This note explores the idea that George R. R. Martin’s work on A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) and GRRM’s Evolution of Sword & Sorcery represents a modern development of the Sword & Sorcery (S&S) mythos.
Classic S&S was defined by Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber and focused on personal, episodic stories. Martin’s work takes core S&S themes and applies them to an epic, world-ending scale.
Core S&S Themes in Martin’s Work
- Moral Ambiguity: The absence of clear “good vs. evil” and a focus on competing, self-interested factions.
- “Weird” & Dangerous Magic: Magic is not a systematic tool but a rare, costly, and often horrific force.
- Decadent Civilizations: Both ASOIAF and Elden Ring are set against the backdrop of a fallen, decadent, and decaying power structure (the Targaryens, the Golden Order).
- Flawed Protagonists/Gods: Characters (and even gods) are driven by human greed, ambition, and cruelty, not abstract ideals.
Case Study: ASOIAF
ASOIAF is often called Low Fantasy or Epic Fantasy, but it blends them. It takes the political intrigue and grit of S&S (like in Leiber’s Lankhmar) and scales it to a continent-wide conflict.
- Link: GRRM’s S&S Influences
Case Study: Elden Ring
Martin’s contribution was the deep history (the “mythos”). This backstory is a pure S&S tale of decadent demigods destroying the world in a civil war (the Shattering).
- The player, “The Tarnished,” acts as a classic S&S protagonist: an outcast wanderer seeking power in the ruins.
- The world is a “Weird Fiction” landscape, more aligned with H.P. Lovecraft or Clark Ashton Smith than traditional Tolkien-esque fantasy.