Q is for quests

Quests are as much a part of epic fantasy as prophecies are. It can be a quest to retrieve the one weapon that will destroy the Evil One forever, a quest to return magic to the world, a quest to find why you were spared, or even a quest to destroy an evil artifact.

It’s no mistake that quest looks like question; they come from a common root, the Latin word for “ask, seek.” In both, someone is often seeking knowledge (although some questioners seek only confirmation of what they already know, and some quests seek destruction, this is a general guideline), but while a question is an act of asking, a quest is an act of answering.

Do you have a favorite quest in fiction?

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This is a post for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. My theme is epic fantasy, and blog posts will cover authors, books, tropes, themes, or anything else I can think of to fill the alphabet. Check out some of the other bloggers participating or follow my blog by e-mail if you like what you’ve read.

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.