Historical fantasy

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The Accolade by British painter Edmund Blair Leighton exhibits an idealized view of history common in historical fantasy.

Historical fantasy (sometimes referred to as "fantahistorical"), is a subgenre of fantasy, related to historical fiction. It is used to describe a story set either in a specified historical period but with some element of fantasy added to the world, such as magic or a mythical creature hidden in the cracks. Often the magic retreats from the world so as to allow history to continue unaltered, as in Lord Dunsany's The Charwoman's Shadow, which takes place in Spain, but which ends with the magician in it removing himself, and all creatures of romance, from the world, thereby ending the Golden Age. Such fantasies, if they do not have the magic carefully hidden from history, shade into alternate history.

Alternatively the story may be set in a purely fictional world which either strongly resembles a specific historical period or contains elements of history evident in its characters, settings or story, for example George R. R. Martin's acclaimed series "A Song of Ice and Fire", inspired by the Wars of the Roses, and R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing books which draw on ancient Middle Eastern civilizations such as the Persian Empire, Scythia, Hellenistic Greece, and the Crusades yet is set in a purely fictional location. Unlike alternate history, the history contains many elements that are not derived from a specific historical period.

Many if not most works by fantasy authors derive ideas and inspiration from real life events, making the borders of this subgenre fuzzy.

When a specific era of history is popular with writers, a subgenre may spring up, such as Celtic fantasy, which includes such works as Katharine Kerr's Deverry series, or Teresa Edgerton's Green Lion Trilogy. These works are (loosely) based on Dark Ages Celtic cultures.