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82-398: Glubbdubdrib (also spelled Glubdubdrib or Glubbdubdribb in some editions) was an island of sorcerers and magicians , one of the imaginary countries visited by Lemuel Gulliver in the 1726 satirical novel Gulliver's Travels by Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift . The episode on Glubbdubdrib "explores the theme of humanity's progressive degeneration." The location of Glubdubdrib

164-464: A Howard-inspired gladiator adventurer, whose exploits took place in Central Asia in the first century CE. With the diminution of pulp magazine sales in the late 1940s, the focus of sword and sorcery shifted to small-press books. Arkham House published collections by Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith and Fritz Leiber that included some of their sword and sorcery work. Writer Jack Vance published

246-562: A chance example from 1953, Fritz Leiber re-coined the term "sword and sorcery" in the 6 April 1961 issue of the fantasy fanzine Ancalagon , to describe Howard and the stories that were influenced by his works. In parallel with "sword and sorcery", the term "heroic fantasy" is used, although it is a more loosely defined genre. 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 tyranny . Sword and sorcery

328-676: A change of ownership in 1940, Weird Tales ceased to publish sword and sorcery stories. However, the pulp magazine Unknown Worlds continued to publish sword and sorcery fiction by Fritz Leiber and Norvell W. Page . Leiber's stories revolved around a duo of heroes called Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser , and dealt with their adventures in the world of Nehwon ("No-When" backwards). Leiber's stories featured more emphasis on characterisation and humour than previous sword and sorcery fiction, and his characters became popular with Unknown's readers. Page's sword and sorcery tales centred on Prester John ,

410-405: A direct effect or the result of a miscast spell wreaking terrible havoc. In other works, developing magic is difficult. In Rick Cook 's Wizardry series, the extreme danger presented by magic and the difficulty of analyzing the magic have stymied magic and left humanity at the mercy of the dangerous elves until a wizard summons a computer programmer from a parallel world — ours — to apply

492-665: A fantasy magician's hat shape may mean that it is ultimately derived from them. Golden Hat of Schifferstadt , circa 1,400-1,300 BC, Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Speyer , Germany. Terry Pratchett described robes as a magician's way of establishing to those they meet that they are capable of practicing magic. In the Dragonlance campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, wizards show their moral alignment by

574-450: 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

656-476: A heroic romance written in a mock-archaic style, was an inspiration to later writers of sword and sorcery such as Fritz Leiber. The "Poictesme" novels of James Branch Cabell (such as Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice (1919)) have been cited as a stimulus to early sword and sorcery writing. Cabell's novels depict picaresque exploits in imaginary lands, and were an influence on Leiber and Jack Vance. A. Merritt 's novels The Ship of Ishtar (1924) and Dwellers in

738-407: A large green serpent. She also enchants Rilian , compelling him to forget his father and Narnia. And when that enchantment is broken, she attempts further enchantments with a sweet-smelling smoke and a thrumming musical instrument to attempt to baffle him and his rescuers into forgetting them again. The term sorcerer has moved from meaning a fortune-teller , or "one who alters fate ", to meaning

820-685: A largely young readership. The commercial success of the Conan books encouraged other publishers to put out new and reprinted books in the style of Howard's work. From the 1960s until the 1980s, under the guiding force of Carter, a select group of writers formed the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA) to promote and enlarge the sword and sorcery genre. From 1973 to 1981, five anthologies featuring short works by SAGA members were published. Edited by Carter, these were collectively known as Flashing Swords! . Because of these and other anthologies, such as

902-428: A living finding lost items and people, performing exorcisms , and providing protection against the supernatural. In the series Sorcerous Stabber Orphen , human forms of life should have only been capable of acquiring divine magic powers through individual spiritual development, whereas the race of human magicians with inborn magical ability ended in conflict with pureblood human society, because this race appeared as

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984-426: 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

