ABSTRACT
It is tempting to consider fantasy fiction as a popular challenge to the rationalist denigration of mythology and popular story-telling traditions. Fantasy fiction approaches 'myth' as empowering stories which carry a sense that something true is being said about the world, relationships, behaviour and life. Pagan 'truths' are, usually, far better conveyed in storytelling than in any other mode of discourse, and fantasy literature takes precedence. It is not that Holdstock or Pratchett is Pagan, nor that their otherworlds are pagan, but that there is a resonance between their stories and those that Pagans tell around festival bonfires and other venues. Realizing that 'silence' refers to listening more attentively to what Heathen and animist Pagans might consider to be voluminous acts of communication resonates with an invitation to re-enchant the world by acting differently towards the ever-present community of life.
