story. It's daunting to take the step to add something that could be deemed useless [music] or unnecessary or even filler into your work. But if these aspects are used in a way to subtly push your story and characters forward, then I wholeheartedly recommend taking that step. Simplicity truly is the key to a powerful story.

[00:07:54]There's a lot more that could be said about the parallels between [music] Freerun and The Lord of the Rings, but I think this is where I'll land the plane for this video. I think it's important that we establish the core truths that link these two amazing [music] stories together.

[00:08:07]And that goes beyond just these two here.

[00:08:10]That being said, I'll most likely be reading The Lord of the Rings for a huge chunk of the summer. So, stay tuned for future videos about this awesome series.

[00:08:18]On that topic, I've been meaning to mention that I made [music] a public playlist a couple of months ago titled Good Book Videos. I use this playlist to earmark [music] videos pertaining to books, stories, and anything else along those lines. I've actually used lots of those videos for [music] inspiration for what I make. So, I definitely recommend taking a look at that playlist if you have some time for it. Anyway, I hope after this video you're able to notice a few more of the small details that make your favorite stories [music] great.

[00:08:45]Thanks for watching and supporting my channel. I sincerely hope you stick around for more. Peace.

[00:08:51]>> [music]