Welcome

Welcome to the Law and Magic Blog. Let's see who out there is interested in this subject. I consider it cover a pretty wide area, because I define magic as both traditional magic and secular (entertainment) magic, and law as both traditional kinds of legal regimes and more indefinite, alternative collections of rules. What I think is fascinating is the intersection of the two, and analogies between or differences between the two.

Dave Hoffman (Temple University Law School) has an interesting post at Concurring Opinions on the intersection of fantasy literature, which necessarily encompasses magic, and law. He seems to suggest that few people have actually studied the role of law in such literature. I think he may be incorrect. Many law professors tend sometimes to be unaware of the research that folks in other departments are doing and have been busy doing for decades now. Indeed, lit profs, sociologists, and others take such literature seriously (sometimes too seriously). It is possible to take this material too seriously, as Professor Hoffman suggests. But it's now a fixture in departments in campuses across the U.S. and in other countries. Just check out Slayage (devoted to that classic tv show, Buffy), or my own An Introduction to Law and Literature Studies (Hein, 2000), 2 vols, and my site for cites. I've blogged about the current law and lit/magic favorite, Harry Potter, at Law and Humanities Blog several times (see here, here and here). As it turns out, Professor Hoffman isn't alone in his devotion to fantasy lit; Professor Bainbridge turns in a confession at ProfessorBainbridge.com, and offers an explanation for the co-existence of magic and law in such literature. But Professor Bainbridge also suggests that there isn't a lot of law in magic lit; I actually suspect that there is. Those of us in the legal academy interested in law and lit haven't yet turned our attention to it, but in literature departments literary types probably have done so.

Any novelist worth her salt sets up societal rules for her characters to follow even if they exist in a magical world. Otherwise, the story doesn't ring true. Consider Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings. Even though the rules governing the Shire are not immediately recognizable as English common law, they are recognizable as law. Think about Bilbo's disposal of his possessions. Property law! Think about Gollum's belief in his right to that ring. Finders keepers. Property law again. Frodo takes it from him. By what right? One of my current favorite tv shows is The Dresden Files, based on a series of books by Jim Butcher. That series mixes magic and law quite successfully. Indeed the series tracks two kinds of legal systems--human and magical--and Harry Dresden, the wizard hero, has quite a time trying to stay out of trouble with both sorts.

In a forthcoming essay, "The Laws of the Virtual Worlds," in the California Law Review, Greg Lastowka and Dan Hunter explore the rules of virtual worlds, a subject that has been taking shape for some time. Virtual reality is the "magic" of our day. It's extremely interesting to see how it and its law, are taking form, so to speak.

Comments

[Steve Bainbridge]

The point Dave and I were making was that law is not a major plot element in traditional sword and sorcery fantasy. It is true that law does crop up as a plot element in contemporary fantasy from time to time.

[Hunter]

Strangely enough, I ran across Ilya Somin's piece at Volokh, which ultimately brought me here, just after I had posted an entry on Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint, in which, as I point out in my update, the last third of the book involves a trial and the law is a major current in the story.

However, to limit the question to "traditional sword and sorcery fantasy" is, I think, setting up a false boundary. Yes, as part of the context, the law is present more often than not. As a focus of the action, no, of course not -- it's "sword and sorcery," after all. That's the focus by definition. (Although even there, in addition to the examples in the post, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels, which are science fiction disguised as sword and sorcery -- or perhaps the other way around -- do show a great concern with the effects of the law, if not a lot of courtroom drama.)

Remember that "fantasy" as a genre encompasses much more than sword and sorcery, and in much of it, the law is a key element. When you add in science fiction, you also bring in the works of C. J. Cherryh, which are usually political thrillers much concerned with the law and its effects; David Drake and other writers of military sf, in which legalities are often of major importance and provide key plot twists; and who can forget the Pohl-Kornbluth classic, Gladiator at Law?

To turn the question back on itself, can one create a fantasy story without reference to the law, and by what criteria?

[Omphalos]

I just got the blue screen of death, so please pardon if my last comment here was submitted.

I just started a blog that may be of interest to those who are looking for something more on these isues. Here is a link:

http://thelawandsciencefiction.solahpmo.com/

Please feel free to comment.