1066-464: A particular magical item is common, and necessary to limit the magician's power for the story's sake – without it, the magician's powers may be weakened or absent entirely. In the Harry Potter universe, a wizard must expend much greater effort and concentration to use magic without a wand, and only a few can control magic without one; taking away a wizard's wand in battle essentially disarms them. In

1148-506: A practitioner of magic who can alter reality. They are also sometimes shown as able to conjure supernatural beings or spirits, such as in The Sorcerer's Apprentice . Due to this perception of their powers, this character may be depicted as feared, or even seen as evil. In sword and sorcery works, typically the hero would be the sword-wielder, thus leaving the sorcery for his opponent. Villainous sorcerers were so crucial to pulp fantasy that

1230-543: 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. Sword and sorcery resembles high fantasy, but is darker and more jagged, at times overlapping with dark fantasy . The scale of the struggles depicted is smaller, and the main character usually pursues personal gain, such as wealth or love. The opposition between good and evil characteristic of fantasy also exists in sword and sorcery literature, but it

1312-756: A result of an experiment of mixing humans with non-human sentient Heavenly Beings that acquired magic powers not through spiritual development, but through deep studying of laws of nature and by falsely causing the world's laws to react to actions of the Heavenly Beings as to actions of Divinities. In the Harry Potter series , the Wizarding World hides themselves from the rest of the non-magic world, because, as described by Hagrid simply, "Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone’d be wantin’ magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we’re best left alone.” Sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery ( S&S ), or heroic fantasy,

1394-424: A review of an L. Sprague de Camp novel. American author Fritz Leiber re-coined the term 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 . Moorcock had initially proposed the term "epic fantasy". Leiber replied in the journal Ancalagon (6 April 1961), suggesting "sword-and-sorcery as

1476-493: A strange society were influenced by adventures set in foreign lands by Sir H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs . Haggard's works, such as King Solomon's Mines (1885) and She: A History of Adventure (1887) included many fantastic elements. Some of Haggard's characters, such as Umslopogaas, an axe-wielding Zulu warrior who encountered supernatural phenomena and loved to fight, bore similarities to sword and sorcery heroes. Haggard also wrote Eric Brighteyes (1891),

1558-515: A subgenre that would be called "sword & sorcery". Examples of these films would include The Beastmaster (film) (1982), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), two Italian Hercules films starring Lou Ferrigno , Krull (film) (1983), a Conan sequel, Conan the Destroyer (1984) and Red Sonja , which, like the Conan films, also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger . One could potentially include

1640-774: A violent historical novel based on the Icelandic Sagas ; some writers, (such as David Pringle ) have stated that Eric Brighteyes resembles a modern sword and sorcery novel. Sword and sorcery's immediate progenitors are the swashbuckling tales of Alexandre Dumas, père ( The Three Musketeers (1844), etc.), Rafael Sabatini ( Scaramouche (1921), etc.) and their pulp magazine imitators, such as Talbot Mundy , Harold Lamb , and H. Bedford-Jones , who all influenced Howard. Mundy in particular, proved influential: early sword and sorcery writers such as Robert E. Howard, C. L. Moore and Fritz Leiber were admirers of Mundy's fiction. However, these historical "swashbucklers" lack

1722-500: A weapon or tool to be more (or less) effective, enchanting a person or object to have a changed shape or appearance, creating illusions intended to deceive the observer, compelling a person to perform an action they might not normally do, or attempting to charm or seduce someone. For instance, the Lady of the Green Kirtle in C. S. Lewis 's The Silver Chair can transform herself into

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1804-737: A witch may be depicted more neutrally, such as the female witches (comparable to the male wizards) in the Harry Potter series of books by J. K. Rowling . In medieval chivalric romance, the wizard often appears as a wise old man and acts as a mentor , with Merlin from the King Arthur stories being a prime example. Wizards such as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter are also featured as mentors, and Merlin remains prominent as both an educative force and mentor in

1886-400: A wizard as well. Magicians in role-playing games often use names borrowed from fiction, myth and legend. They are typically delineated and named so that the game's players and game masters can know which rules apply. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson introduced the term " magic-user " in the original Dungeons & Dragons as a generic term for a practitioner of magic (in order to avoid

