“In the Women’s Tent, Mor and her coven put a spell on Fafhrd to bring him home and another to chill his loins, then went on to discuss weightier measures against the whole universe of sons, husbands, and actresses.”
“The Snow Women” is the first story in the collection and it is an origin story of Fafhrd, of sorts. The story, published several decades after the introduction of the character, is constructed on an ironic foundation of that familiarity. The origin of the sword-slinging seven-foot barbarian reveals that even at the not-so-tender age of 18 he was still a mommy’s boy. Mor, in the quote above, is not just the person who casts a spell on Fafhrd, she is his mother. Mor is not just Fafhrd’s mother, however, she is the leader of the titular coven of witches exerting matriarchal power. She wields considerable power over her son to the extent that he is training to become a bard, dresses in the traditional white furs of the women of the north rather than adopting the “new custom of dark and dyed furs” that has become all the rage among men and has also been conditioned to speak in a higher range than most males. And yet, despite this maternal control, Mor feels the need to cast a spell on her son. The origin story of Fafhrd is not so simple as to rely merely on making the younger version stand in complete opposition to the heroic version he will become. Despite accepting the conditions of life imposed upon, Fafhrd is still a typical rebellious teenager. For instance, despite already being engaged, he has fallen under the spell of a traveling actress who is stimulating his urge to leave home and explore the world. Hence, the odd inclusion of actresses into the Snow Women’s war against the patriarchy.
“You are a middling dutiful scholar, but secretly you favor swords over wands. You are more tempted by the hot lips of black magic than the chaste slim fingers of white, no matter to how pretty a misling the latter belong—no, do not deny it! You are more drawn to the be- guiling sinuosities of the left-hand path than the straight steep road of the right. I fear me you will never be mouse in the end but mouser. And never white but gray—oh well, that’s better than black.”
Fafhrd’s origin story is one of being caught between a fatherless son’s duties and devotions to his mother and the call of adventure and independence. “The Unholy Grail” is the origin story of the Gray Mouser. As far as foreshadowing goes, therefore, quotes do not get much more to the point than this., Of course, it is foreshadowing tinged with irony since this story, too, is also a prequel published after the Gray Mouser has firmly established his identity. The story is a such a long throwback to the character’s youth that he is known simply as Mouse, having not yet attained the roguish sensibility by which he later calls himself. The story situates the young Mouse as sorcerer’s apprentice who is not only still learning his craft, but undecided yet as to whether to pursue black magic or the benevolent alternative. In addition to foretelling the expansion of his young student’s name, he also predicts the roguish nature of his antihero status skirting the boundaries of moral relativity.
“Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser faced each other across the two thieves sprawled senseless. They were poised for attack, yet for the moment neither moved.
Each discerned something inexplicably familiar in the other.”
The final story in the collection is also an origin story. In fact, this very moment described in this quote is the very origin of the teaming up of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. “Ill Met in Lankhmar” tells the story of two different men plotting the very same crime against the very same victims without any conspiratorial collaboration. From the outside, all evidence points to the theft of jewels from members of the Thieves Guild as a conspiracy, but just because two people attempt the same crime at once does not mean it has to be a conspiracy. These two strangers immediately become lifelong conspirators as a result recognizing something of themselves in the other. This sense of self-identification outside the actual self is so powerful that even the natural inclination when committing a crime to view anyone who is not your partner as an enemy is obstructed. The natural impulse of self-preservation to strike out against the other as a potentially dangerous stranger gives way to the overpowering recognition of a kindred spirit. This is one of the marks of the kind of deep and profound friendship that is revealed as the key component in the stories of these two characters.
