On the Motif of katabasis in the Work of J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin

The article concerns the use of the literary motif of katabasis, or journey to the underworld, in two pivotal works of the contemporary genre of high, or heroic, fantasy: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. The first part of the argument briefly discusses the tradition of the motif in the classical epic poetry and in the later Christian tradition. Subsequently the argument traces the role of katabasis in the articulation of the respective authors’ concepts of the heroic quest