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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2016 23:26:59 GMT -5
This 'Untitled Fragment' by Robert E. Howard, describes an 'Epic Turco-Mongol War' set during the reign of Galdan Khan (1644-1697).
Untitled Fragment
The Persians had all fled and the Kalmuks were all dead but the remnants of the Torguts and the Mongols rallied around thier khan in a solid ring of steel against which the wild charges of the Turks crashed and shattered like sea spray against a great rock. The turbaned forms ringed the circle of the defenders in waist high piles. But not all the still forms were Turks. The Tatars were falling fast. Great gaps appeared in the circle and seeing this, Galdan Khan drew off the light armed troops and while the light Kirghiz horsemen harried the Tatars, the Great Khan formed his heavily armed squadrons, the Janizzaries, and hurled them against his dauntless foes. Like a mighty tidal wave of steel the savage warriors swept across the gory field upon the Unbelievers. The shout of, “Allah il Allah – ras-soul-il-allaho!” rose to the skies and drowned the yells of the Kirghiz and the battle-cry of the Tatars. The Tatar formation was shattered and the warriors of the North were scattered like chaff before a whirlwind. But the battle was not over. Borak still lived and Alashan and Cheke Noyon and Ukaba Khan and some nine hundred Tatar warriors. Until a Tatar’s head is off never say that his fighting is over.
All over the field handfuls of Tatars stood back to back and plied their deadly blades. Some strove to keep with their king but that was impossible. Not for Borak Khan a back-to-back defense. He ranged that sea of whirling swords like a wolf in a sheepfold. Since noon when he had seen the Crescent banner come over the mountain pass he had known his great army was doomed and he had planned like a devil and fought like a wild beast to snatch vivtory from ruin. In vain. In scores, in hundreds and in squadrons his men had fallen and he had seen his khans, his chiefs and his councillors go down one by one. Now his spirit was not that of a king striving to save a great people but the spirit of a man gone mad with hate and the lust of slaughter. He fought like a – a barbarian king, like a man who’s standards are down and who has lost a kingdom. He had emptied his quiver, thrown his javelin, broken his spear, shattered his battle axe and now his gripped a long sword that was bathed in blood from point to hilt. That sword was like the hammer of Thor. In the hand of the devil incarnate that wielded it, it was a living flame. It cleft skulls, severed breasts, shore off heads and ripped up bellies. Borak had become in truth, the Wolf. Only four of his warriors could keep within calling distance of him as he hacked his way from one side of the field to the other, seeking Galdan Khan. These four were Cheke Noyan, Alshan, Ukaba Khan and Atai, chief of the Mongols.
In a space where the dead men were piled high and where no living man remained, the four paused for breath.
“Ai,” gasped Alshan, “the khan is as one possessed. Erlik, what a warrior! A falcon!”
Ukaba Khan smiled. “He is selling his life dearly for he is mad with defeat. That is all that is left to us. The Northern kingdom is no more. Hark, the Janizzaries raise already the cry of triumph. But let them not rejoice until they have the head of Borak Khan. For myself I wish only to die by my chief with my saber red with Turkish blood.”
Alashan sighed. “I should like to see Aina before I die.”
“If I can but face Zemal Noyan for a moment,” said Adai grimly, “I will be content to pass through the Gate In The Skies.”
Cheke Noyon said nothing. He flung his great, curved sword high in the air and caught it. His grizzled, lionlike head went back and from his lips came the terrible quavering yell – the battle-cry of the Grey Wolf Tatars. Swinging his heavy blade he hurled himself into the midst of the battle. The others followed.
The old chroniclers tell of that battle better than my feeble pen can narrate. They tell how the surviving Tatars rangen the field like hungry wolves. Of how Galdan Khan’s three sons and ten of his khans died by the hands of the Tatar chief and his four followers. And of how the four fell one by one. Alashan fell first, guarding his chiefs back. Then Atai bleeding from a hundred wounds, came face to face with Zemal Noyan and the traitor died beneath a Mongol sword and Atai died above him.
Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures, p.501-2
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2016 16:46:55 GMT -5
Robert E. Howard's views on the portrayal of Oriental Monarchs by writers and the Battle of Kosovo, 1389.
