Can’t even wrongly aggrandize the influence of lousy terf authors anymore, because of Roke.
I saw again another post implying that J.K. Rowling “invented” the idea of a “school for wizards/school for witches” in fiction… *sigh*. Again, while Hogwarts definitively marked the cultural landscape and changed our modern vision of what a “school of sorcery/magic school” is supposed to be… Rowling invented nothing, and there were many, MANY, magic schools in fiction long before the first Harry Potter book was released. As much in fiction for adults as fiction for children. Let me recap some big points:
The Invisible College, from Diana Wynne Jones’ The Tough Guide to Fantasy Land, one year before Harry Potter - AND which forms a parody/reference to most of the schools listed below.Wizard’s Hall, from the titular Wizard’s Hall book by Jane Yolen - six years before Harry Potter.Groosham Grange, from the novel of the same name by Anthony Horowitz, nine years before Harry Potter.The Unseen University, from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld - 14 years before Harry Potter.Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches, from Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch, 23 years before Harry PotterThe island of Roke, from the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin - 29 years before Harry Potter.We can even go back to Dom Daniel, from T.H. White’s original version of The Once and Future King, 58 years before Harry Potter.And I am not even counting the various “magic colleges” and “sorcery academies” that appeared in role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons long before Harry Potter came out…
Conclusion: Hogwarts is interesting and influential… But not inventive.
Feeling like reblogging this old post of mine, and please do look in the notes and reblogs there’s a lot of interesting suggestions and additions
Can’t even wrongly aggrandize the influence of lousy terf authors anymore, because of Roke.
