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111-455: Peter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943) is a British historian , literary biographer , and novelist who has published over 98 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan . He has also published 100 short stories. Under Peter Tremayne, he is the author of the international bestselling Sister Fidelma historical mystery series. His work has appeared in 25 languages. Peter Berresford Ellis

222-470: A Howard-inspired gladiator adventurer, whose exploits took place in Central Asia in the first century CE. With the diminution of pulp magazine sales in the late 1940s, the focus of sword and sorcery shifted to small-press books. Arkham House published collections by Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith and Fritz Leiber that included some of their sword and sorcery work. Writer Jack Vance published

333-594: A PhD degree for new full-time hires. A scholarly thesis, such as a doctoral dissertation, is now regarded as the baseline qualification for a professional historian. However, some historians still gain recognition based on published (academic) works and the award of fellowships by academic bodies like the Royal Historical Society . Publication is increasingly required by smaller schools, so graduate papers become journal articles and PhD dissertations become published monographs. The graduate student experience

444-577: A Scottish historian, and the Historiographer Royal published the History of Scotland 1542 – 1603 , in 1759 and his most famous work, The history of the reign of Charles V in 1769. His scholarship was painstaking for the time and he was able to access a large number of documentary sources that had previously been unstudied. He was also one of the first historians who understood the importance of general and universally applicable ideas in

555-409: A belief that history was a type of science. However, in the 20th century historians incorporated social science dimensions like politics, economy, and culture in their historiography, including postmodernism. Since the 1980s there has been a special interest in the memories and commemoration of past events. History by its nature is prone to continuous debate, and historians tend to be divided. There

666-465: A career that spanned much of the century, Ranke set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources ( empiricism ), an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics ( aussenpolitik ). Sources had to be hard, not speculations and rationalizations. His credo was to write history the way it was. He insisted on primary sources with proven authenticity. The term Whig history

777-682: A change of ownership in 1940, Weird Tales ceased to publish sword and sorcery stories. However, the pulp magazine Unknown Worlds continued to publish sword and sorcery fiction by Fritz Leiber and Norvell W. Page . Leiber's stories revolved around a duo of heroes called Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser , and dealt with their adventures in the world of Nehwon ("No-When" backwards). Leiber's stories featured more emphasis on characterisation and humour than previous sword and sorcery fiction, and his characters became popular with Unknown's readers. Page's sword and sorcery tales centred on Prester John ,

888-454: A good popular catchphrase for the field". He expanded on this in the July 1961 issue of Amra , commenting: I feel more certain than ever that this field should be called the sword-and-sorcery story. This accurately describes the points of culture-level and supernatural element and also immediately distinguishes it from the cloak-and-sword (historical adventure) story—and (quite incidentally) from

999-476: A heroic romance written in a mock-archaic style, was an inspiration to later writers of sword and sorcery such as Fritz Leiber. The "Poictesme" novels of James Branch Cabell (such as Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice (1919)) have been cited as a stimulus to early sword and sorcery writing. Cabell's novels depict picaresque exploits in imaginary lands, and were an influence on Leiber and Jack Vance. A. Merritt 's novels The Ship of Ishtar (1924) and Dwellers in

1110-562: A highly influential cluster of British Marxist historians , who contributed to history from below and class structure in early capitalist society. Members included Christopher Hill , Eric Hobsbawm and E. P. Thompson . World history , as a distinct field of historical study, emerged as an independent academic field in the 1980s. It focused on the examination of history from a global perspective and looked for common patterns that emerged across all cultures. Arnold J. Toynbee 's ten-volume A Study of History , written between 1933 and 1954,

1221-694: A largely young readership. The commercial success of the Conan books encouraged other publishers to put out new and reprinted books in the style of Howard's work. From the 1960s until the 1980s, under the guiding force of Carter, a select group of writers formed the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA) to promote and enlarge the sword and sorcery genre. From 1973 to 1981, five anthologies featuring short works by SAGA members were published. Edited by Carter, these were collectively known as Flashing Swords! . Because of these and other anthologies, such as

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1332-426: A more or less imaginary world, where magic works and where modern science and technology have not yet been discovered. The setting may (as in the Conan stories) be this Earth as it is conceived to have been long ago, or as it will be in the remote future, or it may be another planet or another dimension. Such a story combines the color and dash of the historical costume romance with the atavistic supernatural thrills of

1443-450: A progressive model of British history, according to which the country threw off superstition, autocracy and confusion to create a balanced constitution and a forward-looking culture combined with the freedom of belief and expression. This model of human progress has been called the Whig interpretation of history . In his main work Histoire de France , French historian Jules Michelet coined

1554-418: A regular academic career, must entice other scholars to help him; and with the present [high] demand for college teachers, this is no easy task. An undergraduate history degree is often used as a stepping stone to graduate studies in business or law. Many historians are employed at universities and other facilities for post-secondary education. In addition, it is normal for colleges and universities to require