1968-401: Is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance , magic , and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy , the tales, though dramatic, focus on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters. The genre originated from the early-1930s works of Robert E. Howard . While there is

2050-599: Is a violent, self-respecting and emotional barbarian who values freedom. The main character often has the characteristics of an antihero. Although the main character mostly behaves heroically, he may ally with an enemy or sacrifice an ally in order to survive. 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, who are usually wizards , witches , or supernatural monsters . Most sword and sorcery heroes are masculine male characters, while female characters are usually underdeveloped. A recurring theme in

2132-409: Is grounded in real-world social and societal hierarchies, and is grittier, darker, and more violent, with elements of cosmic, often Lovecraftian creatures that aren't a staple of mainstream fantasy. The main character is often a barbarian with antihero traits. The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction records a chance example of "sword and sorcery" from 1953, where it appears in a headline of

2214-403: Is illustrated in both the text and the map at the beginning of part III of Gulliver's Travels , though they are not consistent with each other. The map shows Glubdubdrib to be southwest of the port of Maldonada on the southwest coast of Luggnagg , while the text states the island is southwest of Balnibarbi , and Maldonada to be a port of that land. Glubbdubdrib is about one third as large as

2296-420: 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. It

2378-419: Is not put to practical use in society; they may serve as mentors, act as quest companions, or even go on a quest themselves, but their magic does not build roads or buildings, provide immunizations, construct indoor plumbing, or do any of the other functions served by machinery; their worlds remain at a medieval level of technology. Sometimes this is justified by having the negative effects of magic outweigh

2460-587: Is often regarded as the first true "sword and sorcery" tale, because it pits a heroic warrior ( Kull of Atlantis ) against supernatural evil, in an imaginary world of the writer's devising. Howard published only three stories featuring Kull in Weird Tales . He revised an unsold Kull story, " By This Axe I Rule! " into " The Phoenix on the Sword ", which introduced a new character, Conan the Barbarian . When "The Phoenix on

2542-578: Is that a wizard can only cast a specific number of spells in a day. In Larry Niven 's The Magic Goes Away , once an area's mana is exhausted, no one can use magic. The extent of a magician's knowledge is limited to which spells a wizard knows and can cast. Magic may also be limited by its danger; if a powerful spell can cause grave harm if miscast, magicians are likely to be wary of using it. Other forms of magic are limited by consequences that, while not inherently dangerous, are at least undesirable. In A Wizard of Earthsea , every act of magic distorts

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2624-712: Is that the ability to use magic is innate and often rare, or gained through a large amount of study and practice. In J. R. R. Tolkien 's Middle-earth , it is mostly limited to non-humans, such as the Istari (more commonly known as wizards), or elves crafting magical items. In many writers' works, it is reserved for a select group of humans, such as in Katherine Kurtz 's Deryni novels, JK Rowling 's Harry Potter novels or Randall Garrett 's Lord Darcy universe. A common limit invented by Jack Vance in his The Dying Earth series, and later popularized in role-playing games

2706-461: 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. In his introduction to the reference Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers by L. Sprague de Camp , Lin Carter notes that the heritage of sword and sorcery is illustrious, and can be traced back to mythology, including

2788-638: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles , Patricia Wrede depicts wizards who use magic based on their staves, and magicians who practice several kinds of magic, including wizard magic; in the Regency fantasies, she and Caroline Stevermer depict magicians as identical to wizards, though inferior in skill and training. Magicians normally learn spells by reading ancient tomes called grimoires , which may have magical properties of their own. Sorcerers in Conan

2870-531: The Odyssey , used by Circe to transform Odysseus 's men into animals. Italian fairy tales put wands into the hands of powerful fairies by the Late Middle Ages . Today, magical wands are widespread in literature and are used from Witch World to Harry Potter. In The Lord of the Rings , Gandalf refuses to surrender his own staff, breaking Saruman 's, which strips the latter of his power. This dependency on

