Publication History |
The early 1930s marked what would become one of the momentous events in
development of speculative fiction: Fritz Leiber and Harry Otto Fischer created
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Fafhrd, the towering northern barbarian, and the
Gray Mouser, the cunning wizard's apprentice turned bravado and
troublemaker, were loosely based on Leiber and Fischer themselves. Fischer
abandoned the pair of adventurers; Leiber turned them into archetypes and
helped found a genre.
The adventurers are a complex and all too flawed pair: accomplished
swordsmen, sailors, and even rockclimbers; travelers through sea, sky, and
earth; gluttons for alcohol and sex; skilled in singing and theatrics; favored and
cursed by gods, divinities, and a series of extraordinary lovers; mentored and
manipulated by competing sorcerers. They are bumbling yet clever; worldly
and philosophical, but still naïve and impulsive; of questionable loyalty and
honor; alternately humiliated and triumphant. Frequently their only
motivation for adventure is curiosity, their only goal quickly turns to survival.
They are just as apt to be in the wrong place as in the right one, and saved as
often by raw luck as by cleverness, wit, and skill. They are, for the most part,
without friend or family but each other. Yet they are beloved by generations of
readers as epitomes of the adventurous spirit.
Over a half century, Leiber wrote nearly forty Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
tales, from brief vignettes to a novel. These tales continued to reflect Leiber's
personal development and philosophical explorations. The result is an
acclaimed collection of timeless adventures that combine imagination, detail,
satire, social commentary, plot twists, tragedy, and comedy—all in a setting so
rich and tangled that it too has become an icon.
One of the recurring themes of these stories is power. Leiber wrote about
themes of social power and control in several different forms: family, politics,
and religion. Throughout, he drew on his personal experiences and thoughts.
This essay will provide and overview of these explorations and point out some
of the biographical and other influences. Let me here make a disclaimer: I do
not pretend that Fritz Leiber consciously injected in the Fafhrd and the Gray
Mouser tales all the ideas discussed in this essay, or even that he would agree
with all the analysis in this essay. Meaning, like beauty, "in things exists in the
mind which contemplated them." (David Hume, 1711-1776) Therefore this
essay is as much (and perhaps more) a reflection of my thinking about Leiber
than it is of Leiber's thinking about his Nehowian adventures. Additionally, no
single essay could hope to cover everything in these stories. Therefore, I
present these ideas for the reader's consideration while acknowledging that, by
necessity, some argument and supporting data has been left out.
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Like many series, the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories were not written or
published in their internal sequential order. Therefore, during the late 1960s
and early 1970s, Leiber reorganized the stories into collections while
continuing the pair's adventures as they entered middle age. It is worth
comparing the sequential order of the stories with the order of publication.
While some interests (like theater) are clear throughout the Fafhrd and the
Gray Mouser stories, many of the more contemplative or philosophical stories
were written as Leiber himself aged and infused the stories with recurring
themes and self-revelations.
During his "Lovecraftian Period (1936-1949)" (Byfield) Leiber published "The
Jewels in the Forest" (1939), "The Bleak Shore" (1940), "Claws from the Night"
(1940), "The Howling Tower" (1941), "The Sunken Land" (1942), "Thieves'
House" (1943), and "Adept's Gambit" (1947). In 1949, at the beginning of his
"Gravesian Period (1949-1958)" (Byfield), Leiber's father died and Leiber
published only one Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tale, "The Seven Black Priests"
(1953). Next was his "Early Jungian Period (1958-1972)" (Byfield), during
which he published perhaps his most well-regarded Nehwonian story, "Lean
Times in Lankhmar" (1959), as well as "When the Sea-King's Away" (1960),
"The Unholy Grail" (1962), "Bazaar of the Bizarre" (1963), "The Cloud of Hate"
(1963), "The Lords of Quarmall" (1964), "Stardock" (1965), "Their Mistress,
the Sea" (1968), "The Wrong Branch" (1968), "In the Witch's Tent" (1968),
"The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar" (1968), and the only Fafhrd and the Gray
Mouser novel, The Swords of Lankhmar (1968). The following year, both his
wife, Jonquil Stephens, and his mother, Virginia Bronson died and Leiber fell
into heavy substance abuse. Shortly thereafter, Leiber published his most
thoughtful and self-reflective Nehwonian stories, all in 1970: "The Price of
Pain-Ease," "Induction," "The Snow Women," "Ill Met in Lankhmar," and "The
Circle Curse." After recovering from substance abuse, Leiber entered his "Late
Jungian Period (1973 until his death)" (Byfield) and finished penning the series
with "The Sadness of the Executioner" (1973), "Trapped in the Shadowland"
(1973), "The Bait" (1973), "Beauty and the Beasts" (1974), "Under the Thumbs
of the Gods" (1975), "Trapped in the Sea of Stars" (1975), "The Frost
Monstreme" (1976), "Rime Isle" (1977), "Sea Magic" (1977), "The Mer She"
(1983), "The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars" (1983), and, finally, "The
Mouser Goes Below" (1988).
