Swords and Sorcery

For the combination table-top and role-playing game by SPI, see Swords & Sorcery (SPI). For the video game, see Swords and Sorcery (video game).

Swords and Sorcery is an anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by L. Sprague de Camp and illustrated by Virgil Finlay. It was first published in paperback by Pyramid Books in 1963. It was first sword and sorcery anthology ever assembled, and was followed by three additional such anthologies edited by de Camp. It has also been translated into German.

The book collects eight sword and sorcery tales by various authors, with an overall introduction by de Camp. The piece by Poul Anderson introduced his Cappen Varra character, later one of the foundational characters of the Thieves' World shared world anthologies edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey.

Contents
"Introduction: Heroic Fantasy" (L. Sprague de Camp)
"The Valor of Cappen Varra" (Poul Anderson)
"The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweler" (Lord Dunsany)
"Shadows in the Moonlight" (Robert E. Howard)
"The Citadel of Darkness" (Henry Kuttner)
"While the Sea King's Away" (Fritz Leiber)
"The Doom that Came to Sarnath" (H. P. Lovecraft)
"Hellsgarde" (C. L. Moore)
"The Testament of Athammaus" (Clark Ashton Smith)

Notes

Category:1963 short story collections
Category:Fantasy anthologies
Category:L. Sprague de Camp anthologies
Category:Sword and sorcery