Paul Herman wrote:
> What was it, Men of the Shadows, where more than
> half the story is telling the background of the Picts in a dream sequence?
Farnsworth Wright to REH, 16 March 1926
"Dear Mr. Howard: -
"I thoroughly enjoyed MEN OF THE SHADOWS, but I fear I can not use it in WEIRD
TALES. It is too little of a "story," despite the vigorous action in the
opening pages. It is rather a chronicle of a tribe, a picture of the evolution
of a race; and thereby it lacks the suspense and thrill that a story of
individual conflict and hopes and fears and drama would have."
Leo Grin wrote:
> I agree that the pages Paul mentions in MEN OF THE SHADOWS are boring, very
> uncharacteristic REH.
>
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> It was a pretty early story, if I recall correctly.
>
Yes, probably written early in 1926, unless Patrice has come up with something
to call that into question. Most folks seem to agree with Wright -- I myself
called his criticism "just." The *story* is really that of the unnamed Norse
mercenary, and it kind of fizzles out. There's no real resolution. But looking
at the structure, it isn't that much different from "The Lost Race", is it?
(And we've now come to expect that we will see Bob reworking stories.) A
fighting man, away from his own homeland, captured by Picts and threatened with
death, saved by the intervention of a chief, has to listen to the story of the
Pictish race told by an aged shaman. One difference, of course, is that in "Men
of the Shadows" the "adventure" part of the story is better (at least, to my
tastes): in "The Lost Race," Cororuc basically just falls out of a tree, gets
lucky and beheads Buruc the Cruel, and then runs away. "Men of the Shadows"
opens with pitched battle (a very early example of Bob pulling back the curtain
on action already underway) and the Norseman and his colleagues have to battle
their way back to the Wall. His "back to the wall" stand is pretty good, I
think. Both stories kind of fizzle out when we get to the old geezer droning on
(kinda like how parties fizzle out when Indy and I get to reminiscing about the
old days....).
But "Men of the Shadows" is of utmost importance if you want to understand
Howard's conceptions of the Picts. In my opinion, this story is the Pictish
equivalent of "The Hyborian Age." On that level, to me anyway, it is very
exciting material, although I admit that it is not a great story (the way "Kings
of the Night" and "Worms of the Earth" are). It is background material. But
read the story of the Picts in "The Lost Race" and then their story in "Men of
the Shadows." Much richer, more detail -- and he pushes them much, much farther
back into remote prehistory. But then, you'll get to read much more of my
commentary on REH and the Picts in THE LAST KING -- to which I must once again
return my attention.
Rusty