1665-543: A repetition of the perils of high fantasy . So too does the nature of the heroes; most sword and sorcery protagonists, travellers by nature, find peace after adventure deathly dull. Sword and sorcery resembles high fantasy, but is darker and more jagged, at times overlapping with dark fantasy . The scale of the struggles depicted is smaller, and the main character usually pursues personal gain, such as wealth or love. The opposition between good and evil characteristic of fantasy also exists in sword and sorcery literature, but it

1776-424: A review of an L. Sprague de Camp novel. American author Fritz Leiber re-coined the term in 1961 in response to a letter from British author Michael Moorcock in the fanzine Amra , demanding a name for the sort of fantasy-adventure story written by Robert E. Howard . Moorcock had initially proposed the term "epic fantasy". Leiber replied in the journal Ancalagon (6 April 1961), suggesting "sword-and-sorcery as

1887-469: A simple accounting of events, but strived on the contrary to pose and solve problems and, neglecting surface disturbances, to observe the long and medium-term evolution of economy, society, and civilisation. Marxist historiography developed as a school of historiography influenced by the chief tenets of Marxism , including the centrality of social class and economic constraints in determining historical outcomes. Friedrich Engels wrote The Condition of

1998-493: A strange society were influenced by adventures set in foreign lands by Sir H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs . Haggard's works, such as King Solomon's Mines (1885) and She: A History of Adventure (1887) included many fantastic elements. Some of Haggard's characters, such as Umslopogaas, an axe-wielding Zulu warrior who encountered supernatural phenomena and loved to fight, bore similarities to sword and sorcery heroes. Haggard also wrote Eric Brighteyes (1891),

2109-525: A subgenre that would be called "sword & sorcery". Examples of these films would include The Beastmaster (film) (1982), The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), two Italian Hercules films starring Lou Ferrigno , Krull (film) (1983), a Conan sequel, Conan the Destroyer (1984) and Red Sonja , which, like the Conan films, also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger . One could potentially include

2220-781: A violent historical novel based on the Icelandic Sagas ; some writers, (such as David Pringle ) have stated that Eric Brighteyes resembles a modern sword and sorcery novel. Sword and sorcery's immediate progenitors are the swashbuckling tales of Alexandre Dumas, père ( The Three Musketeers (1844), etc.), Rafael Sabatini ( Scaramouche (1921), etc.) and their pulp magazine imitators, such as Talbot Mundy , Harold Lamb , and H. Bedford-Jones , who all influenced Howard. Mundy in particular, proved influential: early sword and sorcery writers such as Robert E. Howard, C. L. Moore and Fritz Leiber were admirers of Mundy's fiction. However, these historical "swashbucklers" lack

2331-724: Is Anall" ("Here and There") from 1987 to 2008 for the Irish Democrat , and, "Anois agus Arís" ("Now and Again") from 2000 to 2008 for The Irish Post . His books include 35 titles under his own name 55 titles under his pen name of Peter Tremayne and eight under the pen name of Peter MacAlan. He has lectured at universities in several countries, including the UK, Ireland, America, Canada , France and Italy . He has also broadcast on television and radio since 1968. The popularity of his Sister Fidelma mysteries led, in January 2001, to

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2442-599: Is a violent, self-respecting and emotional barbarian who values freedom. The main character often has the characteristics of an antihero. Although the main character mostly behaves heroically, he may ally with an enemy or sacrifice an ally in order to survive. A hero's main weapons are cunning and physical strength. Magic, on the other hand, is usually only used by the villains of the story, who are usually wizards , witches , or supernatural monsters . Most sword and sorcery heroes are masculine male characters, while female characters are usually underdeveloped. A recurring theme in

2553-468: Is difficult—those who finish their doctorate in the United States take on average 8 or more years; funding is scarce except at a few very rich universities. Being a teaching assistant in a course is required in some programs; in others it is a paid opportunity awarded a fraction of the students. Until the 1970s it was rare for graduate programs to teach how to teach; the assumption was that teaching

2664-411: Is especially true of narrative history, which nonprofessionals have all but taken over. The gradual withering of the narrative impulse in favor of the analytical urge among professional academic historians has resulted in a virtual abdication of the oldest and most honored role of the historian, that of storyteller. Having abdicated... the professional is in a poor position to patronize amateurs who fulfill

2775-409: Is grounded in real-world social and societal hierarchies, and is grittier, darker, and more violent, with elements of cosmic, often Lovecraftian creatures that aren't a staple of mainstream fantasy. The main character is often a barbarian with antihero traits. The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction records a chance example of "sword and sorcery" from 1953, where it appears in a headline of

2886-420: Is less absolute and the events often take place in a morally gray area. These features are especially emphasized in newer works of the genre. The stories are fast-paced and action-oriented, with lots of violent fight scenes. Sword and sorcery is by nature a light and escapist genre whose main purpose is to entertain the reader. There is usually no deep message or social statements in the works of this genre. It

2997-563: Is no past that is commonly agreed upon, since there are competing histories (e.g., of elites, non-elites, men, women, races, etc.). It is widely accepted that "strict objectivity is epistemologically unattainable for historians". Historians rarely articulate their conception of objectivity or discuss it in detail. And like in other professions, historians rarely analyze themselves or their activity. In practice, "specific canons of historical proof are neither widely observed nor generally agreed upon" among professional historians. Though objectivity

