Re: What is the single greatest weird tale?
Posted by:
Sawfish (IP Logged)
Date: 8 February, 2022 10:00AM
uPlatypus Wrote:
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> Kipling Wrote:
> > In "Hawks of Outremer", or one of the
> > Cormac FitzGeoffrey tales, a battle axe is
> thrown
> > a long distance, yet still cleaves the skull of
> a
> > "bad guy"(gimme a break)!
>
> The only distance specified in the story is "the
> other side of a moat with drawbridge raised".
> This, plus the fact that the baron is surrounded
> by retainers, and not for any particularly long
> distance, is why the baron thinks he is safe from
> Cormac, who has just challenged him to a
> sword-fight. Which does not strain credibility
> for me. The throw is at a downward angle, even,
> since Cormac is mounted and the baron afoot. It
> is achievable by random axe-throwers on youtube,
There are now YouTubed replications of the feats of Howard's heroes? ;^)
> so I won't blink at it being achieved by a
> larger-than-life hero in a world of medieval
> escapism. A "battle axe" is, in its broadest
> sense, merely a combat axe as distinct from a
> utility axe, so there is no need to blink at this
> one being sufficiently light and balanced to be
> thrown effectively by a strong man.
>
> I'm not sure why "bad guy" is in scare quotes.
> The baron is a traitor responsible for the death
> of Cormac's friend, and so Cormac seeks revenge.
> Perhaps this is not the best motive in the world,
> nor Cormac the most engaging of heroes, but it is
> what it is.
Diverging here to two things I noticed, one in Worms, now in this present thread, and is related in two ways to another instance I recall.
Long ago I read a Conan (I believe) story which explained his expulsion from his own tribe. It seems like the tribe was attending the execution (by burning) of a young tribeswoman who was the lover of a pirate who had preyed upon the tribe. In this segment there is: a) the motif of the condemned looking imploringly at the hero for deliverance (as in Worms with the crucified Pict); b) the throwing of an edged weapon to achieve a quick end.
I wonder if ardent readers of Howard have noted recognizable instances of either implored deliverance from a painful death by a swifter death; and the fairly heroic throwing of an edged weapon to achieve a sudden surprise end to a given situation.
Further, I wonder if there are recurring instances of the hero of the story mercy killing as an act of empathy and humanity.
--Sawfish
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"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
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