tannibal_lecter

I remember seeing an advertisement for a stand-alone copy of Marchers of Valhalla, even though it’s not long enough to be a novel. The image was a striking depiction of Viking warriors marching against a blowing wind in what appeared to be a desert (or the American Midwest). I only own one copy of the story, in the Baen collection Eons of the Night. I don’t know how “true” it is, since the Baen books were known for using less-than-pure REH. Years ago, I think around 2002 or 2003, I began reading the story but only got a few pages in. I have thought about it from time to time, but never got around to actually reading it again. The story is about Viking progenitors (proto-Scandinavians) who are driven by their wanderlust through Asia, across the Bering Strait, and down into North America where they encounter ancient civilization and betrayal. 2.5 Characters Satisfactory with positive exceptions The characters are typical Howard, which means the protagonist is a violent, bloody-handed barbarian and the villains are remnants of an ancient, decayed civilization. Hialmar, the hero, even maintains a close friend who is a Pict (compare with Kull and Brule (the Kull stories), or Niord and Grom (The Valley of the Worm). The only really interesting exchange, for me, is when Hialmar challenges Asgrimm, the chief of the tribe, over a woman. I do like that Hialmar is even less restrained than Conan or other Howard characters. He is probably the most savage barbarian I have ever read about from REH. 3 Pace Good Despite the cookie-cutter characters, the story is interesting because it moves quickly. Howard’s ability to create incredible scenes and epic structures without spending time describing them is on display (though not fully refined). 2.5 Story Satisfactory with positive exceptions The basic plot is something any REH fan is familiar with- barbarians fighting, drinking, and eventually betrayed by a wicked and decayed civilization. There are some aspects here that keep this interesting though… The story is an attempt to give Texas a deeper and more ancient history. Howard dreamed of fantastic places, and though he adored his native Texas, he seemed to suffer an inferiority complex in that local history only went as far back as the Conquistadores. This adventure also ties Conan’s pre-historical world with the modern world, thus it fits nicely into Howard’s essay The Hyborian Age. I also wonder if Howard used this story as an outline of sorts for the Conan adventure Red Nails. 3 Dialogue Good The dialogue in the story doesn’t seem special at first, but then a reader realizes that it feels natural, and that’s not an easy thing to do when the people talking are proto-Scandinavians or the long lost members of an ancient civilization. Howard also has a “bail-out” in the form of the story narrator, James Allison. Because he is a modern, educated man, he can ascribe particular feelings and thoughts to Hialmar that Hialmar himself probably could never have articulated or realized. 3 Style/Technical Good I think this story is rougher than Howard’s later works, but it’s still well written. Many people have decried the framing and the use of James Allison (I believe “clunky” is one word that is used), but it doesn’t bother me so much. The Allison stories are certainly not my favorite Howard yarns, but in some ways they are the truest, in the sense that Howard felt like James Allison. I think he desperately wished for the memories of past adventures from previous lives to keep him company and bolster his ego. 2.8 Overall Satisfactory with positive exceptions Although Marchers isn’t my favorite Howard story, and the story is generic, Howard was able to make it exciting. The battle against the “people of the islands” is exciting, the red-haired enemy is mysterious, and you just know the people of the city are eventually going to turn against Hialmar and his people. Howard wanted to live a life of adventure, and this story is an excellent example of his dreams. But he framed it in the perspective of a character not unlike himself, James Allison. This makes the story more personal. It is, I believe, a tale motivated by feelings of inferiority; Howard wanted Texas to be more than it was, and he wanted more out of himself. I think Howard was really engaging in an experiment though. On one hand, he liked to explore the concept of lost civilizations. On the other he wanted to write about Texas, and this early attempt is mingling the geographic area with the Nordic barbarians he loved to write about. Later he decided that the geographic area wasn’t as important as the flavor, and thus turned to writing such masterpieces as Beyond the Black River (which is little more than a Texas cowboy story told in the world of Conan).

2023-01-28 15:57