Jirel of Joiry is a fictional character created by American writer C. L. Moore

C. L. Moore

Catherine Lucille Moore was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, as C. L. Moore. She was one of the first women to write in the genre, and paved the way for many other female writers in speculative fiction....

, who appeared in a series of sword and sorcery

Sword and sorcery

Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural...

 stories published first in the pulp

Pulp magazine

Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...

 horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

/fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 magazine Weird Tales

Weird Tales

Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....

. Jirel is the proud, tough, arrogant and beautiful ruler of her own domain—apparently somewhere in medieval France

France in the Middle Ages

France in the Middle Ages covers an area roughly corresponding to modern day France, from the death of Louis the Pious in 840 to the middle of the 15th century...

. Her adventures continually involve her in dangerous brushes with the supernatural

Supernatural

The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...

.

These stories are the very first stories to show the influence of Robert E. Howard

Robert E. Howard

Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....

 on the genre sword and sorcery and introduced the heroine protagonist to sword and sorcery.

Moore's Jirel stories include the following:

• "Black God's Kiss" (October 1934)
• "Black God's Shadow" (December 1934)
• "Jirel Meets Magic" (July 1935)
• "The Dark Land" (January 1936)
• "Quest of the Starstone" (November 1937) (with Henry Kuttner
  Henry Kuttner
  Henry Kuttner was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and horror.-Early life:Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915...
  
  )
• "Hellsgarde" (April 1939)

These stories, except for "Quest of the Starstone", appear in the collection Jirel of Joiry (1969), and in the Gollancz

Victor Gollancz Ltd

Victor Gollancz Ltd was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century. It was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz and specialised in the publication of high quality literature, nonfiction and popular fiction, including science fiction. Upon Gollancz's death in 1967, ownership...

 Fantasy Masterworks

Fantasy Masterworks

Fantasy Masterworks is a series of fantastic fiction classics started by Millennium and continued by Gollancz , as a companion series for their SF Masterworks line.- Published titles :-External links :...

 compendium Black Gods and Scarlet Dreams (2002). All six appear in a collected edition under Paizo Publishing

Paizo Publishing

Paizo Publishing is an American publishing company in Redmond, Washington that specializes in game aids and adventures for "the world's oldest fantasy roleplaying game" and its flagship spin-off game and setting, Pathfinder...

's "Planet Stories" imprint, compiled under the title Black God's Kiss.

Books

• • collects all of the Jirel and (primary) Northwest Smith
    Northwest Smith
    Northwest Smith is a fictional character, and the hero of a series of stories by science fiction writer C. L. Moore.- Story setting :Smith is a spaceship pilot and smuggler who lives in an undisclosed future time when humanity has colonized the solar system....
    
     stories except "Quest of the Starstone"
  • "Where No Man Had Gone Before" • introduction by Suzy McKee Charnas
    Suzy McKee Charnas
    Suzy McKee Charnas is an American novelist and short story writer, writing primarily in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. She has won several awards for her fiction, including the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. A selection of her short fiction was collected...
    
    
  • "Black God's Kiss"
  • "Black God's Shadow"
  • "Jirel Meets Magic"
  • "The Dark Land"
  • "Hellsgarde"
  • "Quest of the Starstone" • with Henry Kuttner
    Henry Kuttner
    Henry Kuttner was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and horror.-Early life:Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915...
    
     • Northwest Smith
    Northwest Smith
    Northwest Smith is a fictional character, and the hero of a series of stories by science fiction writer C. L. Moore.- Story setting :Smith is a spaceship pilot and smuggler who lives in an undisclosed future time when humanity has colonized the solar system....
    
    crossover story