I put this timeline together as part of the notes I'm keeping for the article I'm working on for Black Gate.
I would greatly appreciate any thoughts, corrections, additions, or clarifications anyone can provide.
As you all know, the cover dates of fanzines and even prozines can be problematic, but I believe this timeline is probably as close to right as is achievable from the distance of over sixty years.
Note: The Encyclopedia of Fantasy entries are from the last edition of that book in 1997.
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1. “Sword and Sorcery,” speech by Fritz Leiber (Encyclopedia of Fantasy entry |
Delivered at the annual banquet (dubbed “The Fanquet” by the membership) of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Association (Fancyclopedia entry) , this is, other than a nonce usage in a newspaper headline almost ten years earlier (Newspapers.com image), the earliest usage of any variant of “sword & sorcery” I have found.
3. “On Fantasy-Adventure,” article by George Heap (Fancyclopedia entry). Ancalagon #1 , March 1961 (downloadable pdf), ed. George Heap.
Heap, a founding member of the Hyborian Legion Conan fan group (Fancyclopedia entry) and publisher of the first volume of Amra (Fancyclopedia entry), reports on the most recent muster of the Legion (at the 1960 Worldcon in Pittsburgh) and discusses the conversation there about there about nomenclature for “these type stories.”
This a “rewritten” transcript of the speech Leiber delivered in March.
4. “Letter to the Editor,” letter by Fritz Leiber. Ancalagon #2, April 1961 (downloadable pdf), ed. George Heap.
It is this letter, clearly written in response to Heap’s article in Ancalagon #1, that is most usually pointed to as the first coinage of “sword-and-sorcery.”
5. “Putting a Tag on It,” article by Michael Moorcock (Encyclopedia of Fantasy entry | Encyclopedia of Science Fiction entry), Amra vol 2 (Fancyclopedia entry) #15, May 1961, ed. George Scithers (Fancyclopedia entry) et al.
Michael Moorcock proposes “epic fantasy” in answer to the question that has been in the zeitgeist of fandom for some time. He ends the article, “What do you think?”
6. “Scylla’s Daughter,” Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser novelette by Fritz Leiber. Fantastic (Encyclopedia of Fantasy entry), May 1961 (downloadable pdf), ed. Cele Goldsmith (Encyclopedia of Science Fiction entry).
The twelfth Fafhrd and Gray Mouser story published, “Scylla’s Daughter” was originally begun in 1936 as "The Tale of the Gain Ships," but set aside. It was reprinted twice, in anthologies in 1986 and 1997, but never appeared in this form in any Leiber collection, having been incorporated into the 1968 novel, The Swords of Lankhmar. The magazine's cover, by Vernon Kramer, illustrates the story.
7. “Introduction to ‘The Garden of Fear’ by Robert E. Howard,” essay by Sam Moskowitz (Encyclopedia of Science Fiction entry). Fantastic, May 1961 (see previous entry for downloadable pdf), ed. Cele Goldsmith.
One of Moskowitz’s introductions to the classics reprint series in Fantastic, here he informs the (somewhat) wider world of the existence of the Hyborian Legion and it’s official organ, Amra vol 2.
8. “Letter to the Editor,” letter by Donald Franson (Fancyclopedia entry). Shangri-l’affaires #56, May-June 1961 (downloadable pdf), eds. John Trimble and Bjo Trimble.
Franson, a prominent Los Angeles fan and member of First Fandom, genially takes readers to task for not looking for their adventure stories in science fiction as opposed to fantasy (he compares the two genres to astronomy and astrology). He makes use of the term “sword-and-sorcery” several times. This may be the first instance in print of someone besides Leiber using the term.
9. “Letter to the Editor,” letter by Philip José Farmer (Encyclopedia of Science Fiction entry). Shangri-l’affaires #56, May-June 1961 (see previous entry for download link, eds. John Trimble and Bjo Trimble.
Presented as a counterpoint to Franson’s letter, Farmer pens a lengthy appreciation of Leiber’s article/speech and uses that appreciation to launch a far-ranging discussion of science fiction, fantasy in general, fandom, and mainstream literary culture.
10. “Letter to the Editor,” letter by Buz Busby (Encyclopedia of Science Fiction entry | Fancyclopedia entry). Shangri-l’affaires #56, May-June 1961 (see above for download link), eds. John Trimble and Bjo Trimble.
The first of two letters under the editorial heading “Sword & Sorcery” (this appears to be the first usage of the eventually popular ampersand), Busby replies to those parts of Leiber’s speech concerning the “watering down” of heroism in contemporary speculative fiction.
11. “Letter to the Editor,” letter by Steve Tolliver (Fancyclopedia entry). Shangri-l’affaires #56, May-June 1961 (see above for download link), eds. John Trimble and Bjo Trimble.
In the second of the two letters headlined “Sword & Sorcery,” Tolliver responds to the second half of Leiber’s speech, which largely concerned parody.
12. “The Dreaming City,” novelette by Michael Moorcock. Science Fantasy (Encyclopedia
of Fantasy entry) #47, June 1961 (downloadable pdf), ed. John Carnell (Encyclopedia of Science Fiction entry).
The debut of the long-running (and still running!) Elric Saga.The cover image by Brian Lewis illustrates the story.
13. Tales of Night’s Black Agents, collection by Fritz Leiber. Bantam Books, June 1961.
This is an abridgment of Leiber’s 1947 Arkham House collection, Night’s Black Agents. It omits the 1942 Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser novella original to the Arkham House book, Adept’s Gambit, but still includes the 1942 short story, “The Sunken Land.”
Note: The author’s name is misspelled as “Lieber” throughout, including on the cover and the copyright page.
14. “Swackle” (letter to the editor), letter by Fritz Leiber, Amra vol 2 #16, July 1961, ed George Scithers et al.
This is the best-known of the various “first times” Leiber introduced the term “sword-and-sorcery.” It is frequently cited as a “response” to the question Moorcock posed at the end of his article in the previous issue of Amra vol 2. This is clearly not the case.
15. “Goodbye, Atlantis,” novelette by Poul Anderson (Encyclopedia of Fantasy entry | Encyclopedia of Science Fiction entry). Fantastic, August 1961 (downloadable pdf), ed. Cele Goldsmith.
A little known sword & sorcery story published by Cele Goldsmith, who was increasingly a force in the genre. A fine example of Anderson the stylist, it has only been reprinted once, in the all-reprint magazine Thrilling Science Fiction in June 1974. The Fantastic cover by Leo Summers illustrates the story.
15. Three Hearts and Three Lions, novel by Poul Anderson. Doubleday, August, 1961.
This is an expansion of the original novel as it was serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September-October 1953.
16. “The Last Druid,” short story by Joseph E. Kelleam (Encyclopedia of Science Fiction entry). Fantastic, October 1961 (downloadable pdf), ed. Cele Goldsmith.
A slip by Goldsmith, this brief story—almost a vignette—recounts a foiled theft. There’s swordplay. There’s sorcery. It has never been reprinted.
17. “While the Gods Laugh,” novelette by Michael Moorcock. Science Fantasy, October 1961 (downloadable pdf), ed. John Carnell.
The second Elric story.
-finis-
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