The Word of the Week Blog has appeared on The Cimmerian Blog each Monday since August 3, 2009. In May 2010, the format was slightly changed to include a monthly theme.  In the May introduction, it was mentioned the theme in June would be ships. Unfortunately, WotW will only post once this month. However, to fulfill that promise here is a two-part article on “The Ships of Hy-Brasil” from my February 2010 REHupa mailing based on the Robert E. Howard poem, “The Isle of Hy-Brasil.”  These will be the last two postings for Word of the Week on TC. Enjoy!

THE SHIPS OF HY-BRASIL
Part 1 of 2

In his poem, the “Isle of Hy-Brasil,” Robert E. Howard brings to life the fabled isle that existed even when the pre-historical islands of Atlantis and Lemuria were still afloat in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The isle, also known as Brazil, Hy-Brazil, and several other variants, is steeped in Irish myth. According to legend, it is a phantom island cloaked in mist, except for one day each seven years when it becomes visible but still unattainable. Similar in myth to that of St. Brendan’s Island [spelled Brandon in the poem], it is shown as being circular, often with a central strait or river running east-west across its diameter. Despite failure in the attempts to find Hy-Brasil/St. Brendan’s Island, it appeared regularly on maps lying southwest of Galway Bay from 1325 until 1865.

Howard’s poem “The Isle of Hy-Brasil” is more than a historical narration of this island and its myth. It essentially describes the many types of ships anchored along its shores. To envision the beauty of this ancient island shoreline when lined with these ships, pictures of each ship type as well as a description have been added below.

(Continue reading this post)

The Cimmerian had lost many of its leading voices on the road to its final year. Rob Roehm & Mark Finn went on to pastures new, Steve Tompkins departed to the Worlds Beyond Death, and Leo Grin was fading ever quicker from the realm of Howardom. Deuce Richardson and the bloggers had a formidable legacy to live up to, and they were determined to carry on the tradition of those giants in Howard scholarship.

The Cimmerian blog’s final year boasted new faces and new ideas, but was ever conscious of its mission.

(Continue reading this post)

As most of you probably know by now, The Cimmerian blog will be coming to an end on June 11. Both the original print journal and the blog version have been integral parts of Howard fandom and scholarship during this first decade of the twenty-first century and I am honored and humbled to have had a very tiny place in that legacy.

(Continue reading this post)

Three blockbuster years, and The Cimmerian Blog was gaining its own momentum as a scholarly entity apart from the esteemed journal which spawned it: with the TC journal entering its final volume and two crises jeopardizing its continuing existence, the blog was going to either spreads its wings, or dwindle into some blood-hued, blogospheric sunset.

(Continue reading this post)

Previous Posts In This Series:

1. “Uther Was A Black-Bearded Madman” Part 1

2. “Uther Was A Black-Bearded Madman” Part 2

3. “Uther Was A Black-Bearded Madman” Part 3

4. A Bloodstained Map of Britain

5. “Uther Was A Black-Bearded Madman” Part 4

(This is the final post in a series about the possible career of Uther Pendragon. I base it on hints and references, and rather derogatory comments by Gaelic pirate Cormac Mac Art, concerning Uther in REH’s stories of Cormac, “Tigers of the Sea” and “The Temple of Abomination”. The previous posts can be linked above. All of it is speculation and guesswork by this writer, extrapolating from statements in REH’s stories and fragments. Wherever any part of REH’s background, or the personages, conflict with accepted history, I’ve taken the Howard version as being correct in this context.

At the end of the previous article, Uther had established himself in Britain, though none too securely. His base was the region known as Dorset today. Immediately to the east of him lay the realm of Cerdic in southern Hampshire, and to the west, Dumnonia, the kingdom ruled by Gorlois. Uther had made an enemy of Gorlois already by sacking Isca (Exeter) upon arriving in Britain, and then at what was putatively a peace conference, he had bedded Gorlois’ young queen, Igraine. Now, as they say, read on … )

(Continue reading this post)

Ouketi is the transliteration of the Greek word meaning “no longer” or “no more.” It suggests the end of the old ways and the beginning of something new. It means a change. When prior events have been painful, the change can be positive. However, a haunting lament echoes and goodbyes become painful when an enjoyable experience ends.

On June 11th, the death knell will sound for The Cimmerian Blog. Another blow to REH fandom that comes almost eighteen months after The Cimmerian published its last print issue.

While the word ouketi may apply to the future of The Cimmerian Blog, its past is rich with memories that will survive.  As his many fans well know, Robert E. Howard’s prose and poetry were filled with passion and depth. Many of the articles and essays that appeared on the TC Blog also reflected those qualities. They contributed to our knowledge of Bob Howard and explored questions about his life, his loves and who he was. They examined his words and looked at how and why he chose the ones he did. Some of the TC essays were thought provoking. Some of them were just plain provoking; so much so that at times I wished I could crawl through the electronic circuits and “strangle” the writer.

(Continue reading this post)

With two World Fantasy Award nominations under the journal’s belt and some of its bloggers now displaying well-deserved awards, The Cimmerian Blog’s third year started off well.

(Continue reading this post)

I am still puzzled as to how far the individual counts: a lot, I fancy, if he pushes the right way.

– T.E. Lawrence

The First World War smashed the heroic ideal of the individual warrior under massed artillery barrages, chopped it down on the Somme and drowned it in the mud of Passchendaele.

(Continue reading this post)

The Cimmerian blog’s first year was a good one, fueled by the buzz around Howard’s Centennial, the World Fantasy Convention, and the print journal’s nominations for the World Fantasy Award. Year Two would be just as eventful.

(Continue reading this post)

The history of The Cimmerian journal is storied, and well worth the perusal at the dedicated section on this site. Some of the very best of Howard scholarship in the last decade — even the best Howard scholarship full stop — can be found locked in those now-rare pages. In August of 2005, over a year after the TC journal’s introduction, Leo saw fit to start an online web log for news, information and contact details for the journal. There started the journey of The Cimmerian blog.

This is the first in a five part series charting the history, growth, and expansion of The Cimmerian web log. Each part will look at the blog over the course of a year since its inception in August 2005, and will concentrate on the highlights that most illustrate the state of the blog at that time.

(Continue reading this post)