3108-418: Is not seen as possible in historical practice: a historian's interest inevitably influences their judgement (what information to use and omit, how to present the information, etc.); the sources used by historians for their history all have bias, and historians are products of their culture, concepts, and beliefs. Racial and cultural biases can play major roles in national histories, which often ignore or downplay

3219-602: Is often regarded as the first true "sword and sorcery" tale, because it pits a heroic warrior ( Kull of Atlantis ) against supernatural evil, in an imaginary world of the writer's devising. Howard published only three stories featuring Kull in Weird Tales . He revised an unsold Kull story, " By This Axe I Rule! " into " The Phoenix on the Sword ", which introduced a new character, Conan the Barbarian . When "The Phoenix on

3330-640: Is often seen as the goal of those who work on history, in practice there is no convergence on anything in particular. Historical scholarship is never value free since historian's writings are impacted by the frameworks of their times. Some scholars of history have observed that there are no particular standards for historical fields such as religion, art, science, democracy, and social justice as these are by their nature 'essentially contested' fields, such that they require diverse tools particular to each field beforehand in order to interpret topics from those fields. There are three commonly held reasons why avoiding bias

3441-478: Is poor and getting worse, with many relegated to part-time "adjunct" teaching jobs with low pay and no benefits. C. Vann Woodward (1908–1999), Sterling Professor of History at Yale University, cautioned that the academicians had themselves abdicated their role as storytellers: Professionals do well to apply the term "amateur" with caution to the historian outside their ranks. The word does have deprecatory and patronizing connotations that occasionally backfire. This

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3552-434: Is the history of the arts, of commerce, of civilization – in a word, – of the human mind." He broke from the tradition of narrating diplomatic and military events, and emphasized customs, social history, and achievements in the arts and sciences. He was the first scholar to make a serious attempt to write the history of the world, eliminating theological frameworks, and emphasizing economics, culture, and political history. At

3663-465: Is typical for the topics that sword and sorcery deals with to be relatively limited. The genre has sometimes been criticized for excessive violence, misogyny and even fascist attitudes. In his introduction to the reference Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers by L. Sprague de Camp , Lin Carter notes that the heritage of sword and sorcery is illustrious, and can be traced back to mythology, including

3774-636: The Irving v Penguin Books and Lipstadt trial, the court relied on Richard Evan's witness report which mentioned "objective historian" in the same vein as the reasonable person , and reminiscent of the standard traditionally used in English law of " the man on the Clapham omnibus ". This was necessary so that there would be a legal benchmark to compare and contrast the scholarship of an objective historian against

3885-591: The Yale Law Journal , Wendie E. Schneider distils these seven points for what he meant by an objective historian: Schneider uses the concept of the "objective historian" to suggest that this could be an aid in assessing what makes a historian suitable as expert witnesses under the Daubert standard in the United States . Schneider proposed this, because, in her opinion, Irving could not have passed

3996-492: The science of biography , science of hadith and Isnad (chain of transmission). They later applied these methodologies to other historical figures in the Islamic civilization . Famous historians in this tradition include Urwah (d. 712), Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. 728), Ibn Ishaq (d. 761), al-Waqidi (745–822), Ibn Hisham (d. 834), Muhammad al-Bukhari (810–870) and Ibn Hajar (1372–1449). During

4107-640: The Age of Enlightenment , the modern development of historiography through the application of scrupulous methods began. French philosophe Voltaire (1694–1778) had an enormous influence on the art of history writing. His best-known histories are The Age of Louis XIV (1751), and Essay on the Customs and the Spirit of the Nations (1756). "My chief object," he wrote in 1739, "is not political or military history, it

4218-522: The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, his own fiction, and his criticism, Carter is considered one of the most important popularizers of genre fantasy in general, and S&S in particular. Despite such authors' efforts, some critics use sword and sorcery as a dismissive or pejorative term. During the 1980s, influenced by the success of the 1982 feature film Conan the Barbarian , many fantasy films, some cheaply made, were released in

4329-584: The Celtic League (1988–90); chairman of Scrif-Celt (The Celtic Languages Book Fair (1985–86); chairman and vice-president of the London Association for Celtic Education (1989–95), of which he is an Honorary Life Member. He was also chairman of his local ward Labour Party in London and was editorial advisor on Labour and Ireland magazine in the early 1990s. He is an honorary life member of

4440-687: The Great Reform Act of 1832 in England. Thomas Carlyle published his magnum opus, the three-volume The French Revolution: A History in 1837. The resulting work had a passion new to historical writing. Thomas Macaulay produced his most famous work of history, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second , in 1848. His writings are famous for their ringing prose and for their confident, sometimes dogmatic, emphasis on

4551-729: The Hurstpierpoint area. Her mother was of Breton descent. Educated at Brighton College of Art and the University of London , Ellis graduated from North East London Polytechnic (now part of the University of East London ) in Celtic Studies in 1989. He also earned a master's degree in Celtic Studies from the University of East London (1993). He began his career as a junior reporter on an English south coast weekly, becoming deputy editor of an Irish weekly newspaper and