2952-512: The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, his own fiction, and his criticism, Carter is considered one of the most important popularizers of genre fantasy in general, and S&S in particular. Despite such authors' efforts, some critics use sword and sorcery as a dismissive or pejorative term. During the 1980s, influenced by the success of the 1982 feature film Conan the Barbarian , many fantasy films, some cheaply made, were released in

3034-518: The Harry Potter Universe; Severus Snape invented a variety of jinxes and hexes as well as substantial improvements in the process of making potions ; Albus Dumbledore, along with Nicolas Flamel, is credited with discovering the twelve uses of dragon 's blood. To introduce conflict, writers of fantasy fiction often place limits on the magical abilities of magicians to prevent them from solving problems too easily. A common motif in fiction

3116-619: The Hogwarts Express train . The powers ascribed to magicians often affect their roles in society. In practical terms, their powers may give them authority; magicians may advise kings, such as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and Belgarath and Polgara the Sorceress in David Eddings 's The Belgariad . They may be rulers themselves, as in E.R. Eddison 's The Worm Ouroboros , where both

3198-502: The Marvel Universe continues to learn about magic even after being named Sorcerer Supreme. He often encounters creatures that have not been seen for centuries or more. In the same universe, Dr. Doom continues to pursue magical knowledge after mastering it by combining magic with science. Fred and George Weasley from Harry Potter invent new magical items and sell them as legitimate defense items, new spells and potions can be made in

3280-703: The Wicked Witch of the West , and other witches in the Land of Oz . Baum named Glinda the "Good Witch of the South" in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . In The Marvelous Land of Oz , he dubbed her "Glinda the Good," and from that point forward and in subsequent books, Baum referred to her as a sorceress rather than a witch to avoid the term that was more regarded as evil. In modern fiction,

3362-639: The World Fantasy Award -winning Amazons (1979) and Amazons II (1982) anthologies; both drew on real and folkloric female warriors, often from areas outside of Europe. 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. Strong female characters in Howard's works of fiction include Dark Agnes de Chastillon (first appearing in "Sword Woman", circa 1932–34),

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3444-413: The cloak-and-dagger (international espionage) story too! The term "heroic fantasy" has been used to avoid the garish overtones of "sword and sorcery". This name was coined by L. Sprague de Camp . However, it has also been used to describe a broader range of fantasy, including High fantasy . Sword and sorcery stories take place in a fictional world where magic exists. The setting can be an Earth in

3526-518: The pulp fantasy magazines, where it emerged from " weird fiction ". The magazine Weird Tales , which published Howard's Conan stories and C. L. Moore 's Jirel of Joiry tales, as well as key influences like H. P. Lovecraft and Smith, was especially important. Lovecraft's fiction (especially his "Dream Cycle" of Dunsany-inspired fantasy stories) was a source of inspiration for the first generation of sword and sorcery writers. The 1929 Weird Tales story " The Shadow Kingdom " by Robert E. Howard

3608-486: The 'modern' dead, trying to find the greatest figure in the past 200 or 300 years in his country and others in Europe. Gulliver gets a new view of historians and heroes, claiming 'I was chiefly disgusted with modern History'. Magician (fantasy) People who work magic are called by several names in fantasy works, and terminology differs widely from one fantasy world to another. While derived from real-world vocabulary,

3690-623: The Barbarian often gained powers from such books, which are demarcated by their strange bindings. In worlds where magic is not an innate trait, the scarcity of these strange books may be a facet of the story; in Poul Anderson 's A Midsummer Tempest , Prince Rupert seeks out the books of the magician Prospero to learn magic. The same occurs in the Dungeons and Dragons -based novel series Dragonlance Chronicles , wherein Raistlin Majere seeks out

