Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)
Enchantment

Tagged: Theme.

The influencing, through Spells, Glamour or other Magic, of a person's behaviour or, especially, Perception. As with Mesmerism, the effects are essentially subjective. The victim believes that an ugly woman is a beautiful princess (or vice versa, as in The Wedding of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell [?1450]); or that a hovel is a palace, as in Jack Vance's The Eyes of the Overworld (coll 1966); or that he or she has been turned into a frog, as in Terry Pratchett's Witches Abroad (1991) – without any actual Transformation occurring. [CB/DRL]