::''{{For|other uses|Magician}}''
[[Image:The Enchanted Garden of Messer Ansaldo by Marie Spartali Stillman (1889).jpg|right|250px|thumb|"The Enchanted Garden of Messer Ansaldo" by [[Marie Spartali Stillman]]: a magician makes his garden bear fruit and flowers in winter]]
A '''magician''', or '''wizard''' or '''sorcerer''' or several other possible names (see Names and terminology), is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from [[supernatural]] or [[occult]] sources.[[[Patricia A. McKillip]], "Writing High Fantasy", p 54, Philip Martin, ed., ''The Writer's Guide to Fantasy Literature: From Dragon's Lair to Hero's Quest'', ISBN 0-87116-195-8] Magicians are most commonly found in works of [[fantasy]], such as [[mythology]], [[legends]], [[folklore]], [[fantasy fiction|fantasy-themed works of fiction]], and [[role-playing games]]. Although occasional practitioners of [[Sleight of hand|sleight-of-hand]] appear in modern fantasy, they are simulating the magic that others perform -- or sometimes concealing their actual magic.
The magicians discussed in this article, as is usual in fantasy, have powers arising from their study, possibly based on innate talent, rather than have their magical abilities occur entirely spontaneously, or be granted by another source. (See [[Magic (fantasy)]] for the general case.)
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==History of fantasy wizards==
Historically, many writers who have written about fictional magicians, and many readers of such works, have believed that such magic is possible -- in [[William Shakespeare]]'s time, witches like the Weird Sisters in ''[[Macbeth]]'' and wizards like Prospero in ''[[The Tempest]]'' (or [[Doctor Faustus]] in [[Christopher Marlowe]]'s play) were widely considered to be real -- and many noted scholars, such as [[Virgil]], acquired legends of being wizards.[[[John Grant (science fiction writer)|John Grant]] and [[John Clute]], ''[[The Encyclopedia of Fantasy]]'', "Wizards", p 1027 ISBN 0-312-19869-8]
Modern writers, and readers, usually deal with magic as imaginary, as part of the imaginary worlds in which they work.[[[John Grant (science fiction writer)|John Grant]] and [[John Clute]], ''[[The Encyclopedia of Fantasy]]'', "Magic", p 616 ISBN 0-312-19869-8]
Still, such historical figures and beliefs have played a large role in the development of the fantasy figure.[[[Margaret Atwood]], ''Negotiating With the Dead'', p 114-5, ISBN 0-521-66260-5]
==Character function==
In medieval chivalric [[Romance (genre)|romance]], the wizard often appears as a [[wise old man]] and acts as a mentor[[[Northrop Frye]], ''[[Anatomy of Criticism]]'', p 195, ISBN 0-691-01298-9]. Other witches and magicians can appear as villains, as hostile to the hero as ogres and other monsters. [[[Northrop Frye]], ''[[Anatomy of Criticism]]'', p 193, ISBN 0-691-01298-9]
This role was taken up into fantasy. [[Ursula K. LeGuin]], considering the work that was to become ''[[A Wizard of Earthsea]]'', noted that wizards were usually elderly or ageless, which she considered proper, but her own work stemmed from question of how wizards learned their art.[Ursula K. LeGuin, "Dreams Must Explain Themselves", p 41, ''The Language of the the Night: Essays On Fantasy and Science Fiction'', ISBN 0-425-05205-2] This theme has been further developed in modern fantasy, often leading to wizards as heroes on their own quests, alongside works where the wizard appears as a mentor figure, or a villain.[Justin Fike, [http://www.victorianweb.org/courses/fiction/65/tolkien/fike14.html "The Role of Wizards in Fantasy Literature"]]
Wizards can act the part of the [[absent-minded professor]], being foolish, prone to misconjuring, and generally less than dangerous; they can also be terrible forces, capable of great magics that work good or evil.[Philip Martin, ''The Writer's Guide to Fantasy Literature: From Dragon's Lair to Hero's Quest'', p 140-1, ISBN 0-87116-195-8]
(See "Use of Magic", below, for their place in world-building.)
==Names and terminology==
People who work magic are called by many names in works of fantasy, and the terminology differs widely from one [[fantasy world]] to another. While derived from real world vocabulary, "wizard", "[[witch]]", "[[warlock]]", "[[Incantation|enchanter]]/enchantress", "sorcerer/sorceress", "[[magician]]", "mage", or "[[Magi|magus]]" have within a work of fantasy the meaning the writer invests in them. The term [[archmage]], with "arch" indicating "pre-eminent", may be used to indicate a powerful magician, or a leader of magicians.[[[John Grant (science fiction writer)|John Grant]] and [[John Clute]], ''[[The Encyclopedia of Fantasy]]'', "Enchantress", p 318 ISBN 0-312-19869-8]
Sorcerer is more frequently used when the magician in question is evil. This may derive from its use in [[sword and sorcery]], where the hero would be the sword-wielder, leaving the sorcery for his opponent.[[[John Grant (science fiction writer)|John Grant]] and [[John Clute]], ''[[The Encyclopedia of Fantasy]]'', "Sorcery", p 885 ISBN 0-312-19869-8]
[[Hedge wizard]] or hedge witch is a widely used contemptuous term for a magician whose magic is unable to win him enough of a living to keep him from poverty or even vagrancy. Herb witch is less contemptuous, and generally indicates skill with plants (whether magically making them grow or using them magically), but generally also indicates a low level of education, and possibly skill. Such characters are often taught informally, by another hedge wizard, rather than receive a formal apprenticeship or education at a school.