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4662-678: The Middle Ages . They wrote about the history of Jesus Christ, that of the Church and that of their patrons, the dynastic history of the local rulers. In the Early Middle Ages historical writing often took the form of annals or chronicles recording events year by year, but this style tended to hamper the analysis of events and causes. An example of this type of writing is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles , which were

4773-630: The University of East London in 2006 in recognition of his work. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (1996) and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (1998). He was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd (1987) for his work on the history of the Cornish language  – The Cornish Language and its Literature (published in 1974). He received an Irish Post Award (1989) for his work on Celtic history, and

4884-652: The World Fantasy Award -winning Amazons (1979) and Amazons II (1982) anthologies; both drew on real and folkloric female warriors, often from areas outside of Europe. Early sword and sorcery writer Robert E. Howard had espoused feminist views in his personal and professional life. He wrote to his friends and associates defending the achievements and capabilities of women. Strong female characters in Howard's works of fiction include Dark Agnes de Chastillon (first appearing in "Sword Woman", circa 1932–34),

4995-413: The cloak-and-dagger (international espionage) story too! The term "heroic fantasy" has been used to avoid the garish overtones of "sword and sorcery". This name was coined by L. Sprague de Camp . However, it has also been used to describe a broader range of fantasy, including High fantasy . Sword and sorcery stories take place in a fictional world where magic exists. The setting can be an Earth in

5106-518: The pulp fantasy magazines, where it emerged from " weird fiction ". The magazine Weird Tales , which published Howard's Conan stories and C. L. Moore 's Jirel of Joiry tales, as well as key influences like H. P. Lovecraft and Smith, was especially important. Lovecraft's fiction (especially his "Dream Cycle" of Dunsany-inspired fantasy stories) was a source of inspiration for the first generation of sword and sorcery writers. The 1929 Weird Tales story " The Shadow Kingdom " by Robert E. Howard

5217-478: The 16th century BCE, and it includes many treatises on specific subjects and individual biographies of prominent people and also explores the lives and deeds of commoners, both contemporary and those of previous eras. Christian historiography began early, perhaps as early as Luke-Acts , which is the primary source for the Apostolic Age . Writing history was popular among Christian monks and clergy in

5328-642: The Connolly Association (founded 1938) to examine and promote the life and teachings of James Connolly . He introduced and edited James Connolly: Selected Writing (Penguin, 1973) and wrote a regular column for the Association's newspaper Irish Democrat from 1987 to 2007. He is a member of the Society of Authors . Ellis supports Chechen independence , Tibetan independence , a United Ireland and Scottish independence . Ellis believes that

5439-717: The French Prix Historia (2010) for best historical crime novel of 2010. He was made Honorary Life President of the Scottish 1820 Society (1989), and Honorary Life Member of the Irish Literary Society (2002). Ellis's wife, Dorothea Cheesmur Ellis (11 September 1940 – 30 March 2016) died of cancer at age 75. Historian In the 19th century scholars used to study ancient Greek and Roman historians to see how generally reliable they were. In recent decades, however, scholars have focused more on

5550-824: The Greek tradition . While early Roman works were still written in Greek, the Origines , composed by the Roman statesman Cato the Elder (234–149 BCE), was written in Latin, in a conscious effort to counteract Greek cultural influence. Strabo (63 BCE – c.  24   CE ) was an important exponent of the Greco-Roman tradition of combining geography with history, presenting a descriptive history of peoples and places known to his era. Livy (59 BCE – 17 CE) records

5661-533: The Mediterranean region. The earliest known critical historical works were The Histories , composed by Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484 – c. 425  BCE ) who later became known as the "father of history" ( Cicero ). Herodotus attempted to distinguish between more and less reliable accounts and personally conducted research by travelling extensively, giving written accounts of various Mediterranean cultures. Although Herodotus' overall emphasis lay on

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5772-687: The Middle Eastern tales of the Arabian Nights , whose stories of magical monsters and evil sorcerers were an influence on the genre-to-be. Sword and sorcery's frequent depictions of smoky taverns and fetid back alleys draw upon the picaresque genre; for example, Rachel Bingham notes that Fritz Leiber 's city of Lankhmar bears considerable similarity to 16th century Seville as depicted in Miguel de Cervantes ' tale " Rinconete y Cortadillo ". Sword and sorcery proper only truly began in

5883-456: The Mirage (1932) have also been cited as influences on sword and sorcery, as they feature men from the then-contemporary world being drawn into dangerous adventures involving swordplay and magic. All these authors influenced sword and sorcery for the plots, characters, and landscapes used. Also, many early sword and sorcery writers, such as Howard and Clark Ashton Smith , were influenced by

5994-493: The Sword" was published in 1932, it proved popular with the Weird Tales readers, and Howard wrote more tales of Conan, of which 17 were published in the magazine. The success of Howard's work encouraged other Weird Tales writers to create similar tales of adventure in imagined lands. Clark Ashton Smith wrote his tales of the Hyperborean cycle and Zothique for Weird Tales in the 1930s. These stories revolved around

