The Hero and the Crown was part of a shift in young adult fantasy in the late 20th century: "a sudden flowering of heroines", according to a 2016 history of the genre.[2][3] In earlier works of high fantasy, female characters were often absent or relegated to minor roles, and it was perceived as unrealistic for women to play a dominant role in a medieval world.[4][5] This notion was challenged in the 1970s and 1980s, when authors such as Patricia McKillip, Robin McKinley and Tamora Pierce entered the fantasy genre.[a] According to scholars, their writings were influenced by the second-wave feminist movement of the previous decade.[4][8]
McKinley said in her Newbery Medal speech that she had "wished desperately for books like Hero when I was young, books that didn’t require me to be untrue to my gender if I wished to fantasize about having my sort of adventures".[2] She was influenced by the heroic quests of J. R. R. Tolkien, but felt disappointed by the women in his work with the exception of Éowyn, a character who disguises herself as a man to be able to fight.[9] McKinley's protagonist Aerin is not a traditionally beautiful princess, but an athletic one; she engages in outdoor activities, in particular riding horses. Through Aerin's bond with a horse named Talat, the story features the motif of a tomboyish female lead with an animal companion, a recurring trait in McKinley's work.[10][11] The Damar tales have been described as "feminized quests" as they blend female leads with conventionally masculine quest narratives.[12]
