The Spell of Seven. Contains SHADOWS IN THE MOONLIGHT. is an anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by L. Sprague de Camp and illustrated by Virgil Finlay. It was first published in paperback by Pyramid Books in 1963, but most of the stories were originally from 1930s pulp magazines. This was the first sword and sorcery anthology ever assembled and was followed by three additional such anthologies edited by de Camp. It has also been translated into German.

Contents

•  Swords and Sorcery • interior artwork by Virgil Finlay
• 7 • Introduction: Heroic Fantasy • essay by L. Sprague de Camp
• 11 • The Valor of Cappen Varra • [Cappen Varra] • (1957) • short story by Poul Anderson
• 27 • Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller • (1911) • short story by Lord Dunsany (variant of The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller, and of the Doom That Befell Him)
• 33 • Shadows in the Moonlight • [Conan] • (1934) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 67 • The Citadel of Darkness • [Prince Raynor] • (1939) • novelette by Henry Kuttner
• 97 • When the Sea King’s Away • [Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser] • novelette by Fritz Leiber (variant of When the Sea-King’s Away 1960)
• 123 • The Doom That Came to Sarnath • [Dream Cycle] • (1920) • short story by H. P. Lovecraft
• 133 • Hellsgarde • [Jirel of Joiry] • (1939) • novelette by C. L. Moore
• 169 • The Testament of Athammaus • [Hyperborea] • (1932) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith

Notes

Edited by L. Sprague de Camp
Second printing in 1969

“A PYRAMID BOOK—First printing, December 1963”; no number line
“Illustrated by Virgil Finlay” on the title page, the cover and three of the eight interior pieces are signed
Printed in the US