Sword and sorcery
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Sword and sorcery (S&S) or heroic fantasy is a
Sword and sorcery tales eschew overarching themes of 'good vs evil' in favor of situational conflicts that often pit morally gray characters against one another to enrich themselves, or to defy
Sword and sorcery is grounded in real-world social and societal hierarchies, and is grittier, darker, and more violent, with elements of cosmic, often
Etymology
American author Fritz Leiber coined the term "sword and sorcery" in 1961 in response to a letter from British author Michael Moorcock in the fanzine Amra, demanding a name for the sort of fantasy-adventure story written by Robert E. Howard.[3] Moorcock had initially proposed the term "epic fantasy". Leiber replied in the journal Ancalagon (6 April 1961), suggesting "sword-and-sorcery as a good popular catchphrase for the field". He expanded on this in the July 1961 issue of Amra, commenting:
I feel more certain than ever that this field should be called the sword-and-sorcery story. This accurately describes the points of culture-level and supernatural element and also immediately distinguishes it from the cloak-and-sword (historical adventure) story—and (quite incidentally) from the
cloak-and-dagger (international espionage) story too![4]
The term "heroic fantasy" has been used to avoid the garish overtones of "sword and sorcery".[1] This name was coined by L. Sprague de Camp.[5] However, it has also been used to describe a broader range of fantasy, including High fantasy.[6]
Style and themes
Sword and sorcery stories take place in a fictional world where magic exists. The setting can be an Earth in the mythical past or distant future, an imaginary other world or an alien planet. Sometimes sword and sorcery stories are influenced by
The main character in sword and sorcery stories is usually a powerful warrior who fights against supernatural evil.[1] The typical protagonist is a violent, self-respecting and emotional barbarian who values freedom. The main character often has the characteristics of an antihero.[7] Although the main character mostly behaves heroically, he may ally with an enemy or sacrifice an ally in order to survive.[8] A hero's main weapons are cunning and physical strength. Magic, on the other hand, is usually only used by the villains of the story,[9] who are usually wizards, witches, or supernatural monsters.[8] Most sword and sorcery heroes are masculine male characters, while female characters are usually underdeveloped. A recurring theme in the genre is a damsel in distress.[9] However, some sword and sorcery stories have a female protagonist, and the genre's traditional emphasis on male protagonists has declined since the last decades of the 20th century.[8]
In his introduction to the 1967 Ace edition of Conan The Barbarian, L. Sprague de Camp described the typical sword and sorcery story as:
[A] story of action and adventure laid in a more or less imaginary world, where magic works and where modern science and technology have not yet been discovered. The setting may (as in the Conan stories) be this Earth as it is conceived to have been long ago, or as it will be in the remote future, or it may be another planet or another dimension.
Such a story combines the color and dash of the historical costume romance with the atavistic supernatural thrills of the weird, occult, or ghost story. When well done, it provides the purest fun of fiction of any kind. It is escape fiction wherein one escapes clear out of the real world into one where all men are strong, all women beautiful, all life adventurous, and all problems simple, and nobody even mentions the income tax or the dropout problem or socialized medicine.[5]
The circular structure is common in sword and sorcery series: the hero stays forever young and every day is like the first for him. The main character's victory over his enemies is not final, but in the next short story a new threat arises, against which the hero has to fight once again. The world has a wide variety of exciting and exotic locations designed to act as a stage for the main character's exploits.[8][10] Many sword and sorcery tales have turned into lengthy series of adventures. Their lower stakes and less-than world-threatening dangers make this more plausible than a repetition of the perils of high fantasy. So too does the nature of the heroes; most sword and sorcery protagonists, travellers by nature, find peace after adventure deathly dull.[11]
Sword and sorcery resembles high fantasy, but is darker and more jagged. The scale of the struggles depicted is smaller, and the main character usually pursues personal gain, such as wealth or love.[12] The opposition between good and evil characteristic of fantasy also exists in sword and sorcery literature, but it is less absolute and the events often take place in a morally gray area. These features are especially emphasized in newer works of the genre. The stories are fast-paced and action-oriented, with lots of violent fight scenes. Sword and sorcery is by nature a light and escapist genre whose main purpose is to entertain the reader. There is usually no deep message or social statements in the works of this genre.[9]
It is typical for the topics that sword and sorcery deals with to be relatively limited. The genre has sometimes been criticized for excessive violence, misogyny and even fascist attitudes.[1]
History
Origins
In his introduction to the reference
It also has been influenced by
Sword and sorcery's immediate progenitors are the
Another influence was early fantasy fiction such as
Also, many early sword and sorcery writers, such as Howard and
Sword and sorcery's frequent depictions of smoky taverns and fetid back alleys draw upon the
Sword and sorcery proper only truly began in the
Rise in popularity
This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2015) |
From the 1960s until the 1980s, under the guiding force of Carter, a select group of writers formed the
Despite such authors' efforts, some critics use sword and sorcery as a dismissive or pejorative term.[28] During the 1980s, influenced by the success of the 1982 feature film Conan the Barbarian, many cheaply made fantasy films were released in a subgenre that would be called "sword & sorcery".
