Swords and Sorcery

Infobox Book |
name = Swords and Sorcery
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover of "Swords and Sorcery"
author = edited by L. Sprague deCamp
illustrator = Virgil Finlay
cover_artist = Virgil Finlay
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Fantasy short stories
publisher = Pyramid Books
release_date = 1963
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 186 pp
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Swords and Sorcery" is a 1963 anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by L. Sprague de Camp and illustrated by Virgil Finlay. It was first published in paperback by Pyramid Books. It has the distinction of being the first sword and sorcery anthology ever assembled, and paved the way for three additional such anthologies edited by de Camp and many more produced by other editors and publishers. It has also been translated into German.

The book collects eight sword and sorcery tales by various authors, with an overall introduction by de Camp. The piece by Poul Anderson would later become one of the foundational stories of the "Thieves' World" shared world anthologies edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey.

Contents

*"Introduction: Heroic Fantasy" (L. Sprague de Camp)
*"The Valor of Cappen Varra" (Poul Anderson)
*"The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweler" (Lord Dunsany)
*"Shadows in the Moonlight" (Robert E. Howard)
*"The Citadel of Darkness" (Henry Kuttner)
*"While the Sea King's Away" (Fritz Leiber)
*"The Doom that Came to Sarnath" (H. P. Lovecraft)
*"Hellsgarde" (C. L. Moore)
*"The Testament of Athammaus" (Clark Ashton Smith)

References

*cite book | last=Laughlin | first=Charlotte | coauthors=Daniel J. H. Levack | title=De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography | location=San Francisco | publisher=Underwood/Miller | pages=114 | date=1983