People die a lot in epic fantasy. Yes, everyone blames GRRM for that, but was a trend long before Game of Thrones. The body count is staggering in Lord of the Rings, and when you read through Eddings, Lackey, Brooks and others, the death toll adds up.
I’ve had the good fortune to add to that fictional count over the course of now four epic fantasy series. (Darkhurst, the newest series, begins with Scourge from Solaris Books, launching July 15.) Battles certainly add to the tally, as do disasters–natural and magical. And then there are the monsters.
You learn a lot about a culture through the way it treats death. The word for that is ‘thanatology’–the study of death customs. How we treat death and dying, how we bury our dead and mourn them, reveals a culture’s religion/spiritual beliefs, social class distinctions, understanding of sanitation and prejudices about grief and mourning. It’s an area of worldbuilding that far too often gets little close examination.
Heroic fiction favors pyres. It’s very visual and visceral, and it feels ancient and mythic. It’s also damn good for avoiding problems like Cholera and Typhous that come from badly buried corpses, and it not only sets the soul free of the body but it eliminates the chance for bad magic to corrupt both. At the same time, it presumes that those left behind won’t be returning to a final resting place to memorialize their dead, and it requires a religious view that doesn’t believe the departed will need their body for a final ascendance. There are a lot of assumptions packed into that pyre.
Of course, there’s always burial. Cairns, mounds, cemeteries, mausoleums, crypts, and catafalques also factor into epic fantasy, as well as the hastily dug hole six feet deep. Burial presumes a certain attachment to the body of the dearly departed, a need to keep it close where it can be visited, or where it can lie among its ancestors. In the case of dead monarchs, the shrines erected over their bodies serve their legacy and become a permanent part of the kingdom’s history, a testimony to their brave deeds. Burial customs vary widely as to the handling of the corpse, from the ancient Egyptians with their elaborate mummification processes to merely wrapping a body in a linen shroud and saying the proper words of blessing over it before consigning it to the ground.
Other cultures have placed corpses in platforms high in the trees to let scavengers pick the bones clean, or sent their dead to the sea. Some belief systems focused on freeing the soul, while others obsessed over keeping the dead from returning as vengeful spirits. Still others endeavored to keep the essence of the person within the group by consuming or preserving organs thought to embody traits like intelligence or bravery.
The heroes in my new Darkhurst series are undertakers. Corran, Rigan and Kell Valmonde see the dead of the city-state of Ravenwood to their final rest. They belong to the Undertakers’ Guild, which managed the hereditary professions, and they possess grave magic, the ability to banish vengeful spirits and help souls cross to the After. As the ones who prepare bodies for burial, they know things that others would like to have remain hidden, and Rigan’s additional, unsanctioned magic enables him to summon spirits and confess the dead, hearing their dirty secrets before they cross the Veil.
Developing the Valmonde brothers as characters got me thinking about the role undertakers play in societies that use them. They are part psychopomp, part priest, in the sense that even in a secular society, there is something sacred about preparing the dead for their final rest. Perhaps even more so than the police, undertakers are privy to the secrets we take to the grave, even without magic. They see the scars of old needle tracks or self-harm, see the physical evidence of a lifetime of physical or substance abuse. See through the public disinformation about suicide or domestic violence. They escort the family and the body through the burial process, and are the last to lay hands on us before we are interred or cremated.
Since Darkhurst isn’t part of our world, it doesn’t have to adhere to our notions of grief or mourning. Families say good-bye privately to their dead, then give the body to the undertaker, who comes around each day with a cart to collect corpses and the burial fee. I had one beta reader who struggled with that concept, uncomfortable with the idea that there wasn’t more of a show of mourning, a public funeral. It’s interesting how the cultural ceremonies surrounding death affect our emotions, what we’re conditioned to believe should occur. And it’s equally fascinating for me to turn some of those expectations sideways.
After all, writing a book about medieval undertaker who become monster hunters is going to have to deal with death. After all the characters we writers kill off in epic fantasy, it seems high time we give a little more thought to how they make their final exit.
About the Author
The Hawthorn Moon is the annual summer blog tour for Gail Z. Martin, and features guest blog posts, giveaways, surprises, excerpts and more on sixteen blogs worldwide. Find the master list of posts and goodies at www.GailZMartin.com
Gail Z. Martin is the author of Scourge: A Darkhurst novel, the first in a brand new epic fantasy series from Solaris Books. Also new are: The Shadowed Path, part of the Chronicles of the Necromancer universe (Solaris Books); Vendetta: A Deadly Curiosities Novel in her urban fantasy series set in Charleston, SC (Solaris Books); Shadow and Flame the fourth and final book in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books); and Iron and Blood a new Steampunk series (Solaris Books) co-authored with Larry N. Martin.
She is also author of Ice Forged, Reign of Ash and War of Shadows in The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, The Chronicles of The Necromancer series (The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven, Dark Lady’s Chosen); The Fallen Kings Cycle (The Sworn, The Dread) and the urban fantasy novels Deadly Curiosities . Gail writes three ebook series: The Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures, The Deadly Curiosities Adventures and The Blaine McFadden Adventures. The Storm and Fury Adventures, steampunk stories set in the Iron & Blood world, are co-authored with Larry N. Martin.
Gail is also the organizer for #HoldOnToTheLight, authors blogging about depression, anxiety, PTSD, suicide, self-harm and other mental health topics to encourage inclusiveness in fandom and stand in solidarity with fans. Learn more at www.HoldOnToTheLight.com
Find her at www.GailZMartin.com, on Twitter @GailZMartin, on Facebook.com/WinterKingdoms, at DisquietingVisions.com blog and GhostInTheMachinePodcast.com, on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin and free excerpts on Wattpad http://wattpad.com/GailZMartin.
