The Original Thongor Stories

The original Thongor stories by Lin Carter sometimes get ignored because they were not collected with the original six novels. The Thongor novels began in 1965 with The Wizard of Lemuria. The series ended in 1970 with the sixth, Thongor Fights the Pirates of Tarakus. During that run and after it, Carter wrote a series of short stories about Thongor of Valkarth. The first, “Thieves of Zangabal” appeared in The Mighty Barbarians edited by Hans Stefan Santesson for Lancer Books in 1969.

Thieves of Zangabal

Thongor the Barbarian is hired by Kaman Thuu, a scheming priest, to steal a magic mirror from the home of the magician, Athmar Phong. Protected by the Shield of Cathloda, Thongor must vanguish the wizard’s guardian, a bird-like demon as well as the master of the house! Athmar Phong’s guardian appears at first as a beautiful captive and steals Thongor’s magical amulet. The monster has the ability to turn into anything it chooses, making its hide hard as steel. Thongor shatters it into pieces with the Shield of Cathloda’s force field. Thousands of years ago this demon was placed inside a black mirror by the wizard Zaffar. Athmar Phong uses the demon’s power to work his magic but when the mirror is destroyed by the Shield of Cathloda (which nullifies all spells near it) Aqquoonkagua is released and takes his vengeance on Athmar Phong. Thongor and Ald Thurmis flee the tower which falls around them.

Thongor Follows Conan

Lin Carter did not invent the idea of a barbarian hired to do a home invasion on a wizard. Robert E. Howard did it originally in “Rogues in the House” (Weird Tales, January 1934) and to a lesser degree in “Tower of the Elephant” (Weird Tales, March 1933). Henry Kuttner used a similar structure for his Elak story “Spawn of Dagon” (Weird Tales, July 1938). Not surprisingly Larry Niven none-too-gently pokes this plot in the eye with his “Not Long Before the End” (Fantasy & Science Fiction, April 1969), which appeared the same year as “Thieves of Zangabal”. It is unlikely it was Carter’s story he was lampooning because of the date of publication. Niven may have been inspired by Howard’s original, “Rogues in the House” which was included in Conan (Lancer Books, 1968).

Thieves of Zangabal” was adapted by Val Mayerik in 1973 for Creatures on the Loose #22 and 23. This comic has personal significance for me. It was the first Sword & Sorcery comic I ever owned.

The Keeper of the Emerald Flame

“The Keeper of the Emerald Flame” appeared in The Might Swordsmen also edited by Hans Stefan Santessen in 1970.

Dorgand Thul and his men are in pursuit of Thongor and his bandits. The soldiers come across a skull on a pole bearing a sinister red mark. They turn back, knowing that Thongor is approaching the cursed lands of Shan Chan Thuu, the Keeper of the Emerald Flame and are as good as dead. Thongor sees his pursuers retreat but continues on toward the legendary castle of the sorcerer, thinking of his abandoned treasure.

That night they camp in a old ruin where Thongor notices someone lurking. He captures the spy. It proves to be a jungle girl named Zoroma. She is looking for her missing lover. Thongor and his men go to Shan Chan Thuu’s black citadel, taking Zoroma with them. The castle is immense, ancient and probably a vestige of the Dragon Kings who once ruled Lemuria. They don’t find any treasure and camp down for the night. In the dark one man goes missing. Thongor finds the man’s blood and guts scattered over the walls of a certain room. Another man disappears the next night and the thieves think of leaving.

Looking For Wizard Treasure

The third night Zoroma disappears and Thongor follows her trail. He finds the bloody room again and explores it. He finds a hatch in the floor that leads to a secret wizard’s laboratory. He finds Zoroma there, too. She has discovered that her lover died like the other two men. Thongor explores the wizard’s treasure, which includes a heavy belt with green crystals on it. Each crystal burns with a living soul. Thongor takes the belt but a skeletal hand grabs his foot. Shan Chan Thuu reveals himself to be an animated mummy.

Thongor begins a desperate struggle with the mummified sorcerer that ends with Shan Chan Thuu strangling him. Zoroma snaps out of it (at last!) and dumps a vial of acid on the mummy. Shan Chan Thuu catches on fire and burns up. The emeralds on the belt lose their magical quality. Thongor leads his men and Zoroma out of the black citadel and towards the jungle and food and water. When Chelim, his lieutenant complains of not finding the treasure, Thongor shares out the gems and coins he took from the vault.

ERB or REH?

The Thongor short stories seem more Conan-esque than the novels which have a stronger Edgar Rice Burroughs feel to them. Carter goes for a lot of atmosphere in this piece, not so much action or monsters. Chronologically this story takes place before Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria. Thongor is only about 19 years old.

The Black Hawk of Valkarth

“The Black Hawk of Valkarth” appeared in Ted White’s Fantastic, September 1974. After the Snow Bear Clan wipes out Thongor’s people, the Black Hawk Clan, he buries his family and covers them with a cairn. That finished, he begins tracking his enemies. Thongor is only fifteen and has not yet taken his dreamquest on the mountain.

In following his attackers he climbs a high peak and encounters a spiritual Snow Bear that attacks him. He fights with his father’s ancient blade but he can not hurt the thing. A dream hawk attacks the bear and defeats it. Thongor has witnessed his clan totem defeat the Snow Bear totem. Thongor has now finished his initiation and continues following the Snow Bear Clan. He finds them in a valley so he cuts the snow above carefully to start an avalanche, killing all the warriors and any captured victims, no longer worthy to be called Black Hawk Clan. Thongor has his revenge.

A good origin story though Carter’s logic that Thongor would not want to save anyone who was taken captive seems a little shaky. Carter chose it for the first of his Years’ Best collections.

The City in the Jewel

“The City in the Jewel” also appeared in Fantastic, December 1975. Thongor flees three dragons that chase him from the Mountains of Mommur, which he was crossing after the battle that wiped out his clan. He runs and is prepared to sell his life dearly but the dragons turn back when he approached seven stone pillars on the plains.

Inside this circle is a gigantic gem which contains a city. Thongor sleeps then hears the gem calling to him. He touches it and is sucked down into the city of Ithomaar. He lands in a garden filled with unicorns. He is arrested by the bird-headed soldiers and disarmed of his sword, Sarkozan. He is taken to the citadel where he is imprisoned.

Inside the City

There he meets Yllimdus, once the counsellor of the ruling wizard, Zazamanc. Yllimdus’s face has been entirely removed by evil sorcery. Yllimdus tells Thongor that he must be taken to Zazamanc and his fate would be decided. He also explains the city in the jewel dwells eternally without death, the weather and day unchanged for all time.

Thongor meets Zazamanc and is sent to the arena to fight the sorcerer’s hybrid monsters. There, Thongor is introduced to Jothar Jorn, master of the gladiators. One of the gladiators chooses to pick on Thongor but the lad, only seventeen, breaks his jaw. He is left alone and even makes friends with the other fighters. Thongor is trained in many new weapons but Thongor demands to have his long sword back. Jothar relents and lets him have it, perhaps something novel for the arena.

Behind the Door

It is about this time Thongor learns of an unlocked door near the pits. He dares to open it and heads down the corridor. Meanwhile Zazamanc summons his pet demon, Xarxus of the Crawling Eye. Zazamanc demands to know if the demon’s predictions of the future are accurate, that Thongor will be the wizard’s doom and why should he not simply kill the boy? The demon tells him to set Thongor free or be destroyed. Zazamanc fears death, for once he dies he will become Xarxus’s slave in Hell.

Thongor finds his way back to the chamber where he first met Yllimdus. He confronts Zazamanc who (in Voldemortish style) prepares to kill the boy with a wand of lightning. Yllimdus shows up, grabbing Zazamanc’s arm. The wizard blasts the old man, whose face reforms in death. Zazamanc freaks out because this isn’t supposed to happen. Zazamanc realizes he has let death into Ithomaar. Thongor takes this moment to slash the villain, who sees the runes written on Thongor’s sword, old words written by no human hand. Thongor finishes the job by decapitating him. Freed of Zazamanc’s power, Thongor prepares to leave the jewel. He asks Jothar Jorn what he will do. The master of gladiators will become the new ruler for those who wish to stay. Thongor is on his way south.

No Arena Duel For You

When I read there was an arena in this story I though Carter was going to do another Edgar Rice Burroughs bit. The master of the gladiators even has an ERBish name, Jothar Jorn, but it doesn’t happen! He bypasses the whole thing and we never get to see him take on the weird hybrids that the evil wizard created. I have to admit I was disappointed. The miniature city inside a gem reminds me of “Ghoul’s Garden” by John Jakes, a Brak story written a year earlier. Lin Carter explains that the title for the story was created playing a game of ‘Title Chains’ at a WorldCon. When told there was no such story he said, “There should be!” and wrote one.

