Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser and the Unknown debut of Fritz Leiber

WEEK 1 of February Fantasy Stories 2023: Swords & Sorcery
An original BookTube event created by ‪@thebookishbryants‬
Hosted this year by ‪@saintdonoghue‬
ARTISTS DISCUSSED
• M. Isip (Manuel Rey Isip)
• R. Isip (Pangsilang Rey Isip)
• Jeff Jones
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MY EMAIL
jscottphillips503 (at) gmail

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Brilliant video as usual! I love Leiber’s stories. Also, you have convinced me to fit in some fantasy this month. I don’t want you to be alone in the wilderness!

[@jscottphillips503]

By Crom, please do! I asked Steve about it in a live stream over the weekend, and he said HE hasn't even done any yet! February ain't getting any longer!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

@@jscottphillips503 I have a particular anthology in mind. It might actually cover most of the week’s themes.

[@jscottphillips503]

Killing four rocs with one stone! Fantastic!

[@LiamsLyceum]

A lovely video! I really like this story, I have it in Swords Against Death, Ill Met in Lankhmar (with the Mignola cover), and Two Sought Adventure from Gnome Press. I’m a big S&S fan and Leiber is my favorite.

[@jscottphillips503]

Ah! The Gnome Press edition would be a nice one to have! That's a VERY early Leo Dillon solo cover, without Diane, a bit of a rarity. The Mignola illustration is fantastic, really nice use of a modern medieval style, perfect for the mood of the stories. Sounds like you have a very nice collection. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

Absolutely love this, I’ve been a fan of the Faffhd and Grey Mouser Swords series for almost 40 years. I’m planning on rereading them before the end of the year. I’ll be posting my reflections on reading them in my 50s as I go. Love the illustrations in your video too. I agree that illustrators don’t get the attention or praise that they deserve.

[@jscottphillips503]

Cool! I look forward to your F&GM videos. Always fun to go back and re-read old favorites!

[@simonagree4070]

As I mentioned elsewhere on your channel, I am a big fan of Unknown, and will also say that I love the Fahfrd and Grey Mouser tales (not particularly a fan of sword and sorcery stories, but these I like). Fritz was a pleasure to meet, once at a book signing in the '70s, and again at a Christmas party in the '80s. If you want to see his father, he is an inquisition judge in one of those Errol Flynn pirate movies of the '30s. Alan Hale Sr. (the father of the Skipper on Gilligan's Island) is also in a lot of those movies. I wonder if Fritz Leiber pere and Alan Hale pere ever sat down on set and talked about child rearing?

[@jscottphillips503]

I'm not sure I've seen Fritz Senior in anything, but I've seen Alan Hale, Sr. in many movies. The Skipper was definitely a chip off the old block.

[@TheMikester307]

You are absolutely right about the pronunciation of "Fafhrd." I've heard Leiber's recording of "The Witch's Tent."

[@jscottphillips503]

Yes! I saw an embarrassing interview with Fritz where the host was badly prepared, knowing nothing of him or his work. He introduced him as Fritz LEE-ber and cited FAW-ferd and the Gray Mouser with a hard "S." Fritz very politely corrected his pronunciation on all scores. Thanks for watching!

[@dndmat]

It's always amazing to learn things like this but I shall forever call him Faw Ferd in my head as I read this when I was eleven and there was no internet for clarification. :D

[@jscottphillips503]

@@dndmat Yeah. I always said Faw Feed myself until I looked it up and found that interview just before I made this video, only because I try to be as accurate as I can in telling these back stories . I've always heard it both ways, but figured it didn't really matter. Science Fiction and Fantasy are full of these invented words and names that we can only guess at how to pronounce. To be fair, we are rarely given a pronunciation guide in these stories so, naturally, we take our best guess. Faw Ferd is as good as any and, after a lifetime of pronouncing such a name to ourselves, why change? A crazy example is Lovecraft's Cthulhu. Almost EVERYone pronounces it now as Ku-THOO-loo, but Lovecraft himself said that it should be Khlûl′-hloo. What the...? How in the world is anyone supposed to figure THAT one out? And in fact, a lot of Lovecraft fans KNOW how he wanted it pronounced, but just go on with their own lifetime of saying Ka-THOO-loo anyway. It's pretty much accepted that way now, even by the most ardent fans. Don't even get me started on Superman's Mr. Mxyzptlk!

