Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America
The Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA) (in German as: Guild of swordsmen and wizards of America) was a group of American fantasy - authors that existed since the 1960s until the 1980s. The group dealt mainly with fantasy literature, especially with the subgenre Sword and Sorcery . The aim of the group was to make this subgenre known and to establish it as an independent direction in fantasy literature.
Members
Contrary to their name, women could also become members of SAGA. The first members were often better known by the public for their services in science fiction literature , as fantasy was not yet really established as a genre in its own right . However, membership was only granted to those who had made a name for themselves in the field of fantasy literature. The original members, who also formed the hard core of the group, were:
- Poul Anderson (for his novels The Broken Sword and Three Hearts and Three Lions )
- Lin Carter (for his Thongor series)
- Lyon Sprague de Camp (for his Poseidonis series and his dedication to promoting Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian )
- John Jakes (for his Brak the Barbarian stories )
- Fritz Leiber (for his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series)
- Michael Moorcock (for his stories about Elric von Melniboné )
- Andre Norton (for her "Witch World series)
- Jack Vance (for his Dying Earth stories)
Other fantasy writers were later added to the group, including:
- CJ Cherryh (for her Morgaine novels)
- Diane Duane (for her novel The Door into Fire )
- Craig Shaw Gardner (for his stories about Ebenezum )
- Avram Davidson (for The Phoenix and the Mirror and other works)
- Katherine Kurtz (for her Deryni novels)
- Tanith Lee (for her Birthgrave series)
- Roger Zelazny (for his Dilvish and The Chronicles of Amber )
history
According to Lin Carter , the driving force behind the group, SAGA was formed quite spontaneously. At the beginning, her main activities were to meet for a few drinks at science fiction conventions and to give each other pompous names (Michael Moorcock, for example, was called "Veiled Thaumaturge of the Mauve Barbarians of Ningg"). The group remained relatively informal and without great expectations from its members. Moorcock said of himself that he wasn't even an active member himself ("wasn't really an active member").
Lin Carter later published works by SAGA members in his Flashing Swords! -Collections published by Dell Publishing from 1973 to 1981.
Carter and SAGA also donated the Gandalf Award (named after JRR Tolkien's Gandalf ) from 1974 to 1981. It was administered by the Worldcon Committee. The winners were determined according to the same principle that the winners of the Hugo Award were chosen.
The Gandalf Award consisted of the Gandalf Grand Master Award , which was given for life's works or special works in heroic fantasy, and the Gandalf Book Length Fantasy Award . The latter was only awarded in 1978 and 1979, while the first was awarded continuously.
After Lin Carter's health worsened in the 1980s, no more Flashing Swords! Collections published and SAGA itself lost its importance. The Gandalf Award was last presented in 1981.
bibliography
The works of SAGA as a group have been published in the following collections:
- Flashing Swords! # 1 , Lin Carter, ed. (1973)
- Flashing Swords! # 2 , Lin Carter, ed. (1975)
- Flashing Swords! # 3: Warriors and Wizards , Lin Carter, ed. (1976)
- Flashing Swords! # 4: Barbarians and Black Magicians , Lin Carter, ed. (1977)
- Flashing Swords! # 5: Demons and Daggers , Lin Carter, ed. (1981)