 Fritz Leiber, who coined the term "sword and sorcery" and whose Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tales appeared from the 1930s through the 1980s, introduced the possibilities of self-satire and humor into Howard's vision of blood, guts, and primitive glory.Joanna Russ’s Alyx series—certainly the greatest direct influence on Delany—and G. Spencer-Brown's "Laws of Form" (specifically “Chapter 8”) have already been mentioned as important sources.Others almost as important are the work of the French Psychiatrist Jacques Lacan (discussed in parts of the appendix, "Closures and Openings", in the final volume, "Return to Nevèrÿon"), as well as critical theory in general.