[@dndmat]

@@jscottphillips503 that’s what I love about books, our mind fills in the gaps. With a movie it’s all done for you. Two people can read the same book but have some fairly different views on the same topic. :)

[@jscottphillips503]

@@dndmat Not only that, but often with books, you can sometimes have different views yourself on a re-read.

[@PAUL-ge1kl]

Fantastic art. Thankyou fella

[@jscottphillips503]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching.

[@MriInterocitor]

I’ve loved Leiber’s stories even longer than. Lovecraft’s, or so my oldest brother (whose shelves I kept raising) tells me. Seeing that great original art is very cool. I’ll have to see what weeks of Fantasy month I can make.

[@jscottphillips503]

There's still time!

[@patrickmarshall4142]

I might mention that the first illustration with Fafhrd (with Mouser out of frame) has more than a passing resemblance to a young Leiber. The characters were indeed modelled on Leiber and Fischer (although with a somewhat exaggerated scale). I knew Leiber peripherally when he lived in San Francisco for the last years of his life. Listening to him read "Lean Times in Lankhmar" in Berkeley one evening was one of the most delightful literary experiences of my life. He had an amazing Shakespearean delivery and I can hear his voice in my mind now. An amazing man and sorely missed, for his kindness to his devoted fans.

[@jscottphillips503]

Ah! Do you believe M. Isip intentionally modeled his drawing after reference shots of Leiber? If so, that would have been quite an Easter egg for its day ... one that probably wouldn't be fully appreciated for some time, when Leiber's likeness would be more recognizable. Or perhaps, just a happy coincidence? Either way, a cool observation. And how cool to have hung out with Fritz at some point! Great memories. Thanks for watching!

[@simonagree4070]

The comic book versions, from DC and Dark Horse, are very good indeed, and should be sought out. You can't have mine, though.

[@jscottphillips503]

I've never seen those! Maybe if the devil pops up again, I'll ask for a mint run.

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

Thanks mate. Love the duo

[@jscottphillips503]

Thanks for watching!

[@TheJohno95]

I read this story a while back in an anthology collection. I really liked it! I've read a little of Leiber's work over the year, but I always intend to read more. I guess I keep waiting to accidentally have the entire Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series, but it hasn't happened yet like it has with a few other fantasy and sword and sorcery authors. I should probably just take matters into my own hands and look them all up. Great video!

[@jscottphillips503]

If you do, be careful. Sorcery may be involved. Thanks for watching!

[@tonygriego6382]

Great video! I was a fan of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser since I was a kid. Will you be doing one of these on The Shadow or Solomon Kane?

[@jscottphillips503]

Thanks, Tony! I don't have particular plans yet for either Shadow of Kane. I've thought of doing The Shadow at some point, and touched ever so slightly on artist Graves Gladney's pulp Shadow covers in my video on "The Black Destroyer." The Shadow would certainly be deserving of its own video. Same with Solomon Kane, but would probably hit Conan before that. Both definitely have some fantastic artwork to explore.

[@waltera13]

So glad I subscribed &heard about this!

[@jscottphillips503]

Me too! Thanks, Walter.

[@alexiskiri9693]

I can't add anything more to my TBR list. It is already too long. Doing Scifi at the moment but I love Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series.

[@jscottphillips503]

Understandable! If you haven't seen Michael K. Vaughan's response video to this, you should watch it. Hilarious, and hits that nail directly on its flat, little head. And if you're reading science fiction, you're still in the right place!

[@alexiskiri9693]

@@jscottphillips503 yes, Michael's video is what sent me over. 👍♥️

[@brianjauch9958]

How about some Clark Ashton Smith?

[@jscottphillips503]

Interesting suggestion. Probably not for 2023 February Fantasy Stories, but could be non-event related at some point. Any CAS favorites?

[@brianjauch9958]

@@jscottphillips503 Anything from the Averoigne stories.

[@simonagree4070]

You and I pronounce"Fahfrd" very differently.

[@jscottphillips503]

Yeah. I first got to know of the series back in the '70s. A close friend and I enjoyed a lot of the same books and we always pronounced it as FAW-ferd. But I've since seen an interview with Fritz Leiber where the interviewer was stumbling over the pronunciation himself, and Leiber corrected him, pronouncing it clearly as "FAFF-erd," so I've gone with that ever since.

[@dukeesandoval6638]

Fafhrd, cada quien lo pronuncia como puede. Yo digo Faferd.

[@DiscoBarbarian]

These books are great... a lot of nautical adventuring and they are ALWAYS chasing after some woman.

[@jscottphillips503]

No wonder they are so enjoyable!