science

The Swords of Lankhmar

The Swords of Lankhmar is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Swords of Lankhmar rather than just read about it. In short: The Swords of Lankhmar is a fantasy novel, first published 1968, by Fritz Leiber, featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the fifth volume of the complete seven volume edition of the collected stories devoted to the characters.

Key takeaways

The Swords of Lankhmar belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Swords of Lankhmar to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Swords of Lankhmar from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Swords of Lankhmar is a fantasy novel, first published 1968, by Fritz Leiber, featuring his sword and sorcery heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. It is chronologically the fifth volume of the complete seven volume edition of the collected stories devoted to the characters. The book is an expansion of Leiber's earlier novella "Scylla's Daughter", which was published originally in the magazine Fantastic Stories of Imagination for May 1961. The full novel first published in paperback format during 1968 by Ace Books company, which reprinted the title numerous times through 1986; a later paperback edition was issued by Dark Horse (2008). It has been published in the United Kingdom by Mayflower Books (1970) and Grafton (1986, 1987). The first hardcover edition was issued by Rupert Hart-Davis during June 1969; a later hardcover edition was issued by Gregg Press during December 1977. The book has also been gathered together with others in the series into various omnibus editions; Swords' Masters (1990), Return to Lankhmar (1997), and The Second Book of Lankhmar (2001).

Plot The Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories concern the lives of two larcenous but likable rogues as they adventure across the fantasy world of Nehwon. In The Swords of Lankhmar, the duo is hired by the city of Lankhmar to protect its grain fleets, which have become prey to a mysterious threat. A sea serpent ridden by an explorer from another world is encountered, but the true foes prove to be legions of intelligent rats. Returning to Lankhmar, the protagonists find the whole city besieged by the rats. The Mouser, magically shrunken to rat size, spies out their plans, but the rats' victory appears certain until an intervention by the Gods of Lankhmar and the rats' own ancient enemies occurs.

Awards

"Scylla's Daughter" was nominated for the 1962 Hugo Award for Short Fiction.

References

External links An omnibus collection of Leiber's short fiction at Standard Ebooks Scylla's Daughter (published in Modern Classics of Fantasy) Fantastic Fiction entry The Swords of Lankhmar title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database "Scylla's Daughter" title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Swords of Lankhmar

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Swords of Lankhmar claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Swords of Lankhmar before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Swords of Lankhmar ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Swords of Lankhmar

In research: The Swords of Lankhmar appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Swords of Lankhmar in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Swords of Lankhmar is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1968 American novels, 1968 English-language novels, 1968 fantasy novels, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Swords of Lankhmar outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Swords of Lankhmar in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Swords of Lankhmar means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Swords of Lankhmar out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Swords of Lankhmar in simple terms?

Why does The Swords of Lankhmar matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Swords of Lankhmar?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Swords of Lankhmar.