Battle of Kosovo, by Adam Stefanović, 1870 Letter to HPL (9 August, 1932) 'Another thing - I have no patience with writers, historical or fictional, who glorify Oriental monarchs, comparing them with western rulers, to the discredit of the later; who decry the outrages committed by the westerners on the Orientals, and then gloss over the atrocities of the later, holding up some western outrage as some excuse. Westerners have suffered a hell of a lot more outrages at the hands of the Orientals than vice versa. I am utterly unmoved when I read of massacres of Asiatics - especially Muhammadans - by Christians. They started it, blast their hides - back in the days of Peter the Hermit, when the Seljuks took Palestine and started maltreating pilgrims to Jerusalem. And before that, in the days of Muhammad, and of the Caliphs - and of the Moors in Spain. Not a blow struck against Islam but we owed it to them. Even Stanley Lane-Poole deplores the action of Milosh Kabilovitch, who struck down Murad in the hour of victory at Kossovo - he looks on it as a traitorous murder, apparently. Bah! Who ever heard of such infernal drivel. Which was worse - Milosh, who approached the Turk smiling, and suddenly drove the dagger in his guts, or Murad, who had just butchered a nation, and dragged thousands of innocent men, women and children into slavery? I have intense admiration for Milosh - and for Ehud the Benjamite who stabbed Eglon the Moabitish tyrant - and for William Tell, wether real or legendary.'A Means to Freedom, p.354 The Death of Murad: According to Stanley Lane-Poole. ' But the battle was not to end without an irreparable loss to the Turks. Milosh Kobilovich, a Serbian warrior, made his way to the Sultan's presence, on pretext of important tidings to be communicated to his private ear ; and, when he was brought before him, suddenly plunged his dagger into the Sultan's body. The assassin was hewn to pieces by the guard ; but his work had been effectual. Murad died in his tent, after ordering the charge of his reserve which completed the victory. With his dying voice he ordained the execution of Lazarus the Serbian king, who had been made a prisoner. Milosh Kobilovich, for this treacherous assassination, has ever since been regarded as a Serbian hero. As with Harmodius and Aristogiton in ancient Greece, and Charlotte Corday in modern France, the ignominy of betrayal has been absolved by posterity in consideration of the utility of the result an assassin thus becomes a sort of inverted hero.' Stanley Lane-Poole, Turkey,1888
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Post by lordyam on Nov 1, 2016 20:15:27 GMT -5
kinda disagree with robert e howard on this one. Both sides committed crimes and neither really had a monopoly on virtue or evil. In some ; in some ways the muslims were tolerant to the jews and christians and virtuous; in others they were assholes. In many ways westerners could be downright monstrous; in others they were good. But Howard's understanding was biased and faulty in many ways. Certainly the slaughter of jews and muslims in jerusalem was wrong
But i amc curious what cowards opinion on judaism and islam were
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Post by deuce on Nov 1, 2016 20:43:21 GMT -5
Letter to HPL (9 August, 1932) 'Even Stanley Lane-Poole deplores the action of Milosh Kabilovitch, who struck down Murad in the hour of victory at Kossovo - he looks on it as a traitorous murder, apparently. Bah! Who ever heard of such infernal drivel. Which was worse - Milosh, who approached the Turk smiling, and suddenly drove the dagger in his guts, or Murad, who had just butchered a nation, and dragged thousands of innocent men, women and children into slavery? I have intense admiration for Milosh - and for Ehud the Benjamite who stabbed Eglon the Moabitish tyrant - and for William Tell, wether real or legendary.'A Means to Freedom, p.354 The Death of Murad: According to Stanley Lane-Poole. ' But the battle was not to end without an irreparable loss to the Turks. Milosh Kobilovich, a Serbian warrior, made his way to the Sultan's presence, on pretext of important tidings to be communicated to his private ear ; and, when he was brought before him, suddenly plunged his dagger into the Sultan's body. The assassin was hewn to pieces by the guard ; but his work had been effectual. Murad died in his tent, after ordering the charge of his reserve which completed the victory. With his dying voice he ordained the execution of Lazarus the Serbian king, who had been made a prisoner. Milosh Kobilovich, for this treacherous assassination, has ever since been regarded as a Serbian hero. As with Harmodius and Aristogiton in ancient Greece, and Charlotte Corday in modern France, the ignominy of betrayal has been absolved by posterity in consideration of the utility of the result an assassin thus becomes a sort of inverted hero.' Stanley Lane-Poole, Turkey,1888 REH liked Lane-Poole: web.archive.org/web/20060518061454/http://www.rehupa.com/bookshelf_l.htm#Lane-Poole, Stanley (1854-1931). It's possible that Howard read more than those two books.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2016 13:18:28 GMT -5
kinda disagree with robert e howard on this one. Both sides committed crimes and neither really had a monopoly on virtue or evil. In some ; in some ways the muslims were tolerant to the jews and christians and virtuous; in others they were assholes. In many ways westerners could be downright monstrous; in others they were good. But Howard's understanding was biased and faulty in many ways. Certainly the slaughter of jews and muslims in jerusalem was wrong But i amc curious what cowards opinion on judaism and islam were Hello Lordyam, I can see where Howard is coming from. The early Caliphates had a very aggressive, imperialistic expansive mindset, by 637, only five years after the death of the prophet, Christian Jerusalem had fallen to the Islamic Empire along with the Levant. The armies of the Caliphs swept across Byzantine/Roman north Africa, conquered Spain and were only halted at Battle of Tours in 732 by Charles Martel. The Islamic forces continuously raided the islands of the Mediterranean and the coasts of Italy, Greece and Asia Minor. They slaughtered and enslaved thousands of Europeans - and that's only the impact of the Caliphate on the western world! The European counter-attack (Crusades) did not start until the late 11th century.
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Post by lordyam on Nov 2, 2016 13:58:56 GMT -5
Fair enough. I've been put off because I've seen a LOT of jackasses try to use this stuff to justify bigotry in the current world (Anders Breivik misused Charles Martel for instance to rationalize his crime).
The seljuiks were very recent converts and they were....a little eager (As new converts often are.) So that was part of it.
Every reliable scholar dismisses the "interfaith utopia" theory, but also admits that in some ways Muslims were progressive (at least for the day and age), and they did have strict rules against killing civilians.
In some ways it's like the settlers and the native americans. Both sides could be downright monstrous at times (Powhatan was a downright bastard in some ways.)
My point is that it isn't black and white. Both sides could be downright evil to each other.
Fun fact: A lot of people bring up the siege of vienna. The French and other european countries actually supported the ottomans. Some muslims fought against the ottomans as well. History is complicated like that.
Anyway would you point me in the direction of other howard yarns? I've read "shadow of the vulture".
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2016 15:46:59 GMT -5
Fair enough. I've been put off because I've seen a LOT of jackasses try to use this stuff to justify bigotry in the current world (Anders Breivik misused Charles Martel for instance to rationalize his crime). The seljuiks were very recent converts and they were....a little eager (As new converts often are.) So that was part of it. Every reliable scholar dismisses the "interfaith utopia" theory, but also admits that in some ways Muslims were progressive (at least for the day and age), and they did have strict rules against killing civilians. In some ways it's like the settlers and the native americans. Both sides could be downright monstrous at times (Powhatan was a downright bastard in some ways.) My point is that it isn't black and white. Both sides could be downright evil to each other. Fun fact: A lot of people bring up the siege of vienna. The French and other european countries actually supported the ottomans. Some muslims fought against the ottomans as well. History is complicated like that. Anyway would you point me in the direction of other howard yarns? I've read "shadow of the vulture". Thanks for the reply. If you're talking about the historical yarns? I found 'Sowers of the Thunder' excellent. There's the 'Red Blades of Black Cathay' with good old Genghis Khan and Timur/Tamerlane in the 'Lord of Samarcand.' There's also the Conan-like philosophy of the Turkic warrior Zenghi in 'The Lion of Tiberias' "You are a pagan at heart, Zenghi," sighed Ousama.
"It may be," answered the Turk with a shrug of his shoulders. "Had I been born beyond the Oxus and bowed to yellow Erlik as did my grandsire, I had been no less Zenghi the Lion. I have spilled rivers of gore for the glory of Allah, but I have never asked mercy or favor of Him. What care the gods if a man lives or dies? Let me live deep, let me know the sting of wine in my palate, the wind in my face, the glitter of royal pageantry, the bright madness of slaughter —let me burn and sting and tingle with the madness of life and living, and I quest not whether Muhammad's paradise, or Erlik's frozen hell, or the blackness of empty-oblivion lies beyond."
As if to give point to his words, he poured himself a goblet of wine and looked interrogatively at Ousama. The Arab, who had shuddered at Zenghi's blasphemous words, drew back in pious horror. The Atabeg emptied the goblet, smacking his lips loudly in relish, Tatar-fashion.
Anyway there's loads more stories to pick from. I love REH's historical stories. Here's a link to the 2 main collections by Bison and Del Rey books. howardworks.com/lordofsamarcand.htmlhowardworks.com/swordwomanandotherhistoricaladventures.htmlThere's also a fine thread on Robert E. Howard's Crusader/Crusades Yarns swordsofreh.proboards.com/thread/285/robert-howards-crusader-crusades-yarns
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2016 15:18:15 GMT -5
On the Old Forum, I mentioned several times that Lamb name-dropped Erlik in his tales. However, I think Robert W. Chambers' novel, The Slayer of Souls (1920) was also a major influence. Howard was an RWC fan and that novel was all about Erlik worship. Also, I think REH did a little outside research, too. I say that because of his two "citadels of Erlik". One was named "Yolgan" and the other "Yahlgan". That's too close to "Ulgan" to be coincidence and you can't find the name in Lamb or RWC. I managed to find a copy of Robert W. Chambers' The Slayer of Souls. I read the first chapter on the tube home today. I noticed chapter 11 is called 'Yulun the Beloved'. Apart from Ulgan, could ' Yulun' be a possible influence/inspiration for ' Yolgan' and ' Yahlgan' found in REH?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2016 16:14:57 GMT -5
Whilst reading 'Slayer of Souls' I have a sudden urge to read a couple of El Borak stories, ideally 'Daughter of Erlik Khan' and 'Three-Bladed Doom'.
It's interesting to see some of the influence found in 'Slayer' but, unfortunately, not action packed enough for my liking. I find the Oriental Bolshevik Yezidi Erlik worshipping Assassins of the Eight Towers incredibly frustrating, everyone talks too much, the American spies talk too much, and so far do not interest me at all! May the spirit of Chingis Khan's horde trample the eight towers in to the dust beneath their hooves.
On the plus side, I've kinda been intrigued by the main character; Miss Tressa Norne, or as she is named by the Erlik worshipping Mongols 'Keuke Mongol' (translates as Blue Mongol, a name given to her thanks to her blue eyes).
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Post by deuce on Nov 8, 2016 17:32:16 GMT -5
Whilst reading 'Slayer of Souls' I have a sudden urge to read a couple of El Borak stories, ideally 'Daughter of Erlik Khan' and 'Three-Bladed Doom'. It's interesting to see some of the influence found in 'Slayer' but, unfortunately, not action packed enough for my liking. I find the Oriental Bolshevik Yezidi Erlik worshipping Assassins of the Eight Towers incredibly frustrating, everyone talks too much, the American spies talk too much, and so far do not interest me at all! May the spirit of Chingis Khan's horde trample the eight towers in to the dust beneath their hooves. On the plus side, I've kinda been intrigued by the main character; Miss Tressa Norne, or as she is named by the Erlik worshipping Mongols 'Keuke Mongol' (translates as Blue Mongol, a name given to her thanks to her blue eyes). I thought that might be your response. I didn't expect you to get a dead tree version. It's out there as an etext on several sites. The novel has major problems and I've never said otherwise. There is potential there. Tressa is intriguing. I've long said that the thing needs defleshed and a faster-moving tale, more in line with REH and HPL, needs to be built on the bare skeleton. I'd call it Erlik: Slayer of Souls. See what I did there? RWC has long frustrated people because he had, as HPL said, "the right brain" to write excellent fiction but rarely got focused. That said, we might not have Three-Bladed Doom or The Whisperer in Darkness without that novel. RWC, in the course of his career, wrote passages of true beauty and horror which evoked the admiration of not just REH and Lovecraft, but later authors such as Karl Edward Wagner. Unfortunately, Chambers interspersed the worthy stuff with lots of junk, even within the same story. Check out these two posts for the probable source Chambers used for TSoS: www.yog-sothoth.com/topic/25025-lesser-known-weird-work-of-robert-w-chambers/#entry314249
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2016 18:12:22 GMT -5
Whilst reading 'Slayer of Souls' I have a sudden urge to read a couple of El Borak stories, ideally 'Daughter of Erlik Khan' and 'Three-Bladed Doom'. It's interesting to see some of the influence found in 'Slayer' but, unfortunately, not action packed enough for my liking. I find the Oriental Bolshevik Yezidi Erlik worshipping Assassins of the Eight Towers incredibly frustrating, everyone talks too much, the American spies talk too much, and so far do not interest me at all! May the spirit of Chingis Khan's horde trample the eight towers in to the dust beneath their hooves. On the plus side, I've kinda been intrigued by the main character; Miss Tressa Norne, or as she is named by the Erlik worshipping Mongols 'Keuke Mongol' (translates as Blue Mongol, a name given to her thanks to her blue eyes). I thought that might be your response. I didn't expect you to get a dead tree version. It's out there as an etext on several sites. The novel has major problems and I've never said otherwise. There is potential there. Tressa is intriguing. I've long said that the thing needs defleshed and a faster-moving tale, more in line with REH and HPL, needs to be built on the bare skeleton. I'd call it Erlik: Slayer of Souls. See what I did there? RWC has long frustrated people because he had, as HPL said, "the right brain" to write excellent fiction but rarely got focused. That said, we might not have Three-Bladed Doom or The Whisperer in Darkness without that novel. RWC, in the course of his career, wrote passages of true beauty and horror which evoked the admiration of not just REH and Lovecraft, but later authors such as Karl Edward Wagner. Unfortunately, Chambers interspersed the worthy stuff with lots of junk, even within the same story. Check out these two posts for the probable source Chambers used for TSoS: www.yog-sothoth.com/topic/25025-lesser-known-weird-work-of-robert-w-chambers/#entry314249Hello deuce, In terms of inspiration, I can see the influence. From what I can ascertain concerning 'Slayer of Souls' (I've only read the first 111 pages, so I'll probably finish the book) I can see what you mean by 'I've long said that the thing needs defleshed and a faster-moving tale, more in line with REH and HPL, needs to be built on the bare skeleton. I'd call it Erlik: Slayer of Souls. See what I did there?' I think that is one of the many impressive talents of REH as a storyteller, he had a very discerning mind, he could strip away the unessential elements to demonstrate the atmosphere or emotions necessary within a tale, and he got better at it as he matured as a writer. The copy I have is quite a beat-up copy, so, did not cost too much. I'm O.K reading for a little while online, but, if I read anything longer than say a few pages my concentration levels fail me. I can read plenty better the old fashioned way with a book, ideally drinking Scotch at the local pub. Thank for the links Deuce. Very interesting stuff concerning the inspiration from 'Blue Banner' by Leon Cahun.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2016 16:04:19 GMT -5
Letter to HPL (ca. September, 1933)
When the civilized Chinese set the the Huns in motion, and the Huns in turn drove the Eastern Teutons before them - in that crush of nations, where were the Lombards, the Vandals, the Franks, and the Goths to go, if not over the crumbling lines of a rotten civilization? There was suffering in such wars; there is suffering in all wars; the barbarians wrought less destruction on their civilized enemies than many civilized races have wrought upon vanquished barbarians - Spaniards upon the Aztecs and Incas, for instance; read inside accounts of French rule in Syria and Algeria for a good idea of how civilization deals with her barbaric subjects. The Romanized peoples probably suffered less from the Germans than the Germans themselves, and the Slavs, suffered from the Huns, Avars or Yen-Yen and Bulgars.
A Means to Freedom, p. 643.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2016 15:07:48 GMT -5
Huns, Mongols, Tatars & Turks found in the 'Hyborian Age' by Robert E Howard.
Below are the times that REH mentions the Altaic peoples in the Hyborian Age. I have only included the Hyrkanians and Turanians when mentioned alongside the Altaic tribes.
The first extract concerns the Pictish conqueror Gorm.
'Arus was fortunate in being thrown in with a chief of more than usual intelligence—Gorm by name. Gorm cannot be explained, any more than Genghis Khan, Othman, Attila, or any of those individuals, who, born in naked lands among untutored barbarians, yet possess the instinct for conquest and empire-building.' Conan, Del Rey/Wandering Star volume 1, p.389
'Meanwhile the Cimmerians, wandering southeastward, destroyed the ancient Hyrkanian kingdom of Turan, and settled on the southwestern shores of the inland sea. The power of the eastern conquerors was broken. Before the attacks of the Nordheimr and the Cimmerians, they destroyed all their cities, butchered such captives as were not fit to make the long march, and then, herding thousands of slaves before them, rode back into the mysterious east, skirting the northern edge of the sea, and vanishing from western history, until they rode out of the east again, thousands of years later, as Huns, Mongols, Tatars and Turks. With them in their retreat went thousands of Zamorians and Zingarans, who were settled together far to the east, formed a mixed race, and emerged ages afterward as gypsies.' Conan, Del Rey/Wandering Star volume 1, p.396
'The ancient Sumerians had no connection with the western race. They were a mixed people, of Hyrkanian and Shemitish bloods, who were not taken with the conquerors in their retreat. Many tribes of Shem escaped that captivity, and from pure-blooded Shemites, or Shemites mixed with Hyborian or Nordic blood, were descended the Arabs, Israelites, and other straighter-featured Semites. The Canaanites, or Alpine Semites, traced their descent from Shemitish ancestors mixed with the Kushites settled among them by their Hyrkanian masters; the Elamites were a typical race of this type. The short, thick-limbed Etruscans, base of the Roman race, were descendants of a people of mixed Stygian, Hyrkanian and Pictish strains, and originally lived in the ancient kingdom of Koth. The Hyrkanians, retreating to the eastern shores of the continent, evolved into the tribes later known as Tatars, Huns, Mongols and Turks.' Conan, Del Rey/Wandering Star volume 1, p.398
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2016 14:12:05 GMT -5
Letter to HPL (ca. September, 1933)
'Concerning art: I am by no means convinced that art is any higher than certain other forms of human activity, even according to the evolutionary standard. Such men as Michel Angelo, Poe, Beethoven, Cellini, Shaw are no more highly evolved than such men as Saladin, Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Robert E. Lee, Sam Houston, Thomas Jefferson, or James Corbett for that matter. The whole trouble with the viewpoint of purely mental workers is that they invariably underrate the mentality of other types of persons, and the intelligence required by other types of activities.'
A Means to Freedom, p.650
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2016 14:01:27 GMT -5
REH to HPL (ca. September, 1933)
I am merely seeking to point out that the overthrow of a rotten civilization by barbarians is not necessarily more tragic and bloody than the overthrow of barbarians by civilized men, or the conquest of one civilized nation by another. The conquests of the Germans were scarcely more devastating and brutal than Alexander's sack of Thebes, Rome's destruction of Carthage, or the mutilation of Belgium in the last war. All wars are ghastly. And it must be admitted that the overthrow of Rome, and the events attendant thereupon did not represent what you might call the norm of Germanic barbaric life. That sudden crush of nations was at least as abnormal as the modern depression. Otherwise the expansion would have been more gradual. Such expansion has been going on, for centuries, with resultant wars and unrest as the different tribes collided with one another; but the sudden bursting of the barriers resulted from, as near as I can learn, The westward drive of the Turkish Huns. Leaving that aside for the moment, to look again at the suffering among the barbarians (and not among the civilized races who were overthrown by their onslaught) I am not by any means certain that their suffering was greater than that of modern man. They were giants physically; disease was rare; their food, if not always abundant, was at least sufficient for their needs, and evidently could digest anything; they fought among themselves, occasionally for love of war, but more often through necessity, but enjoyed fighting, so that was no hardship; their religion called for a violent death, so that was no hardship either. The mere fact that they expanded so greatly in numbers and importance shows that their lives were not unmixed rounds of suffering and agony. A race cannot develop under conditions too adverse; compare the Yakuts of Siberia, with the Ottomans of Western Asia - people of the same stock and blood, but developed under different conditions. As for