Fafhrd
Fafhrd is the partner-in-crime of the Gray Mouser in a series of stories. The stories in this volume, however, are prequels that serve as origin stories taking place before they become the heroic legends they will become. Fafhrd is introduced as a pale, strawberry-blonde eighteen-year-old with green eyes that stare like a cat.
He is still a long way off from the roguish antihero blurring the lines of morality as the feared swordsman that he will become. In fact, the callow youth is a bit of a momma’s boy. Of course, his mother is the leader of the Snow Women, a matriarchal coven whom the men of the Snow Clan take very seriously. Although she tries to control her son with an iron fist—and if that doesn’t work she’s not above casting a spell—his late-stage devotion mainly springs from the emotional tug of duty often experienced by a fatherless son toward a widowed mother. He is definitely showing signs of independence, however.
Although betrothed to a local girl, an attractive traveling actress catches his eye. She represents not just an object of personal desire, but also the outside world with all its various opportunities for fun and profit. Although Fafhrd’s mother is not too keen on this relationship and the actress is far from keen on the mother, Fafhrd’s attraction is Oedipal in its basis. He has found a girl a lot like the girl his father found. Eventually, Fafhrd will have to choose between these two strong women in his life and only one offers affords opportunities the other doesn’t, so it shouldn’t be hard to guess who is by his side when he shows up in the final story.
The Gray Mouser
Before he becomes the Gray Mouser, the other half of the original odd couple, he was simply Mouse. His origin story commences with his return from a long quest which has put time and distance between him and his master, the great magician, Glavas Rho. Although, technically, literally the only person on earth who calls Rho a great magician is his Rho’s apprentice. Still, it is a sign of the loyalty within him that he sticks by his master’s greatness even as others dismiss Rho as a simple hedge wizard no better than a Mingol necromancer. Rho does possess greatness, however, even if not as a conjurer.
Upon returning from his quest, Mouse finds his master lying dead inside his burning home. As any sorcerer’s apprentice worthy of the name would do, Mouse vows vengeance upon the man responsible: the yellow-eyed Duke Janarrl. Revenge would come swiftly and sweetly with absolutely no problem were it not for two things. One, Mouse is in love with the Duke’s daughter.
The second reason is just as important. In addition to being a so-so conjurer, Glavas Rho’s greatness was an insight into people. He could see clearly into Mouse and his conflict over pursuing the path of white magic which Rho had taught him or black magic which Rho refused to teach him. Nevertheless, Mouse had picked it up on the streets. It will take black magic to carry out his revenge against his girlfriend’s father.
Vlana and Ivrian
The third story in the collection is the origin story of how the seven-foot barbarian swordsman and his significantly short companion came together. It is also the story in which the apprentice named Mouse has fully adopted his new name the Gray Mouser as a tribute to his master who described his conflict between black and white magic as being trapped in the shade of gray. The stories of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser to come—chronologically speaking—are also the stories of the two women they meet in this collection.
Vlana is the actress who captures the affection of Fafhrd and the suspicion of his mother. She is, arguably, the single most fascinating character in the story. Her dominating personality is established early on as the perfect salve for whatever Oedipal scars Fafhrd may be carrying. In addition to being an actress, she is also a vengeance-seeker like Mouse whose detestation for the misogynistic Thieves’ Guild is the driving force behind the plot which eventually brings Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser face to face. She can be equally as deadly with a dagger as she is empathetic with an emotionally damaged new friend.
The Duke’s daughter, Ivrian, has become “my princess” to the Mouser by the time he introduces her to Fafhrd and Vlana. In reaction to killing her father, he has created a kind of fairytale world for her in which the formerly earthy girl has become almost a fragile doll treated too delicately to ever break. Upon their meeting, Vlana recognizes the façade that Mouser has created for his love at once and uses her skills as an actress to accept the pretense and establish a bond with her counterpart almost as strong as the one between their men.
