Editor’s Note: Will sent me this a few weeks ago. It was right before my wife had knee replacement surgery (yes, I am now married to a cyborg) and at the beginning of teaching a summer class. My cyborg wife is well on her way to a full recovery, and I turned in grades today. I want to apologize to Will for taking so long to get this up. I’m sure what he has to say will generate some discussion, so take it away, Will.
The Golden Age of Sword-and-Sorcery, 1929-1949
By Will Oliver
Sometime ago, I ran across a list of the early Cthulhu Mythos stories, sort of a Golden Age of Cthulhu list. I took up the challenge of tracking down and reading all of the stories in order. It was an interesting experiment in seeing how the so-called Mythos developed during that era. As my interest lies more with Sword-and-Sorcery, however, I began wondering what a list of Golden Age S&S stories would look like. Finding none online, I decided to create one.
Starting with the well accepted premise that the genre, or sub-genre, known as Sword-and-Sorcery started with Robert E. Howard’s “The Shadow Kingdom,” I knew I had a starting point, August 1929. As a generation is approximately 20 years, that would take the end point of the list to August of 1949, or simply the end of 1949. This makes sense in that the date falls right before Gnome Press began reprinting the Conan stories in hardcover and well before the 1960s resurgence.
While I noted Brian Murphy’s detailed definition of what makes up a S&S story, I took a more liberal stance on what was included on the list. If the story emphasized one element (sword or sorcery) over the other, I still included it. Some of the stories had a slight issue with meeting the definition as they fell under other sub-genres, such as portal stories, but I included them if the majority of the story read like pure S&S.
Part of the motivation for creating the list was to see if there were any strong feelings one way or the other toward which stories were ultimately included on the list. And I wanted to see if there were any stories I might have overlooked during the timeframe in question. Finally, it is just nice to have a go-to reading list for anyone interested in reading every story from the Golden Age of Sword-and-Sorcery.
| Story | Author | Source |
| “The Shadow Kingdom” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, August 1929
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| “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, September 1929
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| “The Last Incantation” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, June 1930
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| “Sadastor” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, July 1930
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| “Kings of the Night” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, November 1930
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| “A Rendezvous in Averoigne” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, April-May 1931
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| “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, November 1931
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| “The Door to Saturn” | Clark Ashton Smith | Strange Tales, January 1932
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| “The Monster of the Prophecy” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, January 1932
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| “The Weird of Avoost Quthoqquan” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, June 1932
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| “The Maker of Gargoyles” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, August 1932
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| “The Empire of Necromancers” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, September 1932
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| “The Testament of Atthammaus” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, October 1932
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| “The Phoenix on the Sword” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, December 1932
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| “The Scarlet Citadel” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, January 1933 |
| “The Tower of the Elephant” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, March 1933
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| “The Isle of Torturers” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, March 1933
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| “The Ice-Demon” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, April 1933
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| “Black Colossus” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, June 1933
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| “The Slithering Shadow” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, September 1933 |
| “A Vintage from Atlantis” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, September 1933
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| “‘The Pool of the Black One” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, October 1933
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| “A Night in Malnéant” | Clark Ashton Smith | The Double Shadow and Other Fantasies, 1933
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| “Rogues in the House” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, January 1934
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| “The Weaver in the Vault” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, January 1934
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| “The Sapphire Goddess” | Nictzin Dyalhis | Weird Tales, February 1934
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| “The Witchcraft of Ulua” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, February 1934
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| “Gods of the North” | Robert E. Howard | Fantasy Fan, March 1934
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| “The Charnel God” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, March 1934
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| “Shadows in the Moonlight” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, April 1934
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| “The Death of Malygris” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, April 1934
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| “Queen of the Black Coast” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, May 1934 |
| “The Tomb-Spawn” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, May 1934
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| “The Colossus of Ylourgne” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, June 1934
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| “The Devil in Iron” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, August 1934
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| “The Seven Geases” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, October 1934
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| The People of the Black Circle” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, September to November 1934
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| “Black God’s Kiss” | C.L. Moore | Weird Tales, October 1934
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| “A Witch Shall Be Born” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, December 1934
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| “Black God’s Shadow” | C.L. Moore | Weird Tales, December 1934
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| “Xeethra” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, December 1934
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| “The Dark Eidolon” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, January 1935
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| “Jewels of Gwahlur” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, March 1935
