Editing Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (section)

== Publication history ==
[[File:Fantastic 196210.jpg|thumb|right|Leiber's only solo Grey Mouser tale, "The Unholy Grail", was the cover story for the October 1962 issue of ''Fantastic''.]]

The first story, "Two Sought Adventure", appeared in ''[[Unknown (magazine)|Unknown]]'' in August 1939; the last in ''The Knight and Knave of Swords'' in 1988. Although Leiber credited his friend  [[Harry Otto Fischer]]  with the original concepts for his characters, it was Leiber who wrote nearly all the stories. Ten thousand words of "The Lords of Quarmall" were penned by [[Harry Otto Fischer|Fischer]] early in the development of the series; the story was completed by Leiber in 1964. Fischer also wrote "The Childhood and Youth of the Gray Mouser", published in 1978. The stories' style and tone vary considerably, but nearly all contain an often dark sense of humor, which ranges from the subtle and character-based to the [[Monty Python|Pythonesque]].

The stories have been collected in the "Swords" series:

# ''[[Swords and Deviltry]]'' (collection 1970)
## "Induction" (vignette 1957, ''[[Two Sought Adventure]]'')
## "[[The Snow Women]]" (novella 1970 ''[[Fantastic (magazine)|Fantastic]]'')
## "[[The Unholy Grail]]" (novelette 1962 ''Fantastic'')
## "[[Ill Met in Lankhmar]]" (novella 1970 ''[[Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction|F&SF]]'')—telling how Fafhrd and the Mouser met, this story won both a [[Nebula Award for Best Novella|Nebula Award]] and a [[Hugo Award for Best Novella|Hugo Award]]
# ''[[Swords Against Death]]'' (collection 1970, expanded and revised from ''[[Two Sought Adventure]]'' 1957)
## "The Circle Curse" (1970, first publication)
## "The Jewels in the Forest" (novelette 1939 ''[[Unknown (magazine)|Unknown]]'', as "Two Sought Adventure")
## "Thieves' House" (novelette 1943 ''Unknown'')
## "The Bleak Shore" (1940 ''Unknown'')
## "The Howling Tower" (1941 ''Unknown'')
## "The Sunken Land" (1942 ''Unknown'')
## "The Seven Black Priests" (novelette 1953 ''[[Other Worlds (magazine)|Other Worlds]]'')
## "Claws from the Night" (novelette 1951 ''[[Suspense (magazine)|Suspense]]'' as "Dark Vengeance")
## "The Price of Pain-Ease" (1970, first publication)
## "[[Bazaar of the Bizarre]]" (novelette 1963 ''Fantastic'')
# ''[[Swords in the Mist]]'' (collection 1968)
## "The Cloud of Hate" (1963 ''Fantastic'')
## "Lean Times in Lankhmar" (novelette 1959 ''Fantastic'')
## "Their Mistress, the Sea" (1968, first publication)
## "When the Sea-King's Away" (novelette 1960 ''Fantastic'')
## "The Wrong Branch" (1968, first publication)
## "Adept's Gambit" (novella 1947, in Leiber's ''[[Night's Black Agents]]'' collection)
# ''[[Swords Against Wizardry]]'' (collection 1968)
## "In the Witch's Tent" (1968, first publication)
## "Stardock" (novelette 1965 ''Fantastic'')
## "The Two Best Thieves in Lankhmar" (1968 ''Fantastic'')
## ''The Lords of Quarmall'' (novella 1964 ''Fantastic''), with Harry Otto Fischer
# ''[[The Swords of Lankhmar]]'' (novel 1968—first part published in 1961, as the novella ''Scylla’s Daughter'', on ''Fantastic'')
# ''[[Swords and Ice Magic]]'' (collection 1977)
## "The Sadness of the Executioner" (1973, in ''Flashing Swords! #1'', ed. Lin Carter)
## "Beauty and the Beasts" (vignette 1974, in ''The Book of Fritz Leiber'')
## "Trapped in the Shadowland" (1973 ''Fantastic'')
## "The Bait" (vignette 1973 ''[[Whispers (magazine)|Whispers]]'')
## "Under the Thumbs of the Gods" (1975 ''Fantastic'')
## "Trapped in the Sea of Stars" (1975, in ''The Second Book of Fritz Leiber'')
## "The Frost Monstreme" (novelette 1976, in ''Flashing Swords! #3'', ed. Lin Carter)
## ''Rime Isle''  (novella 1977 ''[[Cosmos SF&F Magazine]]''; these last two published together as ''Rime Isle'' by [[Whispers Press]] in 1977)
# ''[[The Knight and Knave of Swords]]'' (collection 1988)
## "Sea Magic" (1977 ''[[Dragon (magazine)|The Dragon]]'')
## "The Mer She" (novelette 1983, in ''Heroes and Horrors'')
## "The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars" (novella 1983, in ''Heroic Visions'')
## "The Mouser Goes Below" (novella 1988, first publication—portions first printed as "The Mouser Goes Below" (1987 ''Whispers'') and "Slack Lankhmar Afternoon Featuring Hisvet" (1988 ''Terry’s Universe'', ed. Beth Meacham))

