Sword & Sorcery Stories You Might Have Missed XII

The Guardian of the Vault

“The Guardian of the Vault” by Paul Spencer (Years’ Best Fantasy 2, 1976) is a story chosen by Lin Carter for this anthology. Spencer is a long-time fan and occasional writer. Carter credits him with suggesting Evangeline Walton and Hope Mirless for the Ballantine Fantasy Series. This story seems to be set in Clark Ashton Smith’s Poseidonis, a version of Atlantis. Narac is one of a pair of guards for a seal that holds a terrible demon under control. Narac tells us how the tower monster was created by the sorcerer Agastor, but trapped in the vault by another, Numidon. A strange visitor makes a good foil for the re-telling of this information.

Unfortunately, Narac’s new partner hasn’t shown up yet. The woman named Aelitha, her flowing red hair almost a living thing, flees to the tower, followed by pirates. Narac tries to keep her safe, waiting for reinforcements. The pirates who chase her pound on the door with a tree, making Narac draw his sword and fight the two ravagers. Only they disappear as the seal breaks and the monster rises. The creature laughs like a woman with red hair.

The sardonic ending is predictable but certainly Smithian. Aelitha reminds me both of other Smith villianesses as well as C. L. Moore’s medusa-like alien from “Shambleau”. Lin Carter also wrote CAS tales around this time to fill out the Auburn poet’s mythologies.

Hungry Grass

“Hungry Grass” by Keith Taylor (Swords Against Darkness V, 1979) is a tale set in the same world as Taylor’s Bard stories. The hero isn’t a bard but a Firbolg slave named Nasach. His master is Sgeol. He isn’t too happy when he finds Nasach having it with a bond-girl in the hayloft. The master tries to beat him but Nasach strangles him and hides his body in the hay.

The rest of the tale is Nasach’s escape from the Orkney Island where he has been a slave for seven years. If he can steal a boat he can get away. He has to take out two guards who don’t know that their master is dead. Once the corpse is discovered the men and hounds come after him. The dogs are no problem. They dogs know Nasach well and he takes control of them.

He flees for the coast when he comes across the “Hungry Grass” or Fear gortac. When Nasach steps into the enchanted spot he collapses, consumed with ravenous hunger. The only way to escape is to eat something but the slave has taken no food with him. He searches his pack out of desperation and finds a single grain of wheat. It is enough. He is free. Now he waits for those following him to fall into the deadly trap. He is torn. He has lived on the island for seven years and knows he should flee, leaving them to die but he still has some compassion for them. He waits.

Several of the pursuers end up in the hungry grass but some don’t. Nasach, armed with a spear, takes out most of them. Taylor describes the fight in exact detail, knowing how weapons actually work. (In Andrew J. Offutt’s intro, he talks about Taylor’s research and logic along these lines.) In the end, he has a vicious duel with Morca, Uthaire and Tarb before making it to the sea. The slavers never see him again.

The tale is mostly one of combat and history with the only fantastic element being the enchanted grass. In another author I would call this a weak outing but Taylor’s grasp of history and character make it so much more. I have yet to be disappointed by anything Taylor ever wrote.

The Nun and the Demon

“The Nun and the Demon” by Grania Davis (Heroic Visions, 1983) is that most delightful of Fantasy tales, one set in a location that isn’t Medieval Europe. Davis writes about a young warrior nun who lives in the mountains of Tibet. Editor, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, points out that Davis wrote a novel, The Rainbow Annals also set in the land of monks, before this. She quotes the author: “The theme of repressed/transformed sexuality is a common  one in Asian philosophy. Tantric, Buddhist, and Taoist practices provide many examples of sublimated libido energy as a basis for spiritual, creative, and martial arts. Thus the celibate nun or monk becomes a very intense and dynamic figure in oriental literature, unlike the syrupy Bing Crosby priestly teddy-bear image of the West.”

We follow our nameless hero as she gives up a life of marital slavery for a chance to study as a nun. She is tricked by a lecherous old monk and sold into slavery as a serving girl. She escapes, joins the monastery where she works hard every day. One day she meets a young priest and tries not to fall in love with him. To resist her urges, she takes up the task of fighting her demons and staying true to her ways.

To do this she journeys into the mountains, surviving swollen rivers and biting cold. She does a long ceremony to summon a three-headed demon, taunting it to enjoy her flesh. The young priest comes. She lies with him but discovers he is actually a demon. She fights the slow beast with her glass dagger, killing it at last. She wonders if the demon had been the young man all along or if the creature had tricked her into killing her love. She will never know.

The story ends with the young nun not returning to the nunnery but wandering the hills, semi-mad, seeking more demons. The ending feels more like a ghost story than a Sword & Sorcery tale, but it is certainly a heroic fantasy whatever you call it. The image of the warrior nun became popular in comic books around the same time.

Wolf Hunt

“Wolf Hunt” by Bobbi Miller (Sword &Sorceress VI, 1990) is one of three wolf-themed stories in this collection. The editor expresses her love of wolves and dogs, one I share. I quite like S&S tales that feature werewolves. Classics include “The White Beast” by Roger Zelazny (Dilvish the Damned), “Buried Silver” by Keith Taylor (Felmid Mac Fal) and “Reflections for the Winter of My Soul” by Karl Edward Wagner (Kane). Miller’s tale is welcome company.

Isabeau is a sword maiden walking the forest, hunting the wolf. She has made a deal with the merchant Keth. If she can free the wood of the beast, he will remove the price on her head. She is armed with a magic rowan staff that has enough power to kill the unkillable monster. Her first encounter is with another hunter, one that seeks the bounty on her head. She easily defeats him and sends him packing, sans coat and boots.

Next she comes to the home of a druid named Laurent. He claims to not be a druid and sings her a sad story on his harp about two brothers who comes to blows over their father’s love. Isabeau realizes he is singing his own story, he, the older brother who slayed his kin.

The beast attacks in the night. Isabeau grabs her staff and pursues. She finds a dead body, mangled. At first she thinks it is Laurent but a knife tells her it is the hunter she had disrobed the day before. She finds Laurent, injured from the monster’s attack. Isabeau carries him to hut and sews up his injuries. Laurent claims he can not die though he wishes he could.

This proves to be true as he turns into the wolf. Isabeau repels him with her staff. He flees into the night. She follows only to be attacked again. This time the demon inside the wolf tries to claim her. She draws on the power inside her staff to fight. The monster assumes Keth’s appearance then becomes the witch that is behind everything. The power inside the staff ends the duel for now. Isabeau isn’t sure if the victory is complete. The woods have been freed but the witch may exist still. She leaves, a price still on her head.

“Wolf Hunt” is a classic battle between warrior and foe, but it is also a Gordian knot of mysterious details. Miller cleverly feeds you clues as to what is really going on, only revealing all at the end like any good Mystery tale does.

Coronach of the Bell

“Coronach of the Bell” by Christopher Stasheff (Fantasy: DAW 30th Anniversary, 2002) is a strange choice for me. I read the story and didn’t like it. I don’t usually choose material I dislike. I try to be positive. But when I tried to figure out why I didn’t like the story I realized it made me think a lot. What could be better in a short story that it should stick in your brain like celery strings in your teeth?

The plot follows a bullied man named Manninglore. He leaves the clan and builds a magician’s lair on a mountain. His only god is the Wind. He lives many lives in seclusion, ignoring the clanspeople below. The valley folk resent the magician at first but slowly over time come to revere him. The dwarfish Manninglore is unaware of these changes.

Finally, the wizard decides he wants to talk directly to the Wind. The breeze tells him he is a failure. Manninglore does more fantastic things, including writing a book on every subject. Still the Wind says he has failed because he has forgotten the clanspeople. The dwarf returns home but finds them dying even though he had cleared the pines so their corn would grow better. The clan is doomed and Manninglore is simply too late to do anything about it. He hangs a bell on the last pine. End in sadness.

My first reaction was this was another version of Poe’s “Hop-Frog” but one where he doesn’t take revenge. Then I thought it was a re-write of Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch That Stole Christmas. What if the Grinch had simply ignored the Whos? Ultimately, I think Stasheff is discussing the weird dance any artist does with their audience. We work in solitude, often finding too much exposure to fans harmful to the creative process. But the story begs the question: what good is it to be an artist who ignores their audience? I suppose it is a cautionary tale for creative types, not to distance yourself too much from those who enjoy your work.

Conclusion

These stories all appeared in anthologies, the largest publishing venue for Sword & Sorcery as the 1970s became the 1980s and beyond. In decades previously, magazines were the primary location for stories, then comic books. For fiction, the anthologies were important especially as the 1990s saw overt S&S disappear. The fact that anthologies like Sword &Sorceress ran from 1984 to 2019 is amazing. With thirty-four volumes, this series is the largest collection of S&S ever. Every time I take a dip in these books I find a gem worthy of mention here.