Footnote #5 seeks to embrace the sub-division of fantasy literature through distinctions of “high” and “low,” whereby the era of post-Tolkien fantasy was culturally and critically understood through the identification of the genre’s specific storytelling modes. Listen as Chris and Alex (well, mostly Alex) give a rundown of the role of alternative worlds and mythic tropes used in such divisions; sword-and-sorcery genre elements, folkloric imagery, and character archetypes; how such categories relate to the evolving language of fantasy scholarship, including the criteria for “immersive” and “intrusive” fantasies; and the political stakes of both identifying and splintering fantasy through the overlapping categories of “high” and “low.”

**Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo**