Although The Cimmerian’s days are numbered, the legacy and works of Robert E. Howard will live on and on. The TC print journal and its accompanying blog did their part to preserve his legacy, and I was proud to be a part of it, but we were literally laboring in the shadow of a giant who will continue be read for as long as the world exists.

With my days as a TC blogger winding down I thought I’d get back to the reasons why I (and perhaps if I may be so bold, extend that to the plural we) love the life and works of REH—and why he continues to enthrall us.

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THE SHIPS OF HY-BRASIL

Part 2 of 2

In Part 1 of “The Ships of Hy-Brasil” we learned that Howard’s poem “The Isle of Hy-Brasil” is more than a historical narration of this island and its myth. As stated previously, “Isle” 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. The ships discussed in Part 1 include the galleon, the coracle, the trireme, the galley, an ancient barge-boat, and the pirate ships: the brigantine, the caravel, the carrack and finally the frigate. Part 2 begins with the bireme.

And there’s a sturdy bireme that sailed to the Holy Land.

The Bireme

The Bireme is a galley type ship with two bank of oars that was especially used by the Greeks and Phoenicians. The ship had a hull of wood and was used for both shipping and naval warfare possibly as early as 350 bc It was configured with a single square rigged sail, short mast. The two banks of oars provided man-powered propulsion in case of calm waters or for better control in battles. The bronze armored ram on the bow of the ship was designed to be driven deep into an enemy ship. In addition to the small number of crew required, there could hold as many as 45 sailors during combat as well as additional fighting men on the main deck who were ready to board enemy vessels that had been rammed. Top speed was approximately seven knots.

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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.

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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.

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troll

noun

1. a dwarf or giant in Scandinavian folklore inhabiting caves or hills.

According to a 1908 encyclopedia: “Trolls are dwarfs of Northern mythology, living in hills or mounds; they are represented as stumpy, misshapen, and humpbacked, inclined to thieving, and fond of carrying off children or substituting one of their own offspring for that of a human child. They are called hill-people, and are especially averse to noise, from a recollection of the time when Thor used to fling his hammer at them.”

[origin: 1616; Norwegian troll and Dan trold, from Old Norse troll giant, demon; probably akin to Middle High German trolle lout]

HOWARD’S USAGE:

There’s a bell that hangs in a hidden cave
Under the heathered hills
That knew the tramp of the Roman feet
And the clash of the Pictish bills.

It has not rung for a thousand years,
To waken the sleeping trolls,
But God defend the sons of men
When the bell of the Morni tolls.

[from “Bell of Morni”; for the complete poem see The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 193]

Courtesy of the indispensable Coming Attractions website:

The shirt design above is by award winning artist David Burton. It is the art chosen by Project Pride –the Robert E. Howard Museum of Cross Plains, TX. — for the 2010 annual Robert E. Howard Days. Project Pride helps maintain the Robert E. Howard House and Museum.

The image is printed on a nice gray t-shirt and is now available. Shirts are eighteen dollars (this includes postage). They’ll ship the next day upon receiving payment. Shirts come in all ADULT sizes from S to 3X. Make the checks or money orders to: Project Pride and send to: PO Box 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443.

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dragon

noun

1. A mythical being traditionally represented as a gigantic winged reptile with a huge claws and scaly skin, usually breathing fire and smoke and spitting poison.

[origin: 13th century; Middle English, from Old French, dragun, from Latin draco, dracon-, large serpent, from Greek drakon serpent; akin to Old English torht bright, Greek derkesthai to see, to look at]

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gryphon (variant of griffin)

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Previous Posts In This Series:

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

This writer’s previous post on Uther (as REH, perhaps, envisioned him) – born Eutherius, possibly in Orleans, and a witness at the age of eleven to the crucial Battle of Chalons against Attila’s Huns — dealt with his background, his world, and the situation in which he found himself as a young man. The Huns were no longer a menace, but the Franks to the north, Visigoths to the south and wild Saxon pirates along the western coasts, made the word “secure” a joke. Aegidius was the ruler of the “Roman Kingdom” north of the river Loire, centred on Soissons, and he needed help badly. It came to him from an unexpected direction.

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Of songs sung on the Western frontier, most of them, especially cowboy songs, originated in Texas, since that state was the first Anglo-American region to truly deserve the designation of “West” in the proper sense. Texas songs went up the Chisholm with the longhorn herds and spread all over the West, being changed in other states to correspond with the locality in which they were sung. Other songs – hunter’s and rivermen’s – came through the Middle-West. A few originated in America, most were old British ballads changed by ignorance or intent, taken from, and added to, to suit the minstrels’ notions. Its strange how old some of those songs are, and how long the old ballads lingered.

– Robert E. Howard to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. October 1931

Sixty-four years after Robert E. Howard touched on the connection between his beloved cowboy songs and the British Isles from whence his bloodline hailed, an ace mandolin player from Alberta, Canada, embarked on what was then a unique project. David Wilkie and The McDades blended cowboy songs with traditional “Celtic” instrumentation — the tin whistle, the harp, the fiddle, and, of course Wilkie’s mandolin in an infectious CD titled “Cowboy Celtic.”

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