The Snow Women
Encyclopedia
The Snow Women is a sword and sorcery
novella
by Fritz Leiber
, recounting the early history of Fafhrd, a future member of the adventurous duo, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
.
First published in 1970 in Fantastic
magazine, it is the nature of a prequel
, as Leiber had by that time been chronicling the pair's adventures for thirty years. The story forms part two of the collection Swords and Deviltry.
Fafhrd is an eighteen year old member of the Snow Clan, son of Mor and Nalgron. They live in the Cold Waste, but once a year, move to Cold Corner, the southern-most part of their land, where they trade with merchants from the south and attend the Show.
Fafhrd, although betrothed to Mara, meets Vlana, an actress with the Show and is besotted with her. Despite the demands and curses of his Mother Mor and her coven
, he leaves the Cold Waste to travel with Vlana and see the lands to the South.
Sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural...
novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
by Fritz Leiber
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright, expert chess player and a champion fencer. Possibly his greatest chess accomplishment was winning clear first in the 1958 Santa Monica Open.. With...
, recounting the early history of Fafhrd, a future member of the adventurous duo, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two seminal sword-and-sorcery heroes appearing in stories written by Fritz Leiber . They are the protagonists of what are probably Leiber's best-known stories....
.
First published in 1970 in Fantastic
Fantastic (magazine)
Fantastic was an American digest-size fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1952 to 1980. It was founded by Ziff-Davis as a fantasy companion to Amazing Stories. Early sales were good, and Ziff-Davis quickly decided to switch Amazing from pulp format to digest, and to cease...
magazine, it is the nature of a prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
, as Leiber had by that time been chronicling the pair's adventures for thirty years. The story forms part two of the collection Swords and Deviltry.
Fafhrd is an eighteen year old member of the Snow Clan, son of Mor and Nalgron. They live in the Cold Waste, but once a year, move to Cold Corner, the southern-most part of their land, where they trade with merchants from the south and attend the Show.
Fafhrd, although betrothed to Mara, meets Vlana, an actress with the Show and is besotted with her. Despite the demands and curses of his Mother Mor and her coven
Coven
A coven or covan is a name used to describe a gathering of witches or in some cases vampires. Due to the word's association with witches, a gathering of Wiccans, followers of the witchcraft-based neopagan religion of Wicca, is also described as a coven....
, he leaves the Cold Waste to travel with Vlana and see the lands to the South.