On another level, it is still a game, but a game played for very high stakes. Seen thus, as art not spontaneous play, its affinity is not with daydreams, but with dream. It is a different approach to reality, an alternative technique for apprehending and coping with existence. In Freud's terminology, it employs primary, not secondary process thinking. It employs archetypes, which, as Jung warned us, are dangerous things.
Dragons are more dangerous, and a good deal commoner, than bears.
Fantasy is nearer to poetry, to mysticism, and to insanity than naturalistic fiction is. It is a real wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe. And their guides, the writers of fantasy, should take their responsibilities seriously. The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. Houghton Mifflin, 1984.