6105-818: The Working Class in England in 1844 , which was salient in creating the socialist impetus in British politics from then on, e.g. the Fabian Society . R. H. Tawney 's The Agrarian Problem in the Sixteenth Century (1912) and Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926), reflected his ethical concerns and preoccupations in economic history . A circle of historians inside the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) formed in 1946 and became

6216-581: The actions and characters of men, he also attributed an important role to divinity in the determination of historical events. Thucydides largely eliminated divine causality in his account of the war between Athens and Sparta, establishing a rationalistic element that set a precedent for subsequent Western historical writings. He was also the first to distinguish between cause and immediate origins of an event, while his successor Xenophon ( c.  431 – 355 BCE) introduced autobiographical elements and character studies in his Anabasis . The Romans adopted

6327-419: The ancient world have to deal with diverse types of evidence, which are debated more today than in the 19th century due to innovations in the field. Ancient historians were very different from modern historians in terms of goals, documentation, sources, and methods. For instance, chronological systems were not widely used, their sources were often absorbed (traceability of such sources usually disappeared), and

6438-425: The book The Dying Earth in 1950. The Dying Earth described the adventures of rogues and wizards on a decadent far-future Earth, where magic had replaced science. In the 1960s, American paperback publisher Lancer Books began to reissue Robert E. Howard's Conan stories in paperback, with cover illustrations by artist Frank Frazetta . These editions became surprise bestsellers, selling millions of copies to

6549-517: The comic book series Conan the Barbarian written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith . Red Sonja got her own comic book title and eventually a series of novels by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney , as well as Richard Fleischer 's film adaptation in 1985. The genre has been defined by Robert E. Howard's work, especially his tales of Conan the Barbarian and Kull of Atlantis , mostly in Weird Tales from 1932 and 1929 respectively. Other books and series that define

6660-411: The common people, rather than the leaders and institutions of the country. Another important French historian of the period was Hippolyte Taine . He was the chief theoretical influence of French naturalism , a major proponent of sociological positivism and one of the first practitioners of historicist criticism. Literary historicism as a critical movement has been said to originate with him. One of

6771-543: The concept of historical materialism into the study of world-historical development. In his conception, the economic conditions and dominant modes of production determined the structure of society at that point. Previous historians had focused on the cyclical events of the rise and decline of rulers and nations. Process of nationalization of history , as part of national revivals in the 19th century, resulted with separation of "one's own" history from common universal history by such way of perceiving, understanding and treating

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6882-457: The constructions, genres, and meanings that ancient historians sought to convey to their audiences. History is always written with contemporary concerns and ancient historians wrote their histories in response to the needs of their times. Out of thousands of Greek and Roman historians, only the tiniest fraction's works survive and it is out of this small pool that ancient historians and ancient historiography are analyzed today. Modern historians of

6993-420: The cultural context of the times. An important part of the contribution of many modern historians is the verification or dismissal of earlier historical accounts through reviewing newly discovered sources and recent scholarship or through parallel disciplines like archaeology . Understanding the past appears to be a universal human need, and the telling of history has emerged independently in civilizations around

7104-698: The earlier releases of Hawk the Slayer (1980) and Clash of the Titans (1981) which whetted the public's appetites for such films and the live action adaptation of the Conan-inspired toy range (and subsequent cartoon series) Masters of the Universe , which essentially ended the subgenre's 80s run. After the cinema and literary boom of the early-to-mid 1980s, sword and sorcery once again dropped out of favor, with epic fantasy largely taking its place in

7215-634: The early modern pirate Helen Tavrel ("The Isle of Pirates' Doom", 1928), as well as two pirates and Conan the Barbarian supporting characters, Bêlit (" Queen of the Black Coast ", 1934), and Valeria of the Red Brotherhood (" Red Nails ", 1936). Introduced as the co-star in a non-fantasy historical story by Howard entitled " The Shadow of the Vulture ", Red Sonya of Rogatino later inspired a fantasy heroine named Red Sonja , who first appeared in

7326-622: The early-1930s works of Robert E. Howard . While there is a chance example from 1953, Fritz Leiber re-coined the term "sword and sorcery" in the 6 April 1961 issue of the fantasy fanzine Ancalagon , to describe Howard and the stories that were influenced by his works. In parallel with "sword and sorcery", the term "heroic fantasy" is used, although it is a more loosely defined genre. Sword and sorcery tales eschew overarching themes of "good vs evil" in favor of situational conflicts that often pit morally gray characters against one another to enrich themselves, or to defy tyranny . Sword and sorcery

7437-484: The exploits of warriors and sorcerers in lands of the remote past or remote future, and often had downbeat endings. C. L. Moore , inspired by Howard, Smith and H. P. Lovecraft, created the Jirel of Joiry stories for Weird Tales , which brought in the first sword and sorcery heroine. Moore's future husband Henry Kuttner created Elak of Atlantis , a Howard-inspired warrior hero, for Weird Tales in 1938. Following