In 2009, Benjamin Szumskyj's ''Strange Wonders'' included the first few chapters of "The Tale of the Grain Ships", written in the 1930s. This unfinished fragment depicts the Gray Mouser in Rome during the reign of the [[Emperor Claudius]].

* The first six books in the series were reprinted in a uniform, archival series from [[Gregg Press]], and were the first hardback editions of all these books save ''The Swords of Lankhmar''.
* Harry Otto Fischer's short story, "The Childhood and Youth of the Gray Mouser", was published in 1978 in [[Dragon (magazine)|''The Dragon'']] #18.
* The series was continued by [[Robin Wayne Bailey]] in ''[[Swords Against the Shadowland]]'' (novel, 1998).
* A collection, ''[[Bazaar of the Bizarre (collection)|Bazaar of the Bizarre]]'', illustrated by [[Stephan Peregrine]], comprised Leiber's three favorite Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories: "Bazaar of the Bizarre", "The Cloud of Hate", and "Lean Times in Lankhmar".
* A sex scene from ''The Swords of Lankhmar'', cut by editor [[Don Wollheim]], was published in ''[[Fantasy Newsletter]]'' #49 (July 1982).<ref>''Fantasy Newsletter'', July 1982, pp. 5-7.</ref>

=== Omnibus editions ===
Several omnibus editions have also been published:

* Science Fiction Book Club: ''The Three of Swords'' (1989; books 1–3) and ''Swords' Masters'' (1989; books 4–6).
* White Wolf: ''Ill Met In Lankhmar'' (1995; books 1 and 2, with a new introduction by [[Michael Moorcock]] and Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd and Me"), ''[[Lean Times in Lankhmar]]'' (1996; books 3 and 4, with a new introduction by [[Karl Edward Wagner]]), ''Return to Lankhmar'' (1997; books 5 and 6, with a new introduction by [[Neil Gaiman]]), and ''Farewell to Lankhmar'' (1998; book 7; the hardcover edition omits the final seven chapters of "The Curse of the Smalls and the Stars").
* Orion/Millennium's [[Fantasy Masterworks]]: ''The First Book of Lankhmar'' (2001; books 1–4) and ''The Second Book of Lankhmar'' (2001; books 5–7).
* [[Dark Horse Comics]]: ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Omnibus'' (2024) collects  collects ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser'' and ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser: The Cloud of Hate and Other Stories''<ref>{{cite web |last1=Leiber |first1=Fritz |last2=Chaykin |first2=Howard |last3=O’Neil |first3=Dennis |last4=Effinger |first4=George Alec |last5=Mignola |first5=Mike |last6=Simonson |first6=Walter |last7=Starlin |first7=Jim |title=Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Omnibus TPB |url=https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3009-711/Fafhrd-and-the-Gray-Mouser-Omnibus-TPB |website=Dark Horse Comics |access-date=January 10, 2024}}</ref><ref name="TRIPWIRE MAGAZINE 2022 g228">{{cite web | title=Dark Horse Books Presents The Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser Omnibus | website=TRIPWIRE MAGAZINE | date=October 19, 2022 | url=https://tripwiremagazine.co.uk/headlines/dark-horse-books-presents-the-fafhrd-and-the-gray-mouser-omnibus/ | access-date=January 11, 2024}}</ref>

=== Comics adaptations ===
[[File:WW202.jpg|thumb|right|Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser premiering in [[DC Comics]] in 1972.]]