After the boom of the early 1980s, sword and sorcery once again dropped out of favor, with epic fantasy largely taking its place in the fantasy genre. There was, though, another resurgence in sword and sorcery at the end of the 20th century. Sometimes called the "new" or "literary" sword and sorcery, this development places emphasis on literary technique, and draws from epic fantasy and other genres to broaden the genre's typical scope. Stories may feature the wide-ranging struggles of national or world-spanning concerns common to high fantasy, but told from the point of view of characters more common to S&S, and with the sense of adventure common to the latter. Writers associated with this include
In the 1990s, sword and sorcery boomed in popularity in Britain and other parts of the world.[31]
Women creators and characters
Despite the importance of C. L. Moore, Leigh Brackett, Andre Norton, and other female authors, as well as Moore's early heroine, sword and sorcery has been characterized as having a masculine bias. Female characters were generally distressed damsels to be rescued or protected, or otherwise served as a reward for a male hero's adventures. Women who had adventures of their own often did so to counter the threat of rape or to gain revenge for same.[25][32] Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress anthology series (1984 onwards) tried the reverse, encouraging female writers and protagonists. The stories feature skillful swordswomen and powerful sorceresses working from a variety of motives.[33][34]
Jessica Amanda Salmonson similarly sought to broaden the range of roles for female characters in sword and sorcery through her own stories and through editing the World Fantasy Award-winning[35] Amazons (1979) and Amazons II (1982) anthologies; both drew on real and folkloric female warriors, often from areas outside of Europe.[36][37]
Early sword and sorcery writer Robert E. Howard had espoused feminist views in his personal and professional life. He wrote to his friends and associates defending the achievements and capabilities of women.[38][39] Strong female characters in Howard's works of fiction include Dark Agnes de Chastillon (first appearing in "Sword Woman", circa 1932–34), the early modern pirate Helen Tavrel ("The Isle of Pirates' Doom", 1928), as well as two pirates and Conan the Barbarian supporting characters, Bêlit ("Queen of the Black Coast", 1934), and Valeria of the Red Brotherhood ("Red Nails", 1936).[40]
Introduced as the co-star in a non-fantasy historical story by Howard entitled "The Shadow of the Vulture", Red Sonya of Rogatino later inspired a fantasy heroine named Red Sonja, who first appeared in the comic book series Conan the Barbarian written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith. Red Sonja got her own comic book title and eventually a series of novels by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney, as well as Richard Fleischer's film adaptation in 1985.
Selected works
This section is in prose. is available. (June 2021) |
The genre has been defined by Robert E. Howard's work, especially his tales of Conan the Barbarian and Kull of Atlantis, mostly in Weird Tales from 1932 and 1929 respectively.[41][42]
Other books and series that define the genre of sword-and-sorcery include:
- Zothique tales, beginning with "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" and "The Empire of the Necromancers" in 1931 and 1932, respectively.