3772-729: The Isle of Wight. The inhabitants of Glubbdubdrib can wield magic, and most of their technology is utilized through magical means. The eldest in succession is prince or governor of the island. He has a 'noble' palace, and a park of about three thousand acres , surrounded by a wall of hewn stone twenty foot high. On visiting Glubbdubdrib, Gulliver had the occasion, thanks to the power of their necromancers , to speak with Brutus of ancient Rome , whom Gulliver greatly admired, among many other famous historical personages, including Socrates . Many ideas of historians were corrected this way. Gulliver spends five days doing this, then three days looking at some of

3854-669: The Middle Eastern tales of the Arabian Nights , whose stories of magical monsters and evil sorcerers were an influence on the genre-to-be. Sword and sorcery's frequent depictions of smoky taverns and fetid back alleys draw upon the picaresque genre; for example, Rachel Bingham notes that Fritz Leiber 's city of Lankhmar bears considerable similarity to 16th century Seville as depicted in Miguel de Cervantes ' tale " Rinconete y Cortadillo ". Sword and sorcery proper only truly began in

3936-452: The Mirage (1932) have also been cited as influences on sword and sorcery, as they feature men from the then-contemporary world being drawn into dangerous adventures involving swordplay and magic. All these authors influenced sword and sorcery for the plots, characters, and landscapes used. Also, many early sword and sorcery writers, such as Howard and Clark Ashton Smith , were influenced by

4018-418: The Rings or Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter , can appear as hostile villains. Ursula K. Le Guin 's A Wizard of Earthsea explored the question of how wizards learned their art, introducing to modern fantasy the role of the wizard as the protagonist. This theme has been further developed in modern fantasy, often leading to wizards as heroes on their own quests. Such heroes may have their own mentor,

4100-487: The Sword" was published in 1932, it proved popular with the Weird Tales readers, and Howard wrote more tales of Conan, of which 17 were published in the magazine. The success of Howard's work encouraged other Weird Tales writers to create similar tales of adventure in imagined lands. Clark Ashton Smith wrote his tales of the Hyperborean cycle and Zothique for Weird Tales in the 1930s. These stories revolved around

4182-425: The book The Dying Earth in 1950. The Dying Earth described the adventures of rogues and wizards on a decadent far-future Earth, where magic had replaced science. In the 1960s, American paperback publisher Lancer Books began to reissue Robert E. Howard's Conan stories in paperback, with cover illustrations by artist Frank Frazetta . These editions became surprise bestsellers, selling millions of copies to

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4264-494: The books of the sorcerer Fistandantilus. In JK Rowling's Harry Potter series, wizards already have skills of magic but they need to practise magic in Wizarding Schools in order to be able to use it properly . Some magicians, even after training, continue their education by learning more spells, inventing new ones (and new magical objects), or rediscovering ancient spells, beings, or objects. For example, Dr. Strange from

4346-412: The colour of their robes. A magician's crystal ball is a crystal or glass ball commonly associated with clairvoyance , fortune-telling , or scrying . Wands and staves have long been used as requirements for the magician. Possibly derived from wand-like implements used in fertility rituals , such as apotropaic wands , the earliest known instance of the modern magical wand was featured in

4428-517: 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. 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. Other books and series that define

4510-920: The connotations of terms such as wizard or warlock ); this lasted until the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons , where it was replaced with mage (later to become wizard ). The exact rules vary from game to game. The wizard or mage , as a character class , is distinguished by the ability to cast certain kinds of magic but being vulnerable in direct combat; sub-classes are distinguished by strengths in some areas of magic and weakness in others. Sorcerers are distinguished from wizards as having an innate gift with magic, as well as having mystical or magical ancestry. Warlocks are distinguished from wizards as creating forbidden "pacts" with powerful creatures to harness their innate magical gifts, similarly to clerics and paladins , who are empowered through divine and deific sources to perform thaumaturgical feats, while druids and rangers draw power from nature and

