Swords Against Death

A short story collection from 1970 that comprises adventures of Fafhrd the towering Northern Barbarian and Gray Mouser the diminutive streetwise rogue.

The Circle Curse (1970)

In the wake of their fight in the Thieves Guild to avenge the deaths of their beloveds, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser determine to leave Lankhmar and never return. They have hardly ridden out the gate and into the salt marshes when a wizard confronts them. Sheelba of the Eyeless Face sits in a mobile hut, not unlike that of Baba Yaga, and tells the pair that they will return to Lankhmar. The two spend years traveling through the lands and encountering what the world has to offer. Then, they find themselves sleeping in a cave and are suddenly confronted by another wizard, Ningauble of the Seven Eyes. As Sheelba had said when they set out, Ningauble repeated. The two were destined to return to Lankhmar.

This is less of a story than filler or background information. The introduction of these important wizards who both use Fafhard and Gray Mouser as pawns in their inscrutable schemes is the main purpose. The travelogue of their adventures is little more than a sentence per country or region. Really, any of those throw away lines might have made a better foundation for a story than this.

The Jewels in the Forest (1939)

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are bound for a secret keep that supposedly houses immense riches in diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies. Seemingly by accident, they discovered a 400 year old document that detailed the place. Determined to ransack the wealth, they had set out. En route, they rode into an ambush but easily drove off the amateurs. The structure proved to be a domed structure with smaller flanking domes and a towering monolith. Getting near it inspires fear. They again encounter their ambushers and this time defeat them. Within the structure, the fear is almost unbearable. They find skeletons that show they are not the first to dare to ransack it. Moreover, one of the dead has a manuscript that also details the place. Had the builder left many such manuscripts to lure robbers to their doom?

An extremely good story with action and suspense. The rumored giant who emerged to crush people is not quite what it seems and keeps one waiting for a monster. In Nehwon, gems can hold great magic and even sentience.

Thieves’ House (1943)

The guild master of the thieves wants to plunder a relic from an impregnable dungeon but he has no thief who could do it. However, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser could do it. He dispatched his most diplomatic thief to convince them to steal it and then, once done, to take it from them! This he does and arrives at the Thieves’ House just ahead of them. The jeweled skull and hands are deposited on the table before the guild master. Success.

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser overcome the guards at the door and find their way to the guild master’s hall. He is dead and a woman rushes out a secret passage with the skull in hand. And now the other thieves are closing in. In their flight, the pair are separated. Fafhrd stumbles into a long forgotten basement in the vast catacombs where more jewel-encrusted skulls and hands await him.

Though several thieves who appeared in Ill Met in Lankhmar return, their fates at grim. As with The Jewels in the Forest, gems are sources of power. A jewel-encrusted skull and hands are not things with which to trifle.

The Bleak Shore (1940)

While gambling in Lankhmar, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are confronted by a cadaverous man. He is Death. When Death dares one to sail to the bleak shore beyond the western sea, one does not decline. Like automatons, the pair set out. Some months later, a lone sailor returns from the ship the duo purchased. He tells a tale of woe. Of the 5 crewmen hired, he is the final survivor. When the ship arrived at the bleak shore, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser instructed to crew to sail home.

Picking up on the bleak shore, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser find some strange eggs that hatch metallic monsters with swords for arms. Can they overcome these creatures or is this their doom?

A weird story with awkward splits in the narrative. There is the opening where they meet Death and set out. This is followed by the tale, told by the sailor in some Lankhmar tavern, about the events of the voyage. His story concludes with the duo disembarking on a lonely beach. Then we switch back to the two heroes. Interesting story but it doesn’t flow well.

The Howling Tower (1941)

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser cross a vast plain, an empty wasteland where they occasionally here wolves howling in the distance. They had hired a guide who claimed to know the way but he vanished one night. The howling grew louder. The next night, Fafhrd vanished. The Gray Mouser followed his comrade’s trail to an abandoned village where there was a tower. The only inhabitant was a terrified old man who spoke of the wolves who haunted him. However, he can end their howling for a while if he makes a sacrifice.

Fear is a huge factor in many of the stories. Characters are often overcome with paralyzing fear that they cannot understand. Fafhrd and Gray Mouser typically control their fear but they see those who have not.

The Sunken Land (1942)

Finally aboard a small boat that they have acquired, the pair are sailing back from the Bleak Shore and toward Lankhmar. They pass near a longship that might be from the cold northern lands of Fafhrd’s youth. In a sudden confrontation with the ship’s crew, Fafhrd is aboard the longship and watches the Gray Mouser vanish into the stormy sea on their little boat. Fafhrd is the sailor of the two and he fears his comrade will be doomed.