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| “Beyond the Black River” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, May & June 1935
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| “The Flower-Women” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, May 1935
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| “Jirel Meets Magic” | C.L. Moore | Weird Tales, July 1935
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| “Shadows in Zamboula” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, November 1935
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| The Hour of the Dragon | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, December 1935 to April 1936
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| “Black Lotus” | Robert Bloch | Unusual Stories, Winter 1935 |
| “The White Sybil” | Clark Ashton Smith | The White Sybil, 1935
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| “The Dark Land” | C.L. Moore | Weird Tales, January 1936
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| “The Black Abbot of Puthuum” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, March 1936
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| “Duar the Accursed” | Clifford Ball | Weird Tales, May 1937
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| “Red Nails” | Robert E. Howard | Weird Tales, July to October 1936
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| “Necromancy in Naat” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, July 1936
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| “The Thief of Forthe” | Clifford Ball | Weird Tales, July 1937
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| “The Death of Ilalotha” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, September 1937
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| “Quest of the Starstone” | C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner | Weird Tales, November 1937
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| “The Goddess Awakes” | Clifford Ball | Weird Tales, February 1938
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| “The Garden of Adompha” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, April 1938
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| “Thunder in the Dawn” | Henry Kuttner | Weird Tales, May-June 1938
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| “The Spawn of Dagon” | Henry Kuttner | Weird Tales, July 1938
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| “Mother of Toads” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, July 1938
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| “Beyond the Phoenix” | Henry Kuttner | Weird Tales, October 1938
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| “The Maze of Maal Dweb” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, October 1938
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| “Battle in the Dawn” | Manly Wade Wellman | Amazing Stories, January 1939
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| “The Double Shadow” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, February 1939
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| “Hellsgarde” | C.L. Moore | Weird Tales, April 1939
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| “Cursed Be the City” | Henry Kuttner | Strange Stories, April 1939
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| “The Dark Isle”
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Robert Bloch | Weird Tales,
May 1939
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| “Adventure in Lemuria” | Frederick Arnold Kummer, Jr. | Fantastic Adventures, May 1939
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| “The Citadel of Darkness” | Henry Kuttner | Strange Stories, August 1939
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| King of the World’s Edge | H. Warner Munn | Weird Tales, September to December 1939
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| “The Jewels in the Forest” | Fritz Leiber | Unknown, August 1939
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| “The Bleak Shore” | Fritz Leiber | Unknown, November 1940
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| “Hok Goes to Atlantis” | Manly Wade Wellman | Amazing Stories, December 1939
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| “The Day of the Conquerors” | Manly Wade Wellman | Thrilling Wonder Stories, January 1940
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| “Hok Draws the Bow” | Manly Wade Wellman | Amazing Stories, May 1940
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| “Dragon Moon” | Henry Kuttner | Weird Tales, January 1941
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| “Hok and the Gift of Heaven” | Manly Wade Wellman | Amazing Stories, March 1941
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| “The Coming of the White Worm” | Clark Ashton Smith | Stirring Science Stories, April 1941
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| “The Howling Tower” | Fritz Leiber | Unknown, June 1941
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| “The Enchantress of Sylaire” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, July 1941
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| “The Sunken Land” | Fritz Leiber | Unknown, February 1942
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| “Thieves’ House” | Fritz Leiber | Unknown, February 1943
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| “Hok Visits the Land of Legends” | Manly Wade Wellman | Fantastic Adventures, April 1942
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| “Quest of Gazolba” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, September 1947
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| “Adept’s Gambit” | Fritz Leiber | In Night’s Black Agents, Arkham House, 1947
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| “The Master of Crabs” | Clark Ashton Smith | Weird Tales, March 1948
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Good work!
Great job, Will! Thanks for doing this.
Great list; although, I think it leans a bit toward the “usual suspects”. Off the top of my head, I can name a few candidates :
Edmond Hamilton: Twilight of the Gods Weird Tales July 1948
Norvell W. Page: Flame Winds Unknown June 1939
Norvell W. Page: Sons of the Bear-God Unknown November 1939
Jack Williamson: Reign of Wizardry Unknown March 1940
Finally back from a long trip researching another favorite author of mine, Karl Edward Wagner. I thought I would have time to keep up while I was gone but that didn’t happen. Thanks to everyone for the kind words and especially to Carrington for his excellent suggestions. Hamilton’s past lives lived story is definitely S&S, as are the Page stories, and there are so many Williamson stories that read like S&S (e.g., “Golden Blood”), but have no supernatural element, but this one certainly fits the bill. I will definitely add them to the list.
Will, are you maintaining a Google Sheet you’re willing to share? Nice work sir!
Since creating this list, I’ve received some nice acknowledgements from folks, and on the Isegoria website, it has been reference twice:
https://www.isegoria.net/2022/10/the-shadow-kingdom-is-the-origin-of-both-the-sword-and-sorcery-genre-and-the-reptilian-conspiracy-theory/
https://www.isegoria.net/2022/11/firm-facts-about-dyalhiss-life-are-few/
Nice!
The other thing is I finished Dr. David Keller’s Tales of Cornwall stories and I am of the mind that the three stories he published in Weird Tales during the Golden Age, seem to be, or border on, S&S. They are: “The Battle of the Toads,” “The Tailed Man of Cornwall,” and “No Other Man.” They were published in the October, November, and December issues in 1929, not long after “The Shadow Kingdom.” Keller wrote more, which Wright did not accept, and eventually he published some of them in the Magazine of Horror, which included reprints of the original three from WT.
I would be curious to see if anyone agreed that these should be added to the list.
You can link to all the published Cornwall stories here:
https://archive.org/details/KellerDavidH.TalesFromCornwall/mode/2up
Thanks, Will.