4592-678: The earlier releases of Hawk the Slayer (1980) and Clash of the Titans (1981) which whetted the public's appetites for such films and the live action adaptation of the Conan-inspired toy range (and subsequent cartoon series) Masters of the Universe , which essentially ended the subgenre's 80s run. After the cinema and literary boom of the early-to-mid 1980s, sword and sorcery once again dropped out of favor, with epic fantasy largely taking its place in

4674-616: 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). 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

4756-404: The effort put into reaching the ends stays the same. For example, when the wizards of Unseen University are chasing the hapless wizard Rincewind in the forest of Skund, the wizards send out search teams to go and find him on foot. The Archchancellor beats them to it by using a powerful spell from his own office, and while he gets there first by clever use of his spell, he has used no less effort than

4838-519: The elements. Bards , on the other hand, are similar to wizards in learning magical abilities as scholarly practices, but differ in their power being tied to artistic expression rather than arcane knowledge. Due to their traditional image as a wise old man or wise old woman , magicians may be depicted as old , white-haired , and in some instances with their hair (and in the case of male wizards, beards ), being long and majestic enough to occasionally host lurking woodland creatures. This depiction predates

4920-486: The equilibrium of the world, which in turn has far-reaching consequences that can affect the entire world and everything in it. As a result, competent wizards do not use their magic frivolously. In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, the Law of Conservation of Reality is a principle imposed by forces wanting wizards to not destroy the world, and works to limit how much power it is humanly possible to wield. Whatever your means,

5002-480: The exploits of warriors and sorcerers in lands of the remote past or remote future, and often had downbeat endings. C. L. Moore , inspired by Howard, Smith and H. P. Lovecraft, created the Jirel of Joiry stories for Weird Tales , which brought in the first sword and sorcery heroine. Moore's future husband Henry Kuttner created Elak of Atlantis , a Howard-inspired warrior hero, for Weird Tales in 1938. Following

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5084-432: 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

5166-436: The genre in which they appeared was dubbed " sword and sorcery ". Witch (an—often female—practitioner of witchcraft ) and wicked (an adjective meaning "bad, evil, false") are both derivative terms from the word, wicca (an Old English word with varied meanings, including soothsayer, astrologer, herbalist, poisoner, seductress, or devotee of supernatural beings or spirits). L. Frank Baum combined these terms in naming

5248-407: The genre is a damsel in distress . 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. 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

5330-461: The genre of sword-and-sorcery include: Other pulp fantasy fiction, such as Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series and Leigh Brackett 's Sea Kings of Mars , have a similar feel to sword and sorcery. But, because alien science replaces the supernatural, these books are usually described as planetary romance or sword and planet . They fall more in the area of science fiction. Despite this, planetary romance closely aligns with sword and sorcery, and

5412-517: 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. 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

5494-544: The heroes and the villains, although kings and lords, supplement their physical power with magical knowledge, or as in Jonathan Stroud 's Bartimaeus Trilogy , where magicians are the governing class. On the other hand, magicians often live like hermits , isolated in their towers and often in the wilderness, bringing no change to society. In some works, such as many of Barbara Hambly 's, they are despised and outcast specifically because of their knowledge and powers. In

5576-461: The labors of Hercules , as well as to classical epics such as Homer 's Odyssey , the Norse sagas , and Arthurian legend . It also has been influenced by historical fiction . For instance, the work of Sir Walter Scott was influenced by Scottish folklore and ballads. But few of Scott's stories contain fantastic elements; in most, the appearance of such is explained away. Its themes of adventure in

5658-574: The literary critic Higashi Masao regarding Japanese works Guin Saga and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen , they were initially planned by their authors as novels that could be classified as belonging to the European sword and sorcery subgenre but had various major elements that distanced themselves from the typical novels in the genre. In the 1990s, sword and sorcery boomed in popularity in Britain and other parts of

5740-547: The magic-noir world of the Dresden Files , wizards generally keep a low profile, though there is no explicit prohibition against interacting openly with non-magical humanity. The protagonist of the series, Harry Dresden , openly advertises in the Yellow Pages under the heading "Wizard" and maintains a business office, though other wizards tend to resent him for practicing his craft openly. Dresden primarily uses his magic to make