Leiber thus began the pair's tales as mere adventures—full of wit and humor, to
be sure, but lacking the themes that are evident in his later stories. The change
is not strictly linear; Leiber did not abandon comedy or adventure as the
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series progressed. He did, however, go back to in
the sequence to author provide Fafhrd and the Mouser with self-reflective
origin tales. Further, unlike many authors, Leiber allowed his heroes to enter
into middle age and muse upon both the indiscretions of their youth and their
maturation. Both Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser significantly mature through
the course of the stories. Like Leiber, they give up drunkenness and
promiscuity. Fafhrd in particular notes that, for all their adventures, they have
never really been men. He longs for responsibility, respectability, and a wife.
("The Frost Monstreme" Second Book 288-289) In other words, all those
things he rejected in "The Snow Women" because of the Snow Clan's vengeful
matriarchy and his desire to experience "civilization." The Mouser too begins
to show regret at the way he's lived, noting for example that his poor treatment
of others and his roguery has cost him contentment and home life. ("The
Mouser Goes Below") In turn, these fictional change-of-life reflections allowed
Leiber an opportunity to think about his own growth...
development of speculative fiction: Fritz Leiber and Harry Otto Fischer created
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Fafhrd, the towering northern barbarian, and the
Gray Mouser, the cunning wizard's apprentice turned bravado and
troublemaker, were loosely based on Leiber and Fischer themselves. Fischer
abandoned the pair of adventurers; Leiber turned them into archetypes and
helped found a genre.
The adventurers are a complex and all too flawed pair: accomplished
swordsmen, sailors, and even rockclimbers; travelers through sea, sky, and
earth; gluttons for alcohol and sex; skilled in singing and theatrics; favored and
cursed by gods, divinities, and a series of extraordinary lovers; mentored and
manipulated by competing sorcerers. They are bumbling yet clever; worldly
and philosophical, but still naïve and impulsive; of questionable loyalty and
honor; alternately humiliated and triumphant. Frequently their only
motivation for adventure is curiosity, their only goal quickly turns to survival.
They are just as apt to be in the wrong place as in the right one, and saved as
often by raw luck as by cleverness, wit, and skill. They are, for the most part,
without friend or family but each other. Yet they are beloved by generations of
readers as epitomes of the adventurous spirit.
Over a half century, Leiber wrote nearly forty Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
tales, from brief vignettes to a novel. These tales continued to reflect Leiber's
personal development and philosophical explorations. The result is an
acclaimed collection of timeless adventures that combine imagination, detail,
satire, social commentary, plot twists, tragedy, and comedy—all in a setting so
rich and tangled that it too has become an icon.
One of the recurring themes of these stories is power. Leiber wrote about
themes of social power and control in several different forms: family, politics,
and religion. Throughout, he drew on his personal experiences and thoughts.
This essay will provide and overview of these explorations and point out some
of the biographical and other influences. Let me here make a disclaimer: I do
not pretend that Fritz Leiber consciously injected in the Fafhrd and the Gray
Mouser tales all the ideas discussed in this essay, or even that he would agree
with all the analysis in this essay. Meaning, like beauty, "in things exists in the
mind which contemplated them." (David Hume, 1711-1776) Therefore this
essay is as much (and perhaps more) a reflection of my thinking about Leiber
than it is of Leiber's thinking about his Nehowian adventures. Additionally, no
single essay could hope to cover everything in these stories. Therefore, I
present these ideas for the reader's consideration while acknowledging that, by
necessity, some argument and supporting data has been left out.
