What defines Sword and Sorcery?

 

As it turns out, defining Sword and Sorcery is not easy to do. This being the case, much of what you read here is my interpretation rather than a hard definition. As a sub-genre of fantasy fiction, there is a temptation to label all fantasy as sword and sorcery, which would be inappropriate. So, what defines sword and sorcery?

If you notice the fantastic artwork above, you will see Conan the Barbarian preparing to behead some evil sorcerer. This really encapsulates everything sword and sorcery is about. A sword-wielding adventurer versus supernatural threats. It doesn't end there, but that really is the essence of the genre.

Let's dig in, and understand the history a bit. Sword and sorcery stories were birthed in the pulps, which meant they were short-form, fast-paced, action stories meant to grip your attention. The most famous example from the pulp era comes from author Robert E Howard, who can almost be credited with inventing the sword and sorcery genre. He desired to write historical fiction but realized there was little to no market for historical fiction in the pulps. Therefore, Howard included fantastic elements in his stories, such as magic and monsters, and no shortage of Lovecraftian horror. He wrote characters such as Kull the Conqueror., Solomon Kane, and Conan the Cimmerian. 

Following the popularity of those characters, other authors tuned in to Howard's approach. For decades, no one seemed to distinguish between fantasy and Sword and Sorcery. Not until Fritz Lieber coined the term sword and sorcery to distinguish his brand of fantasy from the Lord of the Rings. He basically said, "If that's fantasy, then this is sword and sorcery, and it's different." 

I have written before on the differences in fantasy subgenres HERE. No reason to revisit that conversation. So what makes sword and sorcery distinct? Let's break it down. 

Elements of Sword and Sorcery

Protagonist

Sword and sorcery tales usually feature one protagonist. There are exceptions, sometimes there are two or three characters, but more often than not you will find a lone swordsman. Sometimes these are anti-heroes, sometimes they are noble and have a strong moral compass. Sometimes they are completely amoral, and only do the right thing when it benefits them. These characters are usually at the height of their abilities at the beginning of the story. They don't become more powerful and they are always adults. They are not prophesied to save the world or anything like that. Instead, they are usually rogues, thieves, wandering mercenaries, or barbarians. They generally live for personal glory, wealth, or adventure. Sometimes they carry enchanted weapons, such as Elric of Melnibone and his soul-eating sword, Stormbringer, but more often than not they only use what's readily available to them. In some stories, they are kings and emperors, thieves or prisoners, but they are almost universally on the outside of society in some way. Misfits, as it were. 

Pacing

Unlike the Lord of the Rings, the Wheel of Time, or Eragon, which delight in detail and massive word counts, sword and sorcery tends to employ brisk pacing. From the first sentence until the last word, these stories don't take a break. There is no grand quest from one side of the world to the other, and if there is, its a footnote rather than the point. Sword and sorcery moves. Often, these stories are short stories, novellas, or short novels. A good example is Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone which has a word count of 48,000 words. The Eye of the World, in contrast, has 300,147 words. That is amazing and impressive and can be a very nice read. But sword and sorcery gets to the point and wastes no time. 

Action

At its heart, sword and sorcery is about action. Swashbuckling, monster slaying, wizard thwarting action. Bloody and brutal, you will find danger on every page. This devotion to action is really rooted in the fact that sword and sorcery stories are adventure stories, and as such they rely on physical conflict to keep the plot moving. The Conan stories showcase this perfectly. Take my favorite Conan story, the Tower of the Elephant. It opens with a barfight, and then Conan teams up with a thief to sneak into a wizard's tower and steal his treasure. Surprise! Lions are used to guard the grounds. Then they have to climb the tower and infiltrate. Surprise! Giant Spider! Then they have to steal the treasure. Surprise! It isn't gold or jewels, but a creature. Now there is a final showdown with the wizard and Surprise! The tower is falling down around Conan who has to make a daring escape! You see, action is central to the genre.

Setting

These stories always take place in a fantasy world. Often in a fictional prehistory of our own world, where magic and monsters are real. Sometimes, they take place in other dimensions, on other planets, or in some undisclosed world. Typically, there is a bleak outlook on humanity, society is viewed as treacherous and you shouldn't go down any dark alleyways. It is rare for sword and sorcery stories to travel the world. Instead, they often take place in a single location. In a dungeon, or a city, or a forest. Maybe they travel from one city to another or stay in one region. Usually, there are only humans in sword and sorcery, although there are exceptions. The Witcher is very much in the spirit of sword and sorcery, especially the first two books, and they feature your typical dwarves and elves, although they are not friendly toward humans and are rare within the lore. 

Stakes

In your typical fantasy story, the hero sets out to save the kingdom or save the world. In sword and sorcery, the hero is usually only interested in saving himself. This does not mean the stakes are low, just that they are personal. Maybe they are only interested in obtaining a treasure or rescuing a friend from danger. Maybe they are working a job and things have gone horribly wrong. Maybe their army was defeated in battle and now they are trying to escape captivity. Whatever the situation, the stakes are personal rather than global. These are not the kinds of heroes who save the world, they are the kinds of heroes who do the right thing in the moment. 