In 1972, Fafhrd and the Mouser began their comics career, appearing in ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' #202 alongside the title character and [[Catwoman]] in a story scripted by award-winning SF writer [[Samuel R. Delany]]. In 1973, [[DC Comics]] began an ongoing series, ''[[Sword of Sorcery]]'', featuring the duo.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sacks |first1=Jason |last2=Dallas |first2=Keith |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s |date=2014 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490564 |page=115}}</ref> The title was written by [[Dennis O'Neil|Denny O'Neil]] and featured art by [[Howard Chaykin]],<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=McAvennie|editor-first1= Michael|editor-last2=Dolan|editor-first2=Hannah|chapter= 1970s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |year=2010 |isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9 |page= 155 |quote = Fantasy became a DC Comics reality when writer/editor Denny O'Neil and artist Howard Chaykin brought forth a new comic based on Fritz Leiber's adventurous and virtuous warriors of myth, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.}}</ref> [[Walt Simonson]] and [[Jim Starlin]]; the well-received title ran only five issues. Stories included adaptations of "The Price of Pain-Ease", "Thieves' House", "The Cloud of Hate", and "The Sunken Land", as well as original stories. This series was collected by [[Dark Horse Comics]] in a trade paperback collection published in June 2008.

In 1991, [[Epic Comics]] published a four-issue comic book adaptation of seven of the stories: "Ill Met in Lankhmar" (issue 1), "The Circle Curse" and "The Howling Tower" (issue 2), "The Price of Pain Ease" and "Bazaar of the Bizarre" (issue 3), and "Lean Times in Lankhmar" and "When the Sea King's Away" (issue 4). The comics were scripted by Howard Chaykin, who had drawn several issues of the earlier DC title, and pencilled by [[Mike Mignola]], whose ''[[Hellboy]]'' comic book often has a similar feel to Leiber's work. Mignola also did the jacket covers and interior art for the White Wolf collection. This series was collected by [[Dark Horse Comics]] in a trade paperback collection published in March 2007.<ref name=libraryjournal>{{cite magazine
 |url         = http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6403916.html
 |title       = Graphic Novels
 |first1      = Martha
 |last1       = Cornog
 |first2      = Steve
 |last2       = Raiteri
 |date        = 2007-01-15
 |access-date  = August 6, 2007
 |magazine   = [[Library Journal]]
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110717210001/http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6403916.html
 |archive-date = July 17, 2011
}}</ref>

[[Marvel Comics]] created their own version of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, when they introduced Fafnir of [[Hyborian Age|Vanaheim]] and his companion Blackrat to the ''[[Conan comics|Conan]]'' comic series. The pairs of characters were very much alike and [[Roy Thomas]], who wrote the original ''Conan'' comics, made no secret that it was his intention to create characters that were a tribute to Fritz Leiber's creations.<ref>{{Citation
| title = The Chronicles of Conan, Volume 3
| publisher = [[Dark Horse Comics|Dark Horse Books]]
| first = Roy | last = Thomas | author-link = Roy Thomas
| contribution = Behind the Swords
| year = 2003
| isbn = 1-59307-024-1}}</ref>

=== Games ===
{{See also|Lankhmar#Lankhmar_in_games|l1=Lankhmar in games}}

In 1937, Leiber and his college friend [[Harry Otto Fischer]] created a complex [[Wargaming|wargame]] set within the world of Nehwon, which Fischer had helped to create.  Later, they created a simplified board game entitled simply ''[[Lankhmar (board game)|Lankhmar]]'' which was released by [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] in 1976.  This is a rare case of a game [[adaptation]] written by the creators of the stories that the game is based on.

Nehwon, and some of its more interesting inhabitants, are described in the early ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' supplement ''[[Deities and Demigods]]'', and the stories themselves were a significant influence on the role-playing game.

In 1986, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser were featured in a 1-on-1 Adventure Gamebook set, ''Dragonsword of Lankhmar''. One player controlled Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, who were trying to find a magical sword beneath an altar (just which one, they were not sure) in Lankhmar. The other player controlled assassins from the local thieves' guild, who were trying to kill the famous rogues for operating in the city without permission from the guild.