Diombar’s Song of the Last Battle

“Diombar’s Song of the Last Battle” appeared in Amra (June 1966) and then Dreams from R’lyeh from Arkham House (1975). The poem recounts the ancient battle that is the key myth of Thongor’s time. Thungarth and a band of heroes attack the rocky shore citadel of the Dragon-kings. The mighty warriors fall to the enemy’s sorcerous weapons. Only Thungarth prevails, armed with the Star Sword, forged from a meteorite. Even after the weapon breaks, he fights on killing most of the dragons, though he dies as well. Weakened, the Dragon-kings would have to wait for centuries to rebuild. The Age of Man had begun.

Centuries later the Dragon-Kings would rise again and face Thungarth’s kin, Thongor. Thongor’s fight with the Dragon-kings is the climax of the first novel, Thongor of Lemuria. Carter admitted to his collaborator L. Sprague de Camp the poems he penned were “written in a sense of fun, the shivery relish of Lovecraftian ghoulishness and Klarkash-Tonian hyperbole.” This particular poem is more epic and skaldic perhaps because of the history behind it. It makes a great version of the history behind the novel.

Black Moonlight

“Black Moonlight ” originally appeared in Fantastic, November 1976.  Thongor takes his pirates to a haunted jungle island of Zosk to find the blood pearls of a lost civilization. His scout ends up dead. Thongor finds him, searching by himself. The dying man writes a warning about black moonlight in the sand.

Thongor presses on to find a pool with the legendary pearls. He is attacked and captured by beastmen, the last survivors of the lost race. He is tied up over an altar and an old priest of the beastmen casts an evil spell using a magic wand. The spell reverses the sky so that stars are black and the sky white.

A tall pillar of stone changes in the magical light, becoming a humanoid giant of stone. The statue is about to crush Thongor when his pirates show up and free him. The pirates begin killing the beastmen. The wizard sends the gigantic statue to crush the pirates. Thongor knocks him off his perch and steals his wand, which he throws at the giant. The stone in the wand smashes, ending the spell and the giant’s life. The statue crumbles to boulders on top of the wizard. The pirates leave, sad to have found no treasure. Thongor cheers them up, taking three handfuls of pearls from his boot where he hid them.

Arrh! Matey!

Thongor as a pirate is obviously inspired by Conan’s days as a pirate, since both barbarians are so well-liked as captain. Equally inspired by Ray Harryhausen’s Sinbad and Jason movies. This story is nothing new, even in 1976, reading like a Conan the Barbarian comic. That it appeared in Years Best is a little embarrassing.

Demon of the Snows

“Demon of the Snows” first appeared in Years’ Best Fantasy #6 edited by Lin Carter for DAW Books 1980. Thongor comes to Jomsgard Pass where travelers must pay a toll to cross into the Southlands. But the young teenage barbarian finds the door open and everyone inside slain. The only survivor is a young girl named Ylala, a slave paid in tribute to the cruel master of the gate, Barak Redwolf.

They explore the castle, finding a dead wizard named Zoran Zar, who was tortured to death for the secret of making gold. He died with a laugh on his lips. The duo leave the keep and return to Ylala’s people, only to find them slain as well. They track the demon of the snows back to Zoran Zar’s tower where the path ends at a well in which a terrible monster lives. The wizard had trapped it there with magic but the gold-hungry Redwolf had released it mistakenly. The Demon of the Snows, a sightless worm with a gaping mouth, crushes its victims like a giant hand. The creature is so cold that its breath frosts Thongor’s eye lashes. Using oil and hot coals, the two wound the creature before sealing it back up. They leave to journey to the south.

Conan Re-Dux

This story appears to be a re-write of the Conan tale “Lair of the Ice-Worm” (1969). The only real difference is that the girl lives. The story starts well with Thongor and Ylala exploring the castle filled with dead. You aren’t sure if she is a monster masquerading as an innocent girl. Carter says it was intended for Ted White’s Fantastic but the magazine folded before it could see print.

Young Thongor appeared in 2012. This book by Robert M. Price finally collected these stories along with some other bits and pieces. The foreword by Adrian Cole was well appreciated.