7548-432: The fantasy genre. There was, though, another resurgence in sword and sorcery at the end of the 20th century. Sometimes called the "new" or "literary" sword and sorcery, this development places emphasis on literary technique, and draws from epic fantasy and other genres to broaden the genre's typical scope. Stories may feature the wide-ranging struggles of national or world-spanning concerns common to high fantasy, but told from

7659-444: The fictional field, writing in the genre of horror fantasy and heroic fantasy , began in 1977 when the first "Peter Tremayne" book appeared. Between 1983 and 1993 he also wrote eight adventure thrillers under the name "Peter MacAlan". As of June 2015 he had published 106 books, 100 short stories, several pamphlets, and numerous academic papers and signed journalistic articles. Under his own name he wrote two long running columns: "Anonn

7770-539: The field of Celtic Studies and he has written academic articles and papers in the field for journals ranging from The Linguist (London) to The Irish Sword: Journal of the Irish Military History Society ( University College Dublin ). In 1999 The Times Higher Education Supplement described him as one of the leading authorities on the Celts then writing. He has been International Chairman of

7881-468: The first "modern historian". The book sold impressively, earning its author a total of about £9000. Biographer Leslie Stephen wrote that thereafter, "His fame was as rapid as it has been lasting." The tumultuous events surrounding the French Revolution inspired much of the historiography and analysis of the early 19th century. Interest in the 1688 Glorious Revolution was also rekindled by

7992-469: The focus of historical research in France during the 20th century by stressing long-term social history, rather than political or diplomatic themes. The school emphasized the use of quantification and the paying of special attention to geography. An eminent member of this school, Georges Duby , described his approach to history as one that relegated the sensational to the sidelines and was reluctant to give

8103-554: The formation of an International Sister Fidelma Society in Little Rock, Arkansas , with a website and a print magazine called The Brehon produced three times a year. A book, The Sister Fidelma Mysteries: Essays on the Historical Novels of Peter Tremayne , was published by MacFarland in 2012. Ellis's novel, The Devil's Seal was published by St. Martin's Press in 2015. He was given an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by

8214-407: The genre is a damsel in distress . However, some sword and sorcery stories have a female protagonist, and the genre's traditional emphasis on male protagonists has declined since the last decades of the 20th century. In his introduction to the 1967 Ace edition of Conan The Barbarian , L. Sprague de Camp described the typical sword and sorcery story as: [A] story of action and adventure laid in

8325-461: The genre of sword-and-sorcery include: Other pulp fantasy fiction, such as Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series and Leigh Brackett 's Sea Kings of Mars , have a similar feel to sword and sorcery. But, because alien science replaces the supernatural, these books are usually described as planetary romance or sword and planet . They fall more in the area of science fiction. Despite this, planetary romance closely aligns with sword and sorcery, and

8436-501: The goal of an ancient work was often to create political or military paradigms. It was only after the emergence of Christianity that philosophies of history grew in prominence due to the destiny of man from the Christian account. Epics such as Homer 's works were used by historians and considered history even by Thucydides . In the 19th-century historical studies became professionalized at universities and research centers along with

8547-517: The hero stays forever young and every day is like the first for him. The main character's victory over his enemies is not final, but in the next short story a new threat arises, against which the hero has to fight once again. The world has a wide variety of exciting and exotic locations designed to act as a stage for the main character's exploits. Many sword and sorcery tales have turned into lengthy series of adventures. Their lower stakes and less-than world-threatening dangers make this more plausible than

8658-871: The historian uses the "objective historian" standards, they are a "conscientious historian". It was Irving's failure as an "objective historian" not his right-wing views that caused him to lose his libel case, as a "conscientious historian" would not have "deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence" to support his political views. The process of historical analysis involves investigation and analysis of competing ideas, facts, and purported facts to create coherent narratives that explain "what happened" and "why or how it happened". Modern historical analysis usually draws upon other social sciences, including economics , sociology , politics , psychology , anthropology , philosophy , and linguistics . While ancient writers do not normally share modern historical practices, their work remains valuable for its insights within

8769-490: The history of institutional change, particularly the development of constitutional government. William Stubbs 's Constitutional History of England (3 vols., 1874–78) was an important influence on this developing field. The work traced the development of the English constitution from the Teutonic invasions of Britain until 1485, and marked a distinct step in the advance of English historical learning. Karl Marx introduced

8880-522: The idea of unbiased historical works is a myth, instead believing that historians should state their bias at the start of a work - "I write as someone who fully supports Celtic cultural, political and economic independence. Nor do I disguise the fact that I am a socialist." Apart from his Celtic Studies interests, Ellis has written full-length biographies of the writers H. Rider Haggard , W. E. Johns , Talbot Mundy and E. C. Vivian , as well as critical essays on other popular fiction authors. His output in

8991-539: The illegitimate methods employed by David Irving , as before the Irving v Penguin Books and Lipstadt trial, there was no legal precedent for what constituted an objective historian. Justice Gray leant heavily on the research of one of the expert witnesses, Richard J. Evans , who compared illegitimate distortion of the historical record practiced by Holocaust deniers with established historical methodologies. By summarizing Gray's judgment, in an article published in