5822-540: The modern fantasy genre, being derived from the traditional image of wizards such as Merlin. In fantasy, a magician may be shown wearing a pointed hat , robes , and/or a cloak . In more modern stories, a magician may be dressed similarly to a stage magician , wearing a top hat and tails , with an optional cape . Several golden hats adorned with astronomical sequences have been found in Europe. It has been speculated by archaeologists and historians that they were worn by ancient wizards. The similarities shared with

5904-514: The modern works of Arthuriana . Wizards can be cast similarly to the absent-minded professor : being foolish and prone to misconjuring. They can also be capable of great magic, both good and evil. Even comical magicians are often capable of great feats, such as those of Miracle Max in The Princess Bride ; although he is a washed-up wizard fired by the villain, he saves the dying hero. Other wizards, such as Saruman from The Lord of

5986-456: The mythical past or distant future, an imaginary other world or an alien planet. Sometimes sword and sorcery stories are influenced by horror , dark fantasy or science fiction . Sword and sorcery, however, does not seek to give a scientific explanation for miraculous events, unlike actual science fiction. The main character in sword and sorcery stories is usually a powerful warrior who fights against supernatural evil. The typical protagonist

6068-739: The others. Magic may require rare and precious materials, such as rare herbs or flowers (often selected by prescribed rituals), minerals or metals such as mercury , parts of creatures such as the eye of a newt , or even fantastic ingredients like the cool of a soft breeze on a summer's day. Even if the magician lacks scruples, obtaining the materials in question may be difficult. This can vary by fantasy work. Many magicians require no materials at all; or those that do may require only simple and easily obtained materials. Role-playing games are more likely to require such materials for at least some spells for game balance reasons. Nevertheless, many magicians live in pseudo-medieval settings in which their magic

6150-459: 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 Steven Erikson , Joe Abercrombie , and Scott Lynch , magazines such as Black Gate and the ezines Flashing Swords (not to be confused with the Lin Carter anthologies), and Beneath Ceaseless Skies publish short fiction in the style. According to

6232-408: The positive possibilities. In Barbara Hambley's Windrose Chronicles , wizards are precisely pledged not to interfere because of the terrible damage they can do. In Discworld , the importance of wizards is that they actively do not do magic, because when wizards have access to sufficient "thaumaturgic energy", they develop many psychotic attributes and may eventually destroy the world. This may be

6314-628: The skills he learned in our world to magic. At other times, magic and technology do develop in tandem; this is most common in the alternate history genre. Patricia Wrede's Regency fantasies include a Royal Society of Wizards and a technological level equivalent to the actual Regency; Randall Garrett 's Lord Darcy series, Robert A. Heinlein 's Magic, Incorporated , and Poul Anderson 's Operation Chaos all depict modern societies with magic equivalent to twentieth-century technology. In Harry Potter , wizards have magical equivalents to non-magical inventions; sometimes they duplicate them, as with

6396-568: The supernatural element (even though Dumas' fiction contained many fantasy tropes ) which defines the genre. Another influence was early fantasy fiction. This type of fiction includes the short stories of Lord Dunsany 's such as " The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth " (1910) and "The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller" (1911). These works of Dunsany's feature warriors who clash with monsters and wizards in realms of Dunsany's creation. The Worm Ouroboros (1922) by E. R. Eddison ,

6478-564: The terms: magician , mage , magus , enchanter/enchantress , sorcerer/sorceress , warlock , witch , and wizard , each have different meanings depending upon context and the story in question. Archmage is used in fantasy works to indicate a powerful magician or a leader of magicians. Enchanters typically practice a type of imbued magic that produces no permanent effects on objects or people and are temporary, or of an indefinite duration, or which may require some item or act, to nullify or reverse. For example, this could include enchanting

6560-463: The threat of rape or to gain revenge for same. 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. 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

6642-429: 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. The circular structure is common in sword and sorcery series:

6724-419: The world. 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

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