#gray mouser

[vintagerpg]

Man, these books. These are the original Ace paperback editions of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories (1970 to 1977), all but the last, because I just can’t stand the cover of that one. Jeffery Catherine Jones delivers atmospheric covers for the first five, then Michael Whelan is on the last on Swords and Ice Magic, putting up what was apparently the first book-accurate color portrait of the pair. All together, they have a gorgeous, mysterious look. I love them.

I’ve been slowly re-reading them. I thought I had read all of them but either my memory has gotten way faultier than I thought or I skipped around, because a lot of these feel fresh. Even old favorites, like “Ill-Met in Lankhmar” and “Bazaar of the Bizarre,” seemed far less dusty than I expected.

The more years that go by and the more I think about D&D and Appendix N and these stories, the more I kind of think Gygax’s reading list was a smoke screen put up to make it seem like D&D came out of a bunch of different sources. That is demonstrably true — I can see a little Moorcock, a little Zelazny and so on in the tapestry, sure. But Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are increasingly, to my eye, D&D before D&D. Its a couple key things, really. First, they are twain, and up to that point, and long after, honestly, most fantasy protagonists were lone wolves of one sort or another. These two blokes aren’t a party, but they are close. They banter. They grouse. Second, their fortunes rise and fall like the tide, and when the tide is low, they seek adventure, for how else will they pay their tavern tabs? This is at least two decades of the D&D experience in a nutshell.

They’re nearly all good (never read Adept’s Gambit though - trash). I tend to like the shorter adventures of the first three books best, but there are charms in the longer stories, particularly as they grow older and, mostly, none the wiser.

[curtvilescomic]

Fritz Leiber's Gray Mouser by Patrick Zircher

[mrkapao]

Unlike men, rubies and emeralds do not rest quietly in their graves.

- Fritz Leiber ‘The Jewels in the Forest’

[crisisofinfinitemultiverses]

Gray Mouser by Patrick Zircher

[mask131]

Cold winter: Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

FAFHRD AND THE GRAY MOUSER

Category: Fantasy literature

In the world of Newhon, there is a duo of warriors known as Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Between best friends and brothers of adoption (but not lovers, even though they did ponder about it), when they aren’t together or try to split apart fate itself makes it so that they will find each other back and be forced to fight alongside.

They are mercenaries who don’t mind much who hires them – as long as they pay well. This is one of their main concerns: get rich. After all, to drink, feast and gamble, you need money right? And when they aren’t hired, they usually find riches through other activities, be it adventuring in search of long-lost treasures or stealing from the wealthy elites (or stinking rich criminals) of the city of Lankhmar (a city the duo keeps returning to times and times again). But every time the duo gets rich, their fortune ends up disappearing one way or another, leading them to constantly seek their fortune. Something quite similar happens with their numerous conquests: the two collected an impressive amount of lovers and girlfriends, of all kinds and social classes, even having adventures with inhuman entities such as ghouls or goddesses, but every time they end up losing them in one way or another. The life of the duo is a constantly cycle of victory and loses, a wheel forcing them in constant battles and adventures in a world of decadence and ruthlessness.

The duo is considered to have popularized the concept of “the brain and the brawn” in fiction. Indeed, Fafhrd is a barbarian from the savage lands of the north – nearly seven feet tall, with long red hair, a great talent at swordsmanship and impressive muscles. The Mouser, in turn, is a five feet thief and trickster known for his sharp tongue, which often hurts his enemies more than his weapons, and a former wizard’s apprentice who still retains some knowledge of spellcasting. But to believe one is just a bunch of muscles and the other the brain of the duo is a huge misunderstanding of the characters. Fafhrd is just as intelligent as the Mouser, even though he doesn’t like to show it – it is always better for your enemy to underestimate you. He just happens to be much more single-minded and practical. Harboring much more “romantic” ideals as opposed to the Mouser’s cynicism, Fafhrd also has numerous skills the Mouser lacks: he is a skilled rider, a skilled archer, a skilled sailor, and was trained in his youth as a skald, resulting in him having a beautiful singing voice. Meanwhile the Mouser might be openly intelligent and hailing from the “civilized” lands of the south, but his arrogance, bravado and mercurial temper often leads him into foolish decisions and engages him into the more difficult and dangerous battles – unlike Fafhrd who usually avoids to fight more than one enemy at a time and likes to prepare tactics before battles.