Terms derived from more specific magics, such as voodoo, alchemy, or [[Necromancy in fiction|necromancy]], generally remain closer to their real-world inspirations. Fantasy necromancers often work magic that has something to do with death, although the exact connections vary widely from work to work.
==Traits of Magicians==
A common motif in fictional magic is that the ability to use it is innate and often rare.[Michael Kern, "[http://www.victorianweb.org/courses/fiction/65/tolkien/kern14.html The Limits of Magic]"]
When the magician is not the main character, this may not be visible, but magician protagonists from [[Ursula K. LeGuin]]'s Ged in ''[[A Wizard of Earthsea]]'' to [[Harry Potter]] have gone to wizardry schools. Others have taken on the roles of apprentices.
Another means of learning can be books -- weighty, ancient tomes, often called [[grimoire]]s. [[Conan the Barbarian]]'s sorcerer foes often gained powers from such books, whose strangeness was often underscored by their strange bindings. In worlds where wizardry is not an innate trait, the scarcity of these strange books may be a factor; in [[Poul Anderson]]'s ''[[A Midsummer Tempest]]'', Prince Rupert seeks out the books of the magician [[Prospero]] to learn magic.
It may be impossible, in a given work, to determine whether a given practice of magic is innate, because the length of time needed for the study, the scarcity of the books or teachers, or the preciousness of the materials required mean that most characters are necessarily excluded.
==Magicial materials==
[[Image:John William Waterhouse - Jason and Medea (1907).jpg|right|thumb|"Jason and Medea" by [[John William Waterhouse]]: brewing a magic potion]]
Historically, many magicians have required rare and precious materials for their spells. Crystals balls, rare herbs (often picked by prescribed rituals), and chemicals such as mercury are common.
This is less common in fantasy. Many magicians require nothing material at all; those that do may require only simple and easily obtained materials. Role-playing games are more likely to require such material for at least some spells, to prevent characters from casting them too easily.
One factor in this development has been the increasing tendencies of wizards to go on quests; the wizard who is merely consulted in his tower may be surrounded by useful equipment and substances, even in a fantasy work, but the questing wizard must carry what he needs.
[[Wands#Wands in fiction|Wands]] and [[Staff (stick)|staffs]] are a common piece of property, long used in tales involving wizards.[[[Northrop Frye]], ''[[Anatomy of Criticism]]'', p 152, ISBN 0-691-01298-9] [[Gandalf]] refused to surrender his in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', and breaking [[Saruman]]'s broke his power. Magical wands are used from Andre Norton's Witch World to Harry Potter. One element of this is the need to limit a wizard, so that opposition to him (necessary for a story) is feasible; if the wizard loses his staff or wand (or other magic item on which he is dependant), he is weakened if not magically helpless.[[[David Brin]], "Science versus Magic", p261, ''Otherness'', ISBN 0-553-29528-4] The magicians themselves often live like [[hermit]]s, isolated in their towers and often in the wilderness. In many, perhaps most, [[high fantasy]] works, this is treated as an intrinsic feature of the world, requiring no explanation.
Sometimes this is justified by the use of magic bringing about worse things than it can alleviate, and the need of wizards to learn restraint[Philip Martin, ''The Writer's Guide to Fantasy Literature: From Dragon's Lair to Hero's Quest'', p 8, ISBN 0-87116-195-8] In Barbara Hambley's [[Barbara Hambley#The Windrose Chronicles|Windrose Chronicles]], the wizards are precisely pledged not to interfere because of the terrible damage they can do. In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s [[Discworld]], the importance of [[Wizards (Discworld)|wizards]] is that they do not do magic. This may be direct effect, or the danger of a miscast spell wrecking terrible harm if anything goes work. [Philip Martin, ''The Writer's Guide to Fantasy Literature: From Dragon's Lair to Hero's Quest'', p 142, ISBN 0-87116-195-8]
In other works, developing magic is difficult. In [[Rick Cook]]'s [[Rick Cook#Wizardry series|Wizardry series]], the extreme danger of missteps with magic and the difficulty of analyzing the magic has stymied magic, and left humanity at the mercy of the dangerous elves, until a wizard summons a computer programmer from a [[Parallel universe (fiction)|parallel world]] -- ours -- to apply the skills he learned here to magic.