9102-465: The labors of Hercules , as well as to classical epics such as Homer 's Odyssey , the Norse sagas , and Arthurian legend . It also has been influenced by historical fiction . For instance, the work of Sir Walter Scott was influenced by Scottish folklore and ballads. But few of Scott's stories contain fantastic elements; in most, the appearance of such is explained away. Its themes of adventure in

9213-542: The late 20th century: historical editing. Edmund Morgan reports on its emergence in the United States: It required, to begin with, large sums of money. But money has proved easier to recruit than talent. Historians who undertake these large editorial projects must leave the main channel of academic life. They do not teach; they do not write their own books; they do not enjoy long vacations for rumination, reflection, and research on whatever topic interests them at

9324-588: The literary critic Higashi Masao regarding Japanese works Guin Saga and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen , they were initially planned by their authors as novels that could be classified as belonging to the European sword and sorcery subgenre but had various major elements that distanced themselves from the typical novels in the genre. In the 1990s, sword and sorcery boomed in popularity in Britain and other parts of

9435-619: The major progenitors of the history of culture and art , was the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt Burckhardt's best-known work is The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). According to John Lukacs , he was the first master of cultural history, which seeks to describe the spirit and the forms of expression of a particular age, a particular people, or a particular place. By the mid-19th century, scholars were beginning to analyse

9546-441: The moment. Instead they must live in unremitting daily pursuit of an individual whose company, whatever his genius, may ultimately begin to pall. Anyone who has edited historical manuscripts knows that it requires as much physical and intellectual labor to prepare a text for publication as it does to write a book of one's own. Indeed, the new editorial projects are far too large for one man. The editor-in-chief, having decided to forego

9657-456: The mythical past or distant future, an imaginary other world or an alien planet. Sometimes sword and sorcery stories are influenced by horror , dark fantasy or science fiction . Sword and sorcery, however, does not seek to give a scientific explanation for miraculous events, unlike actual science fiction. The main character in sword and sorcery stories is usually a powerful warrior who fights against supernatural evil. The typical protagonist

9768-462: The needed function he has abandoned. Heroic fantasy Sword and sorcery ( S&S ), or heroic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance , magic , and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy , the tales, though dramatic, focus on personal battles rather than world-endangering matters. The genre originated from

9879-671: The official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 to 481 BCE, is among the earliest surviving Chinese historical texts arranged on annalistic principles. Sima Qian (around 100 BCE) was the first in China to lay the groundwork for professional historical writing. His written work was the Shiji ( Records of the Grand Historian ), a monumental lifelong achievement in literature. Its scope extends as far back as

9990-469: The past that constructed history as history of a nation. A new discipline, sociology , emerged in the late 19th century and analyzed and compared these perspectives on a larger scale. The modern academic study of history and methods of historiography were pioneered in 19th-century German universities. Leopold von Ranke was a pivotal influence in this regard, and is considered as the founder of modern source-based history . Specifically, he implemented

10101-435: The past, the sensibility which studies the past 'for the sake of the past', which delights in the concrete and the complex, which 'goes out to meet the past', which searches for 'unlikenesses between past and present'." Butterfield's formulation received much attention, and the kind of historical writing he argued against in generalised terms is no longer academically respectable. The French Annales School radically changed

10212-465: The point of view of characters more common to S&S, and with the sense of adventure common to the latter. Writers associated with this include Steven Erikson , Joe Abercrombie , and Scott Lynch , magazines such as Black Gate and the ezines Flashing Swords (not to be confused with the Lin Carter anthologies), and Beneath Ceaseless Skies publish short fiction in the style. According to

10323-569: The rise of Rome from city-state to empire . His speculation about what would have happened if Alexander the Great had marched against Rome represents the first known instance of alternate history . In Chinese historiography , the Classic of History is one of the Five Classics of Chinese classic texts and one of the earliest narratives of China. The Spring and Autumn Annals ,

10434-405: The rise of constitutional government , personal freedoms , and scientific progress . The term has been also applied widely in historical disciplines outside of British history (the history of science , for example) to criticize any teleological (or goal-directed), hero-based, and transhistorical narrative. Butterfield's antidote to Whig history was "...to evoke a certain sensibility towards

10545-478: The roles on other groups. Gender biases as well. Moral or worldview evaluations by historians are also seen partly inevitable, causing complications for historians and their historical writings. One way to deal with this is for historians to state their biases explicitly for their readers. In the modern era, newspapers (which have a bias of their own) impacts historical accounts made by historians. Misplaced Pages also contributes to difficulties for historians. During

10656-688: The same time, philosopher David Hume was having a similar impact on history in Great Britain . In 1754, he published the History of England , a six-volume work that extended from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688. Hume adopted a similar scope to Voltaire in his history; as well as the history of Kings, Parliaments, and armies, he examined the history of culture, including literature and science, as well. William Robertson ,

10767-448: The seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and analysis of historical documents. Beginning with his first book in 1824, the History of the Latin and Teutonic Peoples from 1494 to 1514 , Ranke used an unusually wide variety of sources for a historian of the age, including "memoirs, diaries, personal and formal missives, government documents, diplomatic dispatches and first-hand accounts of eye-witnesses". Over