Each of them has a duo of iconic weapons. Fafhrd has a sword named Graywand, and a poniard named Heartseeker, while the Gray Mouser has a rapier named Scalpel and a dagger named Cat’s Claw. They aren’t the only weapons they use (Fafhrd also uses a bow or a battle-axe, where the Mouser also uses a sling), but they are their iconic ones – but funnily, while they always have their Graywand and Cat’s Claw, they never are the same. For you see, the pair keeps losing their weapons throughout their various adventures, and while they replace them, they never change the name. All of Fafhrd’s poniards will be Heartseeker, while all of the Mouser’s swords and sabers will be Scalpel.

A last defining trait of the duo would be their “wizard mentors” or “warlock patrons”. Each of the two has a deep connection with a sorcerer: Fafhrd’s is called Ningauble of the Seven Eyes, while the Mouser’s is Sheelba of the Eyeless Face. These two serve as advisors and helpers to the duo, but also hires them for various errands and missions – and most notably, uses them as pawns (or champions depending on how you look) in a great “game” the two wizards seems to have kept going for a very long time now. Who are they? A true mystery… Sometimes they just look like eccentric wizards who happen to have quite weird appearances (their names are reflection of their appearances), while other times it is implied that they are alien beings coming from another dimension… But one thing is certain: they were badly paired with our titular heroes. Sheelba of the Eyeless Face is a serious, taciturn and stern ambiguously-gendered entity, much to the annoyance of Mouser who is a great lover of good puns and story-telling ; meanwhile Fafhrd, ever so stoic, upfront and to-the-point, ends up with Ningauble of the Seven Eyes as a patron, the “Gossiper of the Gods”, extremely fond of riddles, digressions and convoluted explanations. Quite an irony… But it is something people can easily forget: “Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser” is entirely ironic, from beginning to end.

- - - - -

“Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser” is a series of short stories and novellas written by Fritz Leiber between the 70s and the 80s, and they are considered to be the fundamental work of the sub-genre known as “sword and sorcery” (a term that Fritz Leiber himself coined). This series was a big inspiration for many important names in fantasy : it was one of the sources of D&D, and Discworld started out parodying it among many other fantasy works.

But there is something people tend to forget… “Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser” never started as a serious work. When Leiber started writing these stories, he actually intended them to be a tongue-in-cheek pastiche of the fantasy novels of the time – more precisely, he wanted it to be a light-hearted semi-parody of the “Conan the Barbarian”-styled fantasy. This was the whole nature of the work – but as time went by, Leiber’s story grew up to become their own set of picaresque fantasy adventures, and in turn they had such a huge success and such an influence on the fantasy genre that from a “parody” they became a “classic”, to the point some people even end up overlooking the original humor of the stories, which are filled with puns, jokes and jabs at typical fantasy tropes of the time.

In a similar way to how despite subverting this very concept, many people tend to believe that Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser were the original “brain and brawn” duo.

[smbhax]

Cover illustration by Leo Dillon

[davey-dammit]

A box of some of my vintage sci-fi and fantasy collection

[ungoliantschilde]

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, by Mike Mignola.

[oldschoolfrp]

"Nehwon's ghouls are not of the AD&D undead type, but are a species of humanoids unto themselves. They are almost totally transparent, except for their bones, which are grey. They are often mistaken for skeletons, and are almost invisible (80%) in the dark." (Jennell Jaquays, AD&D Deities & Demigods, TSR, 1980)

[comicarthistory]

Page from Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser Book 4. 1991. Art by Mike Mignola and Al Williamson.

[balu8]

Sword of Sorcery #5: The Mouse Alone

by George (Alec) Effinger: Jim Starlin; Al Milgrom and Ben Oda

DC

[victusinveritas]

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Art by Clyde Caldwell

[mrkapao]

“There is always a simple way of saying things," said Fafhrd ominously.

"But there is where I differ with you," returned the adept, almost animatedly. "There are no ways of saying certain things, and others are so difficult that a man pines and dies before the right words are found. One must borrow phrases from the sky, words from beyond the stars. Else were all an ignorant, imprisoning mockery.”

- Fritz Leiber ‘Swords in the Mist’

[yojimbot13]

[zelphafrost]

What a shit week for the animals in my family. This is Mr. Thomas J Whoopie, otherwise known as Mr. Tom. He started out in my dad's garden, keeping the other furry critters from eating the vegetables a good many years ago. He stayed in the garage most nights. Was super friendly and a massive tom cat with a huge head. A few (maybe more) years back, his health started going a bit with age, so my dad moved him into the house. Doc diagnosed him with stomach cancer just last week. Today, my dad buried him in the backyard he loved so much. 😿💔😿💔

[panelswithoutpeople]

Bazaar of the Bizzare from Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Book Three

by Howard Chaykin and Mike Mignola