Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers

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Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: the Makers of Heroic Fantasy

Dust-jacket illustration by Tim Kirk for Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers
Author L. Sprague de Camp
Cover artist Tim Kirk
Country United States
Language English
Subject(s) biography
Publisher Arkham House
Publication date 1976
Media type Print (Hardback)
Pages xxix, 313 pp
ISBN ISBN 0-87054-076-9

Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: the Makers of Heroic Fantasy is a 1976 work of collective biography on the formative authors of the heroic fantasy genre by L. Sprague de Camp, published by Arkham House in an edition of 5,431 copies. Most of its chapters are revised versions of articles that initially appeared in the magazine Fantastic from 1971-1976.

The work presents the history of the genre through a discussion of the lives and works of its most important early writers. After a general survey of the development of modern fantasy, individual chapters deal with William Morris, Lord Dunsany, H. P. Lovecraft, E. R. Eddison, Robert E. Howard, Fletcher Pratt, Clark Ashton Smith, J. R. R. Tolkien, and T. H. White. A final chapter concerns lesser or later literary lights C. L. Moore, Leslie Barringer, Nictzin Dyalhis, Clifford Ball, Henry Kuttner, Norvell W. Page and Fritz Leiber.

The book includes an introduction by de Camp's colleague Lin Carter, who remedies what he considers de Camp's most egregious omission by providing a profile of de Camp himself (also a formative author in the genre).

De Camp also produced separate full-length biographies of two of the authors treated, H. P. Lovecraft (Lovecraft: a Biography (1975)) and Robert E. Howard (Dark Valley Destiny: the Life of Robert E. Howard (1983)).

[edit] Contents

Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: the Makers of Heroic Fantasy contains the following:

  1. "Introduction: Neomythology", by Lin Carter
  2. I. "The Swords of Faërie"
  3. II. "Jack of All Arts: William Morris"
  4. III. "Two Men in One: Lord Dunsany"
  5. IV. "Eldritch Yankee Gentleman: H. P. Lovecraft"
  6. V. "Superman in a Bowler: E.R. Eddison"
  7. VI. "The Miscast Barbarian: Robert E. Howard"
  8. VII. "Parallel Worlds: Fletcher Pratt"
  9. VIII. "Sierran Shaman: Clark Ashton Smith"
  10. IX. "Merlin in Tweeds: J.R.R. Tolkien"
  11. X. "The Architect of Camelot: T.H. White"
  12. XI. "Conan's Compeers"
  13. Notes
  14. Index
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