10878-515: The shaping of historical events. The apex of Enlightenment history was reached with Edward Gibbon 's, monumental six-volume work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , published on 17 February 1776. Because of its relative objectivity and heavy use of primary sources , at the time its methodology became a model for later historians. This has led to Gibbon being called

10989-424: The standard Daubert tests unless a court was given "a great deal of assistance from historians". Schneider proposes that by testing a historian against the criteria of the "objective historian" then, even if a historian holds specific political views (and she gives an example of a well-qualified historian's testimony that was disregarded by a United States court because he was a member of a feminist group), providing

11100-573: The supernatural element (even though Dumas' fiction contained many fantasy tropes ) which defines the genre. Another influence was early fantasy fiction. This type of fiction includes the short stories of Lord Dunsany 's such as " The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth " (1910) and "The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller" (1911). These works of Dunsany's feature warriors who clash with monsters and wizards in realms of Dunsany's creation. The Worm Ouroboros (1922) by E. R. Eddison ,

11211-630: The term Renaissance (meaning "Re-birth" in French language ), as a period in Europe's cultural history that represented a break from the Middle Ages, creating a modern understanding of humanity and its place in the world. The nineteen-volume work covered French history from Charlemagne to the outbreak of the Revolution . Michelet was one of the first historians to shift the emphasis of history to

11322-463: The threat of rape or to gain revenge for same. Marion Zimmer Bradley 's Sword and Sorceress anthology series (1984 onwards) tried the reverse, encouraging female writers and protagonists. The stories feature skillful swordswomen and powerful sorceresses working from a variety of motives. Jessica Amanda Salmonson similarly sought to broaden the range of roles for female characters in sword and sorcery through her own stories and through editing

11433-429: The weird, occult, or ghost story . When well done, it provides the purest fun of fiction of any kind. It is escape fiction wherein one escapes clear out of the real world into one where all men are strong, all women beautiful, all life adventurous, and all problems simple, and nobody even mentions the income tax or the dropout problem or socialized medicine. The circular structure is common in sword and sorcery series:

11544-640: The work of several different writers: it was started during the reign of Alfred the Great in the late ninth century, but one copy was still being updated in 1154. Muslim historical writings first began to develop in the seventh century, with the reconstruction of the Prophet Muhammad 's life in the centuries following his death. With numerous conflicting narratives regarding Muhammad and his companions from various sources, scholars had to verify which sources were more reliable. To evaluate these sources, they developed various methodologies, such as

11655-419: The world. Despite the importance of C. L. Moore, Leigh Brackett, Andre Norton , and other female authors, as well as Moore's early heroine, sword and sorcery has been characterized as having a masculine bias. Female characters were generally distressed damsels to be rescued or protected, or otherwise served as a reward for a male hero's adventures. Women who had adventures of their own often did so to counter

11766-403: The world. What constitutes history is a philosophical question (see philosophy of history ). The earliest chronologies date back to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt , though no historical writers in these early civilizations were known by name. Systematic historical thought emerged in ancient Greece , a development that became an important influence on the writing of history elsewhere around

11877-674: Was an important influence on this developing field. He took a comparative topical approach to independent civilizations and demonstrated that they displayed striking parallels in their origin, growth, and decay. William H. McNeill wrote The Rise of the West (1965) to improve upon Toynbee by showing how the separate civilizations of Eurasia interacted from the very beginning of their history, borrowing critical skills from one another, and thus precipitating still further change as adjustment between traditional old and borrowed new knowledge and practice became necessary. A new advanced specialty opened in

11988-694: Was born in Coventry . His father, Alan John Ellis (1898-1971), was a Cork-born journalist who started his career with The Cork Examiner . According to Ellis, the Ellis family (originally "Elys") can be traced in the area from 1288; his branch were stonecutters in Cork City from the early 1800s. His mother, Eva Daisy (1897-1991), was the daughter of Henry Randolph Randell, a house painter and decorator from an old Sussex family of Saxon origin. Her autobiography presents its lineage back through 14 generations in

12099-507: Was coined by Herbert Butterfield in his short book The Whig Interpretation of History in 1931, (a reference to the British Whigs , advocates of the power of Parliament ) to refer to the approach to historiography that presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater liberty and enlightenment , culminating in modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy . In general, Whig historians emphasized

12210-490: Was easy and that learning how to do research was the main mission. A critical experience for graduate students is having a mentor who will provide psychological, social, intellectual and professional support, while directing scholarship and providing an introduction to the profession. Professional historians typically work in colleges and universities, archival centers, government agencies, museums, and as freelance writers and consultants. The job market for new PhDs in history

12321-484: Was then editor of a weekly publishing trade journal in London. He first went as a feature writer to Northern Ireland in 1964 for a London daily newspaper. His first book was published in 1968: Wales: a Nation Again , on the Welsh struggle for political independence, with a foreword by Gwynfor Evans , Plaid Cymru 's first MP . In 1975 he became a full-time writer. He used his academic background to produce many titles in

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