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Like many series, the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories were not written or
published in their internal sequential order. Therefore, during the late 1960s
and early 1970s, Leiber reorganized the stories into collections while
continuing the pair's adventures as they entered middle age. It is worth
comparing the sequential order of the stories with the order of publication.
While some interests (like theater) are clear throughout the Fafhrd and the
Gray Mouser stories, many of the more contemplative or philosophical stories
were written as Leiber himself aged and infused the stories with recurring
themes and self-revelations.
During his "Lovecraftian Period (1936-1949)" (Byfield) Leiber published "The
Jewels in the Forest" (1939), "The Bleak Shore" (1940), "Claws from the Night"
(1940), "The Howling Tower" (1941), "The Sunken Land" (1942), "Thieves'
House" (1943), and "Adept's Gambit" (1947). In 1949, at the beginning of his
"Gravesian Period (1949-1958)" (Byfield), Leiber's father died and Leiber
published only one Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tale, "The Seven Black Priests"
(1953). Next was his "Early Jungian Period (1958-1972)" (Byfield), during
which he published perhaps his most well-regarded Nehwonian story, "Lean
Times in Lankhmar" (1959), as well as "When the Sea-King's Away" (1960),
"The Unholy Grail" (1962), "Bazaar of the Bizarre" (1963), "The Cloud of Hate"
(1963), "The Lords of Quarmall" (1964), "Stardock" (1965), "Their Mistress,
the Sea" (1968), "The Wrong Branch" (1968), "In the Witch's Tent" (1968),
"The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar" (1968), and the only Fafhrd and the Gray
Mouser novel, The Swords of Lankhmar (1968). The following year, both his
wife, Jonquil Stephens, and his mother, Virginia Bronson died and Leiber fell
into heavy substance abuse. Shortly thereafter, Leiber published his most
thoughtful and self-reflective Nehwonian stories, all in 1970: "The Price of
Pain-Ease," "Induction," "The Snow Women," "Ill Met in Lankhmar," and "The
Circle Curse." After recovering from substance abuse, Leiber entered his "Late
Jungian Period (1973 until his death)" (Byfield) and finished penning the series
with "The Sadness of the Executioner" (1973), "Trapped in the Shadowland"
(1973), "The Bait" (1973), "Beauty and the Beasts" (1974), "Under the Thumbs
of the Gods" (1975), "Trapped in the Sea of Stars" (1975), "The Frost
Monstreme" (1976), "Rime Isle" (1977), "Sea Magic" (1977), "The Mer She"
(1983), "The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars" (1983), and, finally, "The
Mouser Goes Below" (1988).
Leiber thus began the pair's tales as mere adventures—full of wit and humor, to
be sure, but lacking the themes that are evident in his later stories. The change
is not strictly linear; Leiber did not abandon comedy or adventure as the
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series progressed. He did, however, go back to in
the sequence to author provide Fafhrd and the Mouser with self-reflective
origin tales. Further, unlike many authors, Leiber allowed his heroes to enter
into middle age and muse upon both the indiscretions of their youth and their
maturation. Both Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser significantly mature through
the course of the stories. Like Leiber, they give up drunkenness and
promiscuity. Fafhrd in particular notes that, for all their adventures, they have
never really been men. He longs for responsibility, respectability, and a wife.
("The Frost Monstreme" Second Book 288-289) In other words, all those
things he rejected in "The Snow Women" because of the Snow Clan's vengeful
matriarchy and his desire to experience "civilization." The Mouser too begins
to show regret at the way he's lived, noting for example that his poor treatment
of others and his roguery has cost him contentment and home life. ("The
Mouser Goes Below") In turn, these fictional change-of-life reflections allowed
Leiber an opportunity to think about his own growth...
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| Power Plays: Explorations of Social Power in Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Adventures By SC Bryce |
First Printing:
Fritz Leiber: Critical Essays,
Benjamin Szumskyj, ed. (McFarland
2007).
Fritz Leiber: Critical Essays,
Benjamin Szumskyj, ed. (McFarland
2007).
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