- C. L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry tales, beginning with "Black God's Kiss" (1934), which introduced the first notable sword and sorcery heroine.[43]
- Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser sequence, beginning with "Two Sought Adventure" (1939).
- Elric sequence, beginning with The Dreaming City (published in Science Fantasy 1961), notable for its adherence to counterstereotype.
- L. Sprague de Camp's Swords and Sorcery, the first sword and sorcery anthology, was published by Pyramid Books in December 1963.
- Karl Edward Wagner's Kane novels, beginning with Darkness Weaves (1970), credited with reinvigorating the genre.[44]
- Robert Lynn Asprin's Thieves' World, a series of shared world anthologies first created in 1978.
- Samuel R. Delany's Return of Nevèrÿon, a series of three-story collections and one novel influenced by critical theory, published from 1979 to 1987.
- Charles Saunders's Imaro novels, beginning with Imaro (1981), a collection of short stories first published in the seventies for Dark Fantasy fanzine. Imaro was the first notable black sword and sorcery protagonist. L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter had created Juma of Kush as a secondary character in a short story published in 1967.
- Gardner Fox's Kothar and Kyrik novels and "Crom the Barbarian", the first sword and sorcery comic series.[45]
Other pulp fantasy fiction, such as Edgar Rice Burroughs'
Another notable sword and sorcery anthology series from 1977 through 1979 called Swords Against Darkness, edited by Andrew J. Offutt, ran five volumes and featured stories by such authors as Poul Anderson, David Drake, Ramsey Campbell, Andre Norton, and Manly Wade Wellman.
See also
- Planetary romance
- Sword and planet
- Wuxia – the Chinese equivalent of Western sword and sorcery fantasy literatures
- List of sword and sorcery films
References
- ^ a b c d Nicholls, Peter (10 October 2022). "Sword and Sorcery". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
- ^ Nicholls, Peter (30 October 2015). "Heroic Fantasy". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
- ^ Moorcock, Mike (May 1961). "Putting a Tag on It". Amra. 2 (15): 15.
- ^ Fritz Leiber, Amra, July 1961
- ^ a b de Camp, L. Sprague (1967). "Introduction". Conan the Barbarian. Ace Books. p. 13.
- ISBN 9780810863453.
- ISBN 978-0-313-32950-0.
- ^ ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- ^ a b c "Sword and Sorcery". Best Fantasy Books. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-06-172381-0.
- ISBN 0-87116-195-8.
- ISBN 0-87116-195-8.
- ISBN 0-87054-076-9.
- ISBN 1-932265-07-4.
- ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- ISBN 1-932265-07-4.
- ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- ISBN 9781741665826.
- ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- ^ [1] Archived 15 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 1-932265-07-4.
- ^ Hall, Gertrude (1895). "Garden Deadly" in Foam of the Sea and Other Tales, Boston: Roberts Brothers, pp. 249-299.
- ISBN 0-8705-4-076-9.
- ^ Dr. Rachel B. Bingham, "The Enduring Influence of Cervantes" in "Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Spanish Literature and Culture" (published in Spanish, French and English)
- ^ a b c Stiles, Paula R. (November 2011). "Tales From the Brass Bikini: Feminist Sword and Sorcery". Broad Universe. Archived from the original on 28 December 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
- ISBN 0-8705-4-076-9.
- ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- ^ [2] Archived 8 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 9784336051424.
- Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
- ISBN 0-87997-928-3.
- ISBN 978-0-06-172381-0.
- ISBN 0886779960.
- ^ "1980 World Fantasy Award Winners and Nominees". World Fantasy Convention. World Fantasy Board. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- ISBN 0-87997-736-1.
- ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- ISBN 1-932265-21-X.
- ^ [3] Archived 29 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 1-932265-21-X.
- ISBN 0-689-10846-X.
- ISBN 0-345-49017-7.
- ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- ^ Crom the Barbarian" is the first true S&S comic
- ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
- ISBN 0-312-19869-8.
External links
- The dictionary definition of sword and sorcery at Wiktionary
- Oxford English Dictionary citations for Sword and Sorcery
- Sword and Sorcery in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
- Amra entry at ZineWiki