Lotus of the Hyborian Age
Apr 19, 2020 9:17:51 GMT -5
Post by darthgall on Apr 19, 2020 9:17:51 GMT -5
Hello,
I was thinking/googling about Lotus flowers after rereading Ablaze Comics' Queen of the Black Coast.
And I cannot find much out there, so I came up with a few questions.
First, was REH the first to use "lotus" the way he does? In real world they're water lillies and have no narcotic effects that I can tell, just symbolize rebirth and closely tied to Buddhist and Hindu symbolism... was this just REH taking something that had the sheen of the "exotic east" and repurposing it?
He seems to describe it as a bush with distinctive blossoms, when in real world it's a lilly-pad type plant.
Second, what do we know about lotus in the Hyborian age?
Tower of the Elephant:
“They died without a sound!” muttered the Cimmerian. “Taurus, what was that powder?”
“It was made from the black lotus, whose blossoms wave in the lost jungles of Khitai, where only the yellow-skulled priests of Yun dwell. Those blossoms strike dead any who smell of them.”
Rogues in the House:
“The fall of the panels released the clouds of doom,” said the Red Priest with a wild laugh. “The dust of the gray lotus, from the Swamps of the Dead, beyond the land of Khitai.”
Xuthal of the Dusk:
“This city is called Xuthal; it is very ancient. It is built over an oasis, which the founders of Xuthal found in their wanderings. They came from the east, so long ago that not even their descendants remember the age.”
“Much of the time these people lie in sleep. Their dream-life is as important—and to them as real—as their waking life. You have heard of the black lotus? In certain pits of the city it grows. Through the ages they have cultivated it, until, instead of death, its juice induces dreams, gorgeous and fantastic."
She shook her head. “They manufacture their own food out of the primal elements. They are wonderful scientists, when they are not drugged with their dream-flower. Their ancestors were mental giants, who built this marvelous city in the desert, and though the race became slaves to their curious passions, some of their wonderful knowledge still remains. Have you wondered about these lights? They are jewels, fused with radium. You rub them with your thumb to make them glow, and rub them again, the opposite way, to extinguish them. That is but a single example of their science. But much they have forgotten."
Shadows in Zamboula:
He drew a phial from among his robes.
"This contains the juice of the golden lotus. If your lover drank it he would be sane again."
Queen of the Black Coast:
He recoiled, recognizing the black lotus, whose juice was death, and whose scent brought dream-haunted slumber. But already he felt a subtle lethargy stealing over him. He sought to lift his sword, to hew down the serpentine stalks, but his arm hung lifeless at his side. He opened his mouth to shout to his warriors, but only a faint rattle issued. The next instant, with appalling suddenness, the jungle waved and dimmed out before his eyes; he did not hear the screams that burst out awfully not far away, as his knees collapsed, letting him pitch limply to the earth. Above his prostrate form the great black blossoms nodded in the windless air.
Queen of the Black Coast:
Chaos and confusion followed this vision, during which Conan feebly struggled to awake. Dimly he seemed to see himself lying under a nodding cluster of black blossoms, while from the bushes a hideous shape crept toward him. With a savage effort he broke the unseen bonds which held him to his dreams, and started upright.
Bewilderment was in the glare he cast about him. Near him swayed the dusky lotus, and he hastened to draw away from it.
(FYI i pilfered a lot of these quotes from Deuce in: swordsofreh.proboards.com/thread/441/khitans-jungled-khitai-reh )
Then there's this:
hyboria.xoth.net/sorcery/lotus_blossom.htm
So what other lotus are out there?
Anybody got any comic art of how they drew it?
-Mick
I was thinking/googling about Lotus flowers after rereading Ablaze Comics' Queen of the Black Coast.
And I cannot find much out there, so I came up with a few questions.
First, was REH the first to use "lotus" the way he does? In real world they're water lillies and have no narcotic effects that I can tell, just symbolize rebirth and closely tied to Buddhist and Hindu symbolism... was this just REH taking something that had the sheen of the "exotic east" and repurposing it?
He seems to describe it as a bush with distinctive blossoms, when in real world it's a lilly-pad type plant.
Second, what do we know about lotus in the Hyborian age?
Tower of the Elephant:
“They died without a sound!” muttered the Cimmerian. “Taurus, what was that powder?”
“It was made from the black lotus, whose blossoms wave in the lost jungles of Khitai, where only the yellow-skulled priests of Yun dwell. Those blossoms strike dead any who smell of them.”
Rogues in the House:
“The fall of the panels released the clouds of doom,” said the Red Priest with a wild laugh. “The dust of the gray lotus, from the Swamps of the Dead, beyond the land of Khitai.”
Xuthal of the Dusk:
“This city is called Xuthal; it is very ancient. It is built over an oasis, which the founders of Xuthal found in their wanderings. They came from the east, so long ago that not even their descendants remember the age.”
“Much of the time these people lie in sleep. Their dream-life is as important—and to them as real—as their waking life. You have heard of the black lotus? In certain pits of the city it grows. Through the ages they have cultivated it, until, instead of death, its juice induces dreams, gorgeous and fantastic."
She shook her head. “They manufacture their own food out of the primal elements. They are wonderful scientists, when they are not drugged with their dream-flower. Their ancestors were mental giants, who built this marvelous city in the desert, and though the race became slaves to their curious passions, some of their wonderful knowledge still remains. Have you wondered about these lights? They are jewels, fused with radium. You rub them with your thumb to make them glow, and rub them again, the opposite way, to extinguish them. That is but a single example of their science. But much they have forgotten."
Shadows in Zamboula:
He drew a phial from among his robes.
"This contains the juice of the golden lotus. If your lover drank it he would be sane again."
Queen of the Black Coast:
He recoiled, recognizing the black lotus, whose juice was death, and whose scent brought dream-haunted slumber. But already he felt a subtle lethargy stealing over him. He sought to lift his sword, to hew down the serpentine stalks, but his arm hung lifeless at his side. He opened his mouth to shout to his warriors, but only a faint rattle issued. The next instant, with appalling suddenness, the jungle waved and dimmed out before his eyes; he did not hear the screams that burst out awfully not far away, as his knees collapsed, letting him pitch limply to the earth. Above his prostrate form the great black blossoms nodded in the windless air.
Queen of the Black Coast:
Chaos and confusion followed this vision, during which Conan feebly struggled to awake. Dimly he seemed to see himself lying under a nodding cluster of black blossoms, while from the bushes a hideous shape crept toward him. With a savage effort he broke the unseen bonds which held him to his dreams, and started upright.
Bewilderment was in the glare he cast about him. Near him swayed the dusky lotus, and he hastened to draw away from it.
(FYI i pilfered a lot of these quotes from Deuce in: swordsofreh.proboards.com/thread/441/khitans-jungled-khitai-reh )
Then there's this:
hyboria.xoth.net/sorcery/lotus_blossom.htm
So what other lotus are out there?
Anybody got any comic art of how they drew it?
-Mick
