SOME NOTES ON

FRITZ LEIBER'S

SWORDS AGAINST DEVILTRY

As I said in an earlier FB post, I intend to read more this year and I'd start with the 'classics'. I begin with the stories of Fafhrd and the Mouser, by Fritz Leiber. This is not a book review, just some notes on the happenings in these tales, written in the hope that it might attract new readers to these excellent stories, and some of what I have learnt from them.

We travel to the world of Nehwon. The characters of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, and their wizardly patrons Ningauble of the Seven Eyes and Sheelba of the Eyeless Face, were created by Harry Otto Fischer. Fritz Leiber then wrote most of the duo's actual adventures.

In Swords Against Deviltry, we have three stories.

The Snow Women introduces us to Fafhrd (pronounced faf-erd) and his barbarous clan in Cold Corner. As it says in the opening paragraph "the women of the Snow Clan were waging a cold war against the men." They do this with powerful enchantments to ensure their men do not wander, that they remain faithful and, should any step out of line, inflict a nose-dripping cold, the Great Cough or Winter Fever. Where magic was unsuitable, the women would snowball their men and they sometimes froze their snowballs. This was not a laughing matter.

Fafhrd finds himself caught in a triangle of women: his mother, Mor; his lover, and mother-to-be of his child, Mara; and Vlana, an actress with a travelling theatre troupe. Fafhrd longs for adventure and the excitement of 'civilisation' and believes Vlana to be the key to his escape from Cold Corner.

After much double-dealing with Vlana's manager, love-making and squabbles with the womenfolk of his clan, Fafhrd, ski-jumps the Trollstep Canyon (assisted by fireworks from the actors troupe). He avoids the icy magicks of Mor, Mara and the other snow women, slays five men in his pursuit of Vlana, and wins the heart of the actress.

The second story in the book, The Unholy Grail, tells the adventure of Mouse, a wizard's pupil. Mouse returns home after a quest, to find his master's house in ruin and the hedge-wizard Glavas Rho, slain. Mouse suspects Duke Janarrl, the local "lord paramount", a man who hates all magic but "white more than black". To add to Mouse's misery he believes that Ivrian, his first love and the daughter of the Duke, was involved in the murder of his master.

Mouse vows revenge.

After an altercation with the Duke and his men, Mouse hides in the forest and begins working magic against Janarrl. The Duke is afflicted by pains which leave him bed-ridden. Ivrian, in desperation, rides to see Mouse but is followed by the Duke and his men. They capture Mouse and destroy the poppet-image of Janarrl which Mouse was using as a link to direct his magic against the Duke. Things look bleak for Mouse but he is not defeated yet.

Strapped to the rack in the torture chamber, Mouse uses the pain to focus his next spell. Ivrian helps by keeping her attention fixed on Mouse and holding her father's arm. This is another link, sending the magic from Mouse, through Ivrian and to the Duke. As the spell reaches its climax in a howling storm, the Duke "crumpled in defeat and death."

The third story is the classic, Nebula award-winning Ill Met in Lankhmar, where Fafhrd and Mouse (who has now renamed himself the Gray Mouser) finally meet in the greatest city in all of Nehwon.

The two rogues plan to rob two thieves who themselves have just robbed a local gem merchant. By chance, Fafhrd and the Mouser have concocted the same plan and the same location for their ambush. After a brief scuffle, the two face each other over the fallen bodies of the two thieves. They realise there is a connection between them and, indeed, they have seen each other in the past.

Together, they celebrate and meet their girls, Vlana and Ivrian. Over much wine and boastful bragging, the heroes promise to assault the Thieves' House, home of the powerful Guild which oversees all thievery in Lankhmar city and beyond.

Disguised as beggars (the Beggars Guild is allied with the Thieves Guild) the two penetrate Thieves' House, there witnessing some strange sorcery involving magical nooses and are eventually caught by Krovas, the master of the Lankhmar Guild. Mouser flatters Krovas but the sorcerer, Hristomilo, sees through his flattery and the two are unmasked. A daring escape ensues, with the heroes leaping from rooftop to rooftop across the city, to reach the Mouser's home.

They find the place in darkness and disarray. Their girls have been murdered, by strangulation it seems, and a swarm of rats have begun devouring the bodies. In grief and rage, Fafhrd and the Mouser slay many rats then burn down the building, making a funeral pyre for their first loves.

Their rage overtakes them and they attack Thieves' House, armed with sword, dagger and burning oil. The sorcerer defends the House but is slain when Fafhrd throws Vlana's dagger into his eye; Mouser kills the wizard's familiar.

With the death of the wizard, the heroes' rage leaves them and they flee the burning Thieves' House. Their grief is too much to handle and the memories of their lives with their first loves weigh too heavily. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser leave Lankhmar the city of "beloved, unfaceable ghosts".

So, what have I learnt?

Emotion is a powerful motivator for the heroes. Fafhrd's curiosity about "civilisation", coupled with desire for Vlana, pulls him away from his homeland. The Mouser's desire for revenge against the killer of his wizardly teacher drives him down a path of life-threatening black magic. Besotted by their first loves, and not a little wine, the heroes undertake the most audacious raid on the Thieves' House. This proves to be a mistake, as the blackest of magicks kills their lovers. Desire for vengeance takes them back to Thieves' House and a murderous rampage.

But when the dust settles and the smoke clears, there is nothing left but sadness.

I'm a long-time player and GM of roleplaying games, nerdy I know, but one thing I note is that magic in Nehwon is time-consuming, expensive (witness the costly glassware and alembics used in Hristomilo's magic) and as risky to the spellcaster as it is to the target. The Mouser suffers torture to wreak his revenge on Janarrl. It also works best in groups: the Snow Women wield great power in their cabals and covens.

I enjoyed these stories immensely, and can't wait to see what happens to our heroes next. But wait I must, as I turn my attention to another great writer of SciFi and Fantasy: Jack Vance.