trope - Why are trilogies so prevalent in Fantasy?

Why are trilogies so prevalent in Fantasy? (I don't really recall trilogies outside genre-literature and even in genre, trilogies in sci-fi seem to be less prevalent).

Can it be simply chalked down to Tolkein's influence? Or, is this because fantasy is set in some kind of mythical period of history and certain story patterns(like the hero's tales) fit themselves to trilogies very well?

EDIT:Tried to do some digging up on the prevalence of trilogies, to convince people that it's true.

The wiki page on trilogies says "Trilogies — and series in general — are common in science fiction and fantasy because ..."

Doing searches for "trilogies in [genre]" or "[genre] trilogies" yields much more higher results for fantasy than science fiction, thriller, literature and mystery.

Answer

Here are three reasons:

Fantasy stories need to go into details that real-world-based fiction doesn't: cultures, politics, religions, biology, magic, science, technology, you name it. And part of the fun of it is exploring a completely fantastic setting where all the rules are different; when you take out that exploration, I think you'd get something much closer to magical realism.

As jwenting points out, epics go well in a trilogy format. It's a rare writer and story that can get away with more. And if an author can get people to buy into book two, why not write three?

Fantasy readers, I think, are much more likely to be reading for the fun of it than the general public, and are much more likely to be tolerant and accepting of a story that doesn't finish in one book. Meanwhile, if your main goal in reading a book is to pass five hours on an airplane, you aren't going to pick up a three-volume doorstopper.

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