Magic

Unlike a Brandon Sanderson novel, which features robust magic systems, sword and sorcery does not bother to explain the magic. This is puzzling to a lot of modern fantasy enthusiasts, but there is a reason for it, which we will discuss below, under the horror heading. In sword and sorcery, the hero may use magic occasionally, but that is a very rare event. Usually, the only people who use sorcery are evil or crazy. Magic is taboo, rare, and frightening. Usually it is unpredictable, and it almost always comes at a cost. Perhaps the magic users body is transformed, they go crazy, or the spell backfires and brings calamity into the world. In many fantasy books, magic is accepted as a normal and natural part of society, but here it is a dark secret hiding in underground caves. Sometimes supernatural beings enable it, or perhaps a blood sacrifice. There are no hard and fast rules for magic here, except that its usually trouble.

Worldbuilding

Something else that may puzzle most people is how sword and sorcery handles worldbuilding. Rather than using a story to display the world, like Tolkien did, worldbuilding is there to support the story. So there is worldbuilding, but you only learn what you need to learn to keep the story moving. Remember, we don't stop to look at the leaves in sword and sorcery, we are racing ahead to battle cult members in an abandoned city. This does not mean that the authors do not invest heavily in the world building though. Robert E Howard again comes to mind, as he had a fully fleshed out history, nations and cultures, religions, myths, legends, and ancient mysteries that he wrote out. The catch was, unless it was needed for the story at hand, he never mentioned it. The Witcher takes a similar approach, as does Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. The point is not to show you the world by the story, but to show you the story by the world. 

Horror

I mentioned earlier that magic goes unexplained in sword and sorcery, and one of the reasons is because it is often used as a horror element. Given the fact that we see everything from the perspective of the protagonist, and that magic use is usually taboo, the magic comes across as strange and terrifying. This element of horror is important to the genre, and it has been ever since its inception. I have mentioned Robert E Howard over and over in this post, for good reason. He has the earliest and most profound influence on the genre. He was also pen pals with H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft held enough influence on Howard that his brand of horror was incorporated into the Solomon Kane stories, and then Conan to follow. Ancient evils, cosmic horrors, deranged wizards,  acts of savagery, and freakish monsters are peppered all over the genre. Giant snakes and spiders, shadow creatures from beyond, man eating beasts, undead warriors, and blood letting cult members. All of which presented to challenge the heroes sanity, skill, and resolve. It is against these things that he demonstrates his heroism, and that the reader holds their breath for. 
None of these things are necessarily hard rules.  Writers have added and subtracted over the years, yet these remain the central hallmarks of sword and sorcery. I mean, fantasy is fantasy right? But what gives fantasy its flavor is what defines the subgenre. 

I like to approach sword and sorcery as a cross between Yojimbo, Indiana Jones, and Lovecraft. 

Yojimbo: A movie about a lone samurai wandering into a corrupt town and getting caught up in the local politics. He uses his wit and skill to bring a swift end to the corruption.

Indiana Jones: A treasure hunter who uncovers supernatural wonders in exotic locals. He does what he has to do to stop his rivals from stealing the treasure, exploiting the supernatural, and always gets the girl.

Lovecraft: Horror that relies less on blood and guts, jump scares, and ghosts. It's more about making you question your sanity by forcing you to confront things you can't comprehend, such as some ancient being who is formless and indefinable, emanating despair, and laughing at you as you cower. Or maybe an 80 foot anaconda that simply shouldn't exist. 

This is pretty much my formula for writing sword and sorcery. Recently, I released a very "Temple of Doom" inspired short story, featuring a paleolithic hunter whose family was taken by cannibalistic savages who worship a sorcerer as a god. I call it Toma the Hunter, and you can find it HERE.

Notable Sword and Sorcery writers include:
Robert E Howard
Michael Moorcock
Karl Edward Wagner
Fritz Leiber
L Sprague Decamp (Not my favorite)
Charles Saunders
C.L. Moore
Clark Ashton Smith

Modern examples include Steve Dilks, and Howard Andrew Jones. Jones is actually writing a series write now, and I plan on reviewing the first book in his series, Lord of a Shattered Land (Spoiler, its amazing). He also keeps a blog, and you can learn about his views on Sword and Sorcery HERE.

One last thing to note. As many of these authors were writing in the early part of the 20th century, they often wrote to a market that held values we no longer identify with. Women were often displayed as helpless. Not just damsels in distress, but incompetent simpletons. And usually, they were... well... not fully clothed. 

Racist sentiments are also, sadly, put to use. It is my belief that we cannot judge people who lived a century ago according to our modern standards. Like, what are you going to do? Raise them from the dead and shake your finger at them? Cancel them? I  say, we agree that they were a product of their time, embrace the good, and teach future generations to learn from their example. We want to be like them at their best, and we want to be better than their worst. 

So this is my interpretation of Sword and Sorcery. This is now my favorite kind of fantasy. Fast paced, action packed, thrilling adventures in a far away land. I still love the Lord of the Rings, Eragon, and even the Elder Scrolls. Man, I don't know where we would be without people like Brandon Sanderson. But I do wish we had more quality Sword and Sorcery fiction available. It has been in decline since the 80's, and if not for a renaissance around Robert E Howard, would probably remain lost to time. There does seem to be a growing interest in the genre, and maybe we will see it carry fantasy forward, with its short format, as attention spans decrease and the world looks to escape. 

I guess only time will tell, but I am doing my part to push Sword and Sorcery forward. In fact, I will be writing a Sword and Sorcery novel for NaNoWriMo. Check this blog for updates on my progress!