We’re back and we’re puzzling over the riddle of steel. Is it an enigma? Maybe some clever bit of wordplay? It’s probably safer if we stick to swordplay, especially with all these sorcerers around. They seem to be allergic to steel. It brings them out in stab wounds. There’s a reason why they call it “sword and sorcery” and not “word and sorcery”.
Main Topic: Sword and Sorcery
This episode is the first of our two-part examination of the genre of sword and sorcery. You can find part two here. “But why are you doing this on a Call of Cthulhu podcast?” we hear an imaginary listener ask. While we hope the episode more than answers this, it’s probably worth explaining here too.
Sword and sorcery and the Cthulhu Mythos were birthed from the same otherworldy womb and bear more than a passing familial resemblance. Not only were the first tales of each published alongside each other in Weird Tales, but they often sprang from the same pens. Some of the best-known entities of the Mythos slithered out of sword and sorcery tales, and other such stories borrowed from the Mythos in turn.
But it’s not just the content of the stories we get into here. The structure, pace and sheer bloody weirdness can also inform our games. A good sword and sorcery story is quick and brutal. How can we bring that to the gaming table, short of punching our players in the face?
Links
Things we mention in this episode include:
- Weird Tales
- Michael Moorcock
- The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb
- Robert E Howard
- Conan the Cimmerian
- Sorcerer & Sword by Ron Edwards
- Fritz Leiber
- Solomon Kane
- Bran Mak Morn
- Kull of Atlantis
- Mervyn Peake
- Dungeon Crawl Classics
- Appendix N
- Clark Ashton Smith
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- C L Moore
- Jirel of Joiry
- Boris Vallejo
- Conan the Barbarian (1982)
- Conan the Destroyer (1984)
- “The Hyborian Age” by Robert E Howard
- “The Phoenix on the Sword” by Robert E Howard
- “The Tower of the Elephant” by Robert E Howard
- Karl Edward Wagner
- Charles R Saunders
- The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
- Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch
- Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber
- L Sprague de Camp
- “The Doom That Came to Sarnath” by HP Lovecraft
- Henry Kuttner
- Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons & Dragons edited by Peter Bebergal
- Seth Skorkowsky interview
- Mordiggian
- Zothique
- “The Seven Geases” by Clark Ashton Smith
- “The Charnel God” by Clark Ashton Smith
- “Black God’s Kiss” by C L Moore
- “A Hero at the Gates” by Tanith Lee
- Tales From the Flat Earth by Tanith Lee
- “Lean Times in Lankhmar” by Fritz Leiber
- “Stardock” by Fritz Leiber
- “The Lords of Quarmall” by Fritz Leiber
- “Red Nails” by Robert E Howard
- The Wizard of Lemuria by Lin Carter
- The Conan Chronicles by Robert E Howard, L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter
- Elric of Melniboné
- Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock
- Kane
- “Undertow” by Karl Edward Wagner
- Night Winds by Karl Edward Wagner
- Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
- The Dying Earth by Jack Vance
- Cugel’s Saga by Jack Vance
- Imaro by Charles R Saunders
News
A Weekend With Good Friends GM sign-ups open
GM sign-ups for the next Weekend With Good Friends are open until the 5th of August 2021. Player sign-ups begin on the 6th of August, and the convention itself starts on the 20th of August.
A Weekend With Good Friends is the online gaming convention organised by our wonderful listeners and hosted on our Discord Server. Full details can be found on this very website.
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Excellent show. I look forward to part two and to the upcoming Robert E Howard episode.My only complaint with this one was the repeated mispronunciation of Fritz Leiber’s name. It’s pronounced with a long “i” sound (“LYE-ber”) not a long “e.”
You’ve ignored the greatest work of Sword and Sorcery ever written: “The Eye of Argon” by Jim Theis.