Gandalf's Purse . . . Or, Economics in Fantasy Fiction

Georg Gisze the Younger by Hans Holbein

By Steven McLain

Capitalism is a fairly recent invention.  Fernand Braudel, in his magisterial economic history of the fourteenth to eighteenth century, points out that the word "capitalism" was unknown to Marx in 1867.  The author of Capital, who revolutionized the modern understanding of production and consumption, was unable to articulate that system as "capitalism."  Capitalism was for a later century.  But capitalism is the system of the world economy in which we find ourselves.  None of it is providential, and certainly, it was never unavoidable; historic contingency and decisions (both conscious and unconscious) worked to bring us to this conclusion.

Fantasy, however, asks its readers to imagine a world that is not capitalist.  More often than not, fantasy takes its cues consciously from history.  From the Roman, to the Medieval, to the Renaissance and Enlightenment, fantasy writers invoke the past and use them as both setting and muse.  Human history is replete with tragedy, drama, humor, deep cruelty, and unimaginable altruism.  But according to economic historians, not so full of capital investment.

It all boils down to what you can invest your money in.  Innovation, for much of human history, was slow because the material costs were not only high, but required significant inlays for maintenance.  Braudel suggests that infrastructure during the Medieval period required approximately 5% of the total construction cost per year in upkeep.  Roads, castle walls, town gates, every piece of infrastructure essentially needed to be rebuilt every twenty years.

What's worse, land was itself not particularly valuable.  Agricultural techniques were insufficient to feed the population, requiring more land to be under production, which in turn required more people to farm.  Huge numbers of seasonal workers were regularly hired just to farm the massive tracts of land necessary to feed a single village.  Furthermore, peasants were deeply inimical to change and actively resisted innovation, assassinating workmen brought in to introduce new agricultural techniques, or destroying their workshops. 

Minas Tirith

But what does this mean for the fantasy genre?  Science fiction has long prided itself on its world-building, and since the early days of the fantasy genre, elaborate myths, genealogies and languages have been created to expand worlds of magic and adventure.  From Dunsany, to Lovecraft, to Tolkien these worlds have been rich in detail; indeed, the appeal of these works is often their elaborately conceived backstories.  Nonetheless, as important as these languages, myths and histories are to the fantasy genre, of vital importance to world-builders is the economy of that world.

How a world is built, physically and economically, is just as important as how its politics are structured, what games one plays for the thrones, or the sounds of a world's words.  How is food produced?  How are goods transported?  Is it a barter system, money economy, or something else?  Are markets seasonal, weekly, or everyday?  Where and when are fairs?

Consumption, production and the circulation of goods are each important considerations; that the book you're writing doesn't necessarily deal with the economics of the world is not a legitimate argument.  Not only will it add a layer of believability to the novel, it adds flavor and suggests conflict.  Conflict is the basis of all story, and inequality is the basis of human economy.  One person produces too much, another has too little; somehow they come to an agreement. 

These are the rules of human history.  Because of this, they are the basic rules of fantasy fiction.  So figure out where your money comes from.