The crew of the longship are indeed from Fafhrd’s homeland and they have sworn a vow of silence until they discover the remains of the Sunken Land. Soon after, they come upon a desolate island with half-sunken buildings. Now speaking, their leader commands them to seek out the treasure of the place. The land is not abandoned and holds dangers these men are unprepared to face.

A story in the vein of Atlantis, the ship seeks the wealth of this advanced and lost civilization but instead discovers the source of its doom. As with the ancient manuscripts that lured treasure seekers to the murderous forest keep in Jewels in the Forest, the Sunken Land also provided clues for would-be pillagers to find their doom. More of an escape story than a warrior’s tale.

The Seven Black Priests (1953)

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser have arrived on the mainland but they are far afield on an unfamiliar coast. As they traverse a little-traveled path, a strange figure swoops down from above to attack them and tumbles down the cliff once they have killed him. Oddly, the man was dark-skinned as if he was from much further south. Soon after, they come upon a bizarre and hellish-looking hill that twinkles in spots. The twinkling proves to be a massive gem, which the pair take. No sooner have they taken it than more dark-skinned men attack. All efforts to flee the area are obstructed by the mysterious black priests and, more troubling still, Fafhrd’s continuing to circle back to the hellish-looking hill. The gem is bending wills.

Magical sentient gems, dark gods, inscrutable priesthoods, and building fear; yes, we are somewhere in Nehwon. Often, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser will acquire some treasure only to find they must discard it for their survival. It is almost a cliché at this point.

Claws from the Night (1951)

Gray Mouser and Fafhrd have returned to Lankhmar. There has been a strange series of jewel thefts by birds. Some women have been scarred by bird claws while their earrings, necklaces, or other jewelry is stolen. Mouser is hiding in the rafters of a wealthy merchant’s manor with his eye on a precious jewel the merchant is offering his lovely young wife. Before he can snatch the jewel with a fishing line, a bird swoops in through an open window and absconds with the gem. On the rooves of the city, Fafhrd has a hawk that he send to kill the thieving bird. No sooner does he have he gem in hand than anther bird snatches it from him! Fafhrd and Mouser race along the rooftops to determine where the bird is going and find it is destined for an abandoned temple. It is here that they will find the mystery of the late bird thefts and, with any luck, a fortune in jewelry.

One wonders if this could have been inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963). Has a forgotten goddess returned to wreak vengeance on a city that shuttered her temple or has a crazed sorcerous with an uncanny control over birds initiated a clever crime ring?

The Price of Pain-Ease (1970)

Mouser and Fafhrd have stolen a cottage from a noble and had it carried to their favorite tavern, the Silver Eel. This also happens to be near the site where their beloveds, Vlanna and Ivrian, died. At first, the cottage is a luxury and a joy. Later, Mouser discovers that all the books on the shelves deal with death, most especially how to avoid dying. Soon, the pair are each haunted by their dead lovers, though neither tells the other of these ghostly visions. On the same day, each rides out to meet with one of the inscrutable wizards: Fafhrd sees Ningauble and Mouser consults Sheelba. Each wizard demands the mask of death from the Shadowlands in order to release them from their haunting. Thus, each rides out on a collision course with the other. On the way, each encounters their ghostly lover before arriving simultaneously at the castle of Death. However, the noble from whom they stole the cottage is also present and he means to end Death!

Nehwon is a strange world where one can ride into the land of the dead and do battle with Death himself. Strangely, this is not the same Death who appeared in The Bleak Shore. There are multiple Deaths it seems. Of note, the heroes swore themselves to service to the wizards in this adventure.

Bazaar of the Bizarre (1963)

Sheelba and Ningauble have called Mouser and Fafhrd to the Plaza of Dark Delights. Mouser arrived earlier than expected and spotted a new shop. Upon investigating, he finds the most astonishing goods. Impossible and wonderous things. Hanging through the shop in cages are the most beautiful women, all beckoning him to purchase them. Meanwhile, Fafhrd arrives on time and is summoned into an ally by Sheelba and Ningauble. They explain that the new shop is an illusion created by an invading alien race. One provides Fafhrd with a way to see through the illusions and the other offers a scarf to make him invisible. So armed, he enters the place to find worthless junk strewn through the place and cages containing huge spiders dangling from the ceiling. Inexplicably, Mouser doesn’t want to leave.

Strangely, Mouser or Fafhrd is often manipulated into doing things they would not do. Fafhrd was mind-controlled in The Bleak Shore, The Howling Tower, and The Seven Black Priests. Mouser is somewhat more in control, only having been so manipulated in The Bleak Shore and this story.

Many of the stories end with our heroes no richer – expect maybe in wisdom – than when they started. The treasure to be gained proves to be a curse. There is also the fact that many stories only hint at the threats they faced. Half the time, the duo walks away without understanding what they faced. I can see this conversation being inserted into several of these tales:

Fafhrd: “What the hell was that all about?”

Mouser: “I don’t know.” Shrugs.