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| Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: The Makers of Heroic Fantasy | |
|---|---|
| Publication Information | |
| Author | L. Sprague de Camp |
| Foreword by | Lin Carter |
| Illustrator | Tim Kirk (jacket) |
| Publisher | Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House Publishers |
| Released | 1976 |
| Format | Hardcover with dustjacket |
| Pages | 313 |
| ISBN | 0-87054-076-9 |
Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: The Makers of Heroic Fantasy is a collection of articles by L. Sprague de Camp.
Chapter IX, "Merlin in Tweeds: J.R.R. Tolkien" (based on the article "White Wizard in Tweeds", Fantastic Stories November 1976), is a literary analysis of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. The article also includes recollections of and a quote from Tolkien noted by de Camp during his visit in 1967 (see pp. 243–4).
Tolkien's reaction was described thus:
[Tolkien] said he found [the anthology] interesting but did not much like the stories in it [...] We sat in the garage for a couple of hours, smoking pipes, drinking beer, and talking about a variety of things. Practically anything in English literature, from Beowulf down, Tolkien had read and could talk intelligently about. He indicated that he 'rather liked' Howard's Conan stories.