C. L. Moore was famous in several ways, first as a writer of space opera, then as half of the Science Fiction team “Lewis Padgett”. Her contribution to S&S is not voluminous but fine, indeed. She created the first, and perhaps the best, female fantasy swords-person, in Jirel of Joiry. Robert E. Howard gave her character homage in his Red Agnes yarns.
Jirel is as fiery a character as Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian. She rules her small medieval French kingdom of Joiry by sword and cunning. This lifestyle often takes her into contact with the magical in the form of gods, weird dimensions and strange creatures.
The saga of Jirel is part of Sword & Sorcery’s origins in the Pulps, but it is actually the writer, A. Merritt that is the wellspring of her imagination, not Howard. Moore’s style in the majority of the tales has that same “fruit caky” or “lush, art nouveau prose” (to quote Baird Searles) that may or may not be to taste. I find she is a master at evoking weird images that others can not (the same for Merritt). The feel is different than Howard’s prose but no less useful.
“The Black God’s Kiss” (Weird Tales October 1934) opens with Guillaume and his forces taking Joiry in battle. The conqueror wishes to see the man who leads only to find it is a woman, Jirel, the red-headed warrior-woman. Guillaume kisses her savagely, as a promise of what her fate holds. Jirel escapes her prison and finds Brother Gervase, a priest who once explored the depths of Joiry with her mistress. Going through a weird transdimensional portal, Jirel finds herself in a world of bizarre creatures and unGodly evil. There she seeks a weapon with which to destroy Guillaume. She finds it in the Black God’s kiss, which she delivers to her enemy, only to discover the weapon is too great, and her emotions misunderstood.
This tale holds a unique place in Sword & Sorcery history. It is the first tale to be written within the new genre not written by Robert E. Howard. (He was quite enthusiastic about it. He sent a copy of “Sword Woman” to Moore after this story appeared.) It is the first tale of a female S&S hero as well, since Moore would not stoop to mere pastiche. All the other sword- women who followed would be in her mold: Red Sonja, Bloodsong, Xena, etc. Most important of all, Moore showed that S&S did not have to follow blindly after Conan’s footsteps.
In “The Black God’s Shadow” (Weird Tales December 1934) Jirel of Joiry must return to the land of the Black God because the soul of Guillaume cries out in agony. Once there, she chases his black shadow by streams that try to capture her, through woods haunted by shadow-eating trees, and eventually she must fight the Black God in his temple to win the prize she seeks, Guillaume’s peace.
This story finishes the story arc begun in “Black God’s Kiss”. Jirel can not dabble in sorcery and come away unstained. Guillaume’s soul calls her back to the evil land of the Black God. Moore is smart enough to know that the terrors of the weird landscape must be different so nothing she experienced before is the same this time except for the killer sunlight. The evil shadows are reminiscent of those in A. Merritt’s Creep Shadow! (1934). Moore acknowledged him as the writer who inspired her to try her hand at writing.
“Jirel Meets Magic” (Weird Tales, July 1935) has Jirel following the wizard Giraud into a magical world that is ruled by an evil sorceress named Jarisme. Jirel witnesses Jarisme kill a dryad. The dying dryad gives Jirel an amulet that will help her to seek vengeance.
After many attempts to get into the same space with Jarisme (who keeps disappearing through magic doors and appearing as phantom monsters such as a purple phantom snake and a sabertooth tiger) Jirel finally confronts her, only to be told she is going to be sacrificed in the most horrible manner possible. Jarisme summons many different monsters from other worlds through her magic doors then begins the ceremony that will trap Jirel in her own body and force her to relive her worst experiences.
Using the amulet, Jirel destroys the magic sphere that Jarisme is using. Only Jirel and Giraud escape the destruction when Jarisme’s god, Urda-sla, demolishes the castle. Giraud is stupid enough to try and blind Jirel with a spell. She kills him without using her sight before returning home.
This story lacks the novelty of the first two tales but it does have an interesting similarity to Henry Kuttner’s Elak story “Beyond the Phoenix” (Weird Tales, October 1938). The similarity is in the villainess trying to sacrifice the hero to evil gods that are more than a little Lovecraftian. For Moore it is Urda-sla and Kuttner it is Baal-yagoth. I’m not suggesting Kuttner ripped off Moore–only that both were fans of H. P. Lovecraft and A. Merritt as well as Robert E. Howard. The two would begin a correspondence, that would eventually lead to marriage and colloboration, until Kuttner wrote her a fan letter in 1936.
“The Dark Land” (Weird Tales January 1936) has Jirel on death’s door from a pike wound. She wakes up to find herself in another dimension, that of the dark land of Romne. She meets Pav, the god-king of Romne, who insists she marry him and become his queen. Jirel refuses but his powerful magic threatens to smash her resistance. She begs to be allowed to go into Romne to seek a weapon against him. In his arrogance, he agrees.
