 |
| "The Legend" by George Paul Chalmers (ca 1864), illustrating a scene from The Pirate (1821) by Walter Scott |
Writers across the world have taken a cutting or two from Scotland's wild garden of myth & history, from Shakespeare subverting & transforming history entwined with supernatural themes in Macbeth, to John William Polidori's Lord Ruthden in The Vampyr; Mary Shelley's time in Dundee & Edinburgh informing Frankenstein, to Bram Stoker's stay at Slains Castle providing a sumptuous visual canvas for Dracula; onward to David Gemmel fashioning his Rigante saga after the Scottish Highlands, Gregory Widen's visit to Scotland inspiring the immortal Highlander, & Diane Gabaldon's love of Scottish history leading to the Outlander series. Authors as varied as Jules Verne, William Hope Hodgson, A. Merritt, Robert W. Chambers, M.R. James, Edmond Hamilton, Greye La Spina, Manly Wade Wellman, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, Morgan Robertson, C. L. Moore, Seabury Quinn, Poul Anderson, Karl Edward Wagner, & many more besides have written stories about Scotland, Scots, or our stories.
Even a 20th century writer all the way in small-town Texas, who himself became founder & codifier of an entire genre within the wider field of fantasy, can trace those roots back to Caledonia.
 |
| Illustration by John Faed for "Tam O' Shanter" by Robert Burns. Both the poem and Robert E. Howard's "Pigeons from Hell" appeared in the May 1938 edition of Weird Tales - the first of a number of times the Two Roberts featured together. |
Fantasy Con Scotland is a comparatively new venture, having debuted in the Granite City of Aberdeen last year - and this year, the event is being held in the ancient heartlands of the Cumbric Kingdom of Strathclyde: Paisley. I've already been to the event organiser's Horror Con in Glasgow (ostensibly to visit & support Scottish authors & artists, but really it was for a longtime dream - the chance to meet Lysette Anthony), and knew that I'd have to attend the fantasy counterpart in June this year.
And there's a certain guest that might be of interest to readers...
Conan of Caledonia: The Scottish Roots of Sword-and-Sorcery's Greatest Hero
Al Harron is a writer & artist who has dedicated years of study to art & classic adventure fiction, in particular the work of Conan the Barbarian creator Robert E. Howard, a pillar of the fantasy genre. He made regular pilgrimages to Howard's hometown of Cross Plains, Texas, to Howard Days, the premier gathering of Robert E. Howard fans, and has written for the Robert E. Howard United Press Association, and the World Fantasy Award-nominated website The Cimmerian, as well as studied the work of legendary Conan illustrator Frank Frazetta at the Glasgow School of Classical Art. He currently writes for The Blog That Time Forgot, is administrator for the Robert E. Howard Readers Facebook group, and is a member of the Robert E. Howard Foundation. He additionally wrote for Conan: The Movie Blog in the run up to the release of Conan the Barbarian (2011), and attended its UK premiere.Al has written about Howard's influence on the wider fantasy genre, the deeper themes and subtext of his stories, his attention to historical detail informing his fiction, and his connections to Scottish literature, folklore, and history. He hopes you will join him as he explores the transcontinental connection between the world's most famous Barbarian and Scotland's own rich history of fantasy fiction.
Where - Jacquard Suite
Time - 11am - 12pm
I've been a guest speaker at Howard Days (generally as session guitarist for such luminaries as Mark Finn, Jeffrey Shanks, and Paul Sammon) and I've given talks on various subjects over my time - but this is something else. It's a very personal honour for me to speak on Conan, Robert E. Howard, and his connections to my home country, especially after years away from Cross Plains & the wider Howard world. But seeing this convention, a convention dedicated to fantasy in Scotland, how could I not?
It's been a long time coming, and perhaps there is nothing left to do but do it. So... what's it about?
Well, this has been a project I've been percolating in my mind for a long time now. I've written already on the Scottish dimension of Robert E. Howard's work, from speculating on Scottish anthologies, to overviews on adaptations, and even seeing his literary echoes in other authors. But there was always a small part of me wondering: is it possible I'm reading too much into it? Am I seeing phantom threads in the gloom of authors past, reaching out into the void for strands that have no anchor?
Yet the more I read into it, I find myself astounded at the strength & solidity of those connections. The influence of international adventure giants like London, Roehmer, Kipling, Haggard. Mundy, Lamb, & Burroughs - not to mention the recursive influence of contemporaries like Lovecraft, Moore, & Smith - has been explored and was, frankly, plain on even a cursory reading. Yet the works of certain Scottish authors deserve further scrutiny, to follow Jeffrey Shanks' excellent investigations into two particularly important writers.
 |
| N.C. Wyeth's incredible 1920 illustration of Wallace's vision at Arthur's Seat, as described in The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter (1809) (more from our good friends at DMR books) |
Alas, given I have only an hour (really 45-50 minutes with 10-15 for questions), cramming all the Scottish inspirations & connections to Howard's ouvre would be foolhardy at best, so I chose Howard's most famous creation as the focus. So, I've framed the talk into the following "parts," which I may expand into a larger written series for the blog:
Part One: Scottish Fantasy
An overview of Scotland's early contributions to fantasy literature, from ancient Brythonic literature & Gaelic elegies, to the folkloric works of Robert Burns & the Ettrick Shepherd, & early innovators of modern fantasy novels like George MacDonald & David Linsday.Part Two: Robert E. Howard
A brief summary of Howard's life & writings, with special reference to the Scottish dimensions to his upbringing, learning, work, & historical sources which may have inspired him.Part Three: Conan
The bulk of the presentation will focus on Conan, Cimmeria, & the Hyborian Age itself, and the Scottish connections which gave life to Sword-and-Sorcery's founding father.Part Four: Conan's Influences
An exploration of five Scottish authors who I consider to have made the most significant contributions to Conan & the Hyborian Age - Walter Scott, James Macpherson, William Scott-Elliot, Lewis Spence, and Arthur Conan Doyle. What connects Conan to Ivanhoe?Part Five: Coming Full Circle
An epilogue following Howard's own enormous influence on Scottish authors, artists, and creators, including those who have worked on official Conan media over the decades - bringing the entire thing full circle.
As this is going to be taking place at a general fantasy convention, it will likely involve a fair bit of groundwork that will be second nature to Howard fans ("Who is Conan?" "What's a Hyborian Age?" "Who is Robert E. Howard?"), but I'm sure folk will get the hang of it quickly enough. While Howard himself is not quite as well known over here as he is in the United States despite Conan's success, the beauty of his writing is that it's very easy to grasp the details & understand the thrust of the stories, which allows for a good reading experience, and invites further reflection to those who venture further.
Let's see how this goes!
No comments:
Post a Comment