Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthurian, Celtic, or Dark Ages could just as easily be placed in historical fantasy. Stories fitting this classification generally take place prior to the 20th century.
Arthur Rackham's illustration for Alfred W. Pollard's The Romance of King Arthur abridged from Thomas Malory's 15th-century Arthurian medieval fantasy novel Le Morte d'Arthur
Cassim in the treasure-filled thieves' cave
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other types of narrative, including theatre, opera, cinema, and television, as well as video games and graphic novels. It often makes many use of symbolism in allegory using figurative and metaphorical elements to picture a story.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, published 1869 and set 60 years before
Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482, Victor Hugo (1831)
The Fifth Queen, 1906–1908 by Ford Madox Ford, is written about the 16th century.
A page from a printed copy of the Chinese historical novel Sui Tang yanyi (Romance of the Sui and Tang dynasties) by Chu Renhuo, collection of the University of Tokyo