Jirel sees a mountain and instantly appears there. She comes across a woman who is entirely white like a bleached corpse. This witch is Pav’s former lover. The corpse-witch finds out Jirel’s predicament and plans to kill her. Jirel stops her by offering to kill Pav. The witch explains how this can be done. Jirel must use her unseen flame which burns around her to smother the ring of blue flame that crowns Pav’s head.
Pav arrives and the witch flees by spinning herself until she becomes mist. Going back to Pav’s castle, Jirel can hear the corpse-witch’s instructions. She is to ask Pav for a wedding gown. While he does this Jirel uses her own flame to conquer his, causing the entire world to disappear. The corpse-witch explains that Romne is Pav, so when Jirel destroyed his flame she destroyed the illusion he uses to keep her sane. Now she will see Pav’s real form, a fiery mass of energy that comes close to driving her out of her mind. Pav sends Jirel back to her own world in the nick of time.
“Quest of the Starstone” (Weird Tales, 1937) with Henry Kuttner is a team-up story featuring Jirel and C. L. Moore’s other titan of the Pulps, Northwest Smith. (It was also the first collaboration between the pair.) Jirel breaks into Franga’s castle and corners him in a chamber where the Starstone is hidden. Jirel and her men have endured a long siege for this shining bauble. Franga escapes but Jirel wins the glowing stone. The wizard promises her he will get his revenge when he sends a champion to kill her. Jirel, in best warrior-woman style, basically says “Bring it!”
We cut to Northwest Smith and his sidekick, Yarel, bored and drinking in a Martian bar. Smith is feeling homesick for Earth, but he is a wanted man so he can not return there. Or so he thinks. Franga appears on the shining surface of a wall and draws him through a portal to Jirel’s Medieval France. He has returned to Earth, just not at his time.
Yarel follows N.W. through the doorway. They both meet Franga, who teaches Smith a magical spell to open the doorway into another realm where Franga is very powerful. It is Smith’s job to get Jirel there. The Starstone can not be taken by force but must be given by choice. It is Smith’s job to get the stone and give it to Franga. Smith does this by boldly walking up to her castle gate. The guards bring him in when he speaks of treasure. He lies to Jirel to get her alone. He casts the spell and all three end up in a weird black-sky world.
When Franga shows up for the stone, Smith has a change of heart. He sees Jirel is a beautiful, strong-willed warrior and deserves better treatment. Franga leaves, damning them to live in the horrible realm where there is neither food nor drink. Smith thinks to use the spell that Franga taught him but he can’t remember it. It has magical dissipated from his mind.
They start walking. The trio come across a weird brown mummy. It has a dog-like face. It turns out to be not-so-dead and begins to follow them. It is not alone. They are surrounded and Smith and Yarol destroy the brown creatures with their heat guns.
They come to a hill and begin to climb. While ascending a rock face, Franga shows up and freezes Smith’s hands to the rocks. Yarel, above him is also frozen. Franga threatens to kill Smith for he sees something between the two. Jirel is going to give up the stone willingly when Smith kicks it out of her hand. The Starstone smashes, releasing a living, magical being. In thanks, the being grants one wish before disappearing into the universe. Smith wishes they were all home. He wakes to find himself back in the Martian bar where he started in. He realizes the woman who loved him is separated by centuries of time and on another planet.
This story doesn’t have the same moody feel of the others. It is more of a romp, feeling like it was written largely by Kuttner perhaps. It is fun but only the brown mummies come close to creepy. Smith’s actions are often questionable. Yarol is mere comic relief, constantly wishing for a drink.
“Hellsgarde” (Weird Tales April 1939) has Jirel go to the haunted castle, Hellesgarde, in search of Andred’s treasure to buy back her men from Guy of Garlot. Andred, the lord who was murdered there hundreds of years ago is said to haunt the place.
When she arrives she finds the place is not so empty. It is inhabited by Alaric and his retainers, all of which possess a weird taint. They capture Jirel and force her to stand on the blood stain which marks where Andred died. His ghost appears briefly in a cyclone of angry force.
Jirel is locked up for the night but kills her guard and escapes. She returns to the spot where Andred died and summons him, this time leaving her body and traveling to a dark place where he keeps his treasure.
Jirel returns to her body to find Alaric and his kin lying about, sated in some way. They have feasted on the undeath of Andred’s ghost, devouring him. Jirel is allowed to leave with the treasure, which they do not want, but Alaric warns her not to open the small leather box. She decides she will give it to Guy of Garlot and let him open it.
This tale was the last of the Jirel stories, appearing five years after the first. It feels different in tone from the rest but contains a real neat idea. Moore moved away from Fantasy to write Science Fiction with her husband, Henry Kuttner, under several pseudonyms. Jirel of Joiry never inspired direct pastiches the way the Conan stories did. Moore’s dreamy adventures are harder to copy. Her spirit certainly wasn’t forgotten though, for characters like Red Sonja owe most of their inspiration to Moore, not Howard.
