This article is about the subgenre. For other uses, see Swords & sorcery (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Sword-and-sandal, a genre of Italian costume adventure epic films
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Illustration of a scene in Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian story "Red Nails"
Sword and sorcery (S&S) or heroic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tales, though dramatic, focus on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters. Sword and sorcery commonly overlaps with heroic fantasy. The genre originated from the early-1930s works of Robert E. Howard. The term "sword and sorcery" was coined by Fritz Leiber in the May 1961 issue of the fantasy fanzine Amra, to describe Howard and the stories that were influenced by his works.[1] In parallel with "sword and sorcery", the term "heroic fantasy" is used, although it is a more loosely defined genre.[2]
Sword and sorcery tales eschew overarching themes of "good vs evil" in favor of situational conflicts that often pit morally gray characters against one another to enrich themselves, or to defy tyranny.
Sword and sorcery is grounded in real-world social and societal hierarchies, and is grittier, darker, and more violent, with elements of cosmic, often Lovecraftian creatures that aren't a staple of mainstream fantasy. The main character is often a barbarian with antihero traits.
^Nicholls, Peter (10 October 2022). "Sword and Sorcery". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
^Nicholls, Peter (30 October 2015). "Heroic Fantasy". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
The following is a list of swordandsorcery films. These tend to focus on single heroes, romance, and magic. Die Nibelungen (1924) The Iron Crown (1941)...
SwordandSorcery Studios (S&SS) was an imprint of White Wolf, Inc., used to publish its d20 System & Open Gaming License material in from 2000 to 2008...
Sword of Sorcery was an American sword-and-sorcery comics anthology featuring Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, heroes and rogues created by Fritz Leiber. Published...
The Swordand the Sorcerer is a 1982 American swordandsorcery fantasy film co-written and directed by Albert Pyun, and starring Lee Horsley, Kathleen...
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Film Studios and Industry Bodies > Amicus Productions". screenonline.org.uk. Nathan, Paul S (1976). "Rights and Permissions: SwordandSorcery". Publishers...
Leiber, and Ray Bradbury. The early works of many swordandsorcery authors such as Robert E. Howard also began at this time. By 1950, swordandsorcery had...
female protagonists in the subgenre of swordandsorcery. At the time, most female characters in swordandsorcery were little more than stock damsels in...
Kane. Since then, "dark fantasy" has sometimes been applied to swordandsorceryand high fantasy fiction that features anti-heroic or morally ambiguous...
conflict as a plot device, and often do not distinguish the sides by their behavior. In some works, most notably in swordandsorcery, evil is not opposed by...
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The Sword of Truth is a series of 21 swordandsorcery novels and six novellas written by Terry Goodkind. The books follow the protagonists Richard Cypher...
fiction horror film Alien Resurrection with Sigourney Weaver, and the 2011 swordandsorcery film Conan the Barbarian. He voiced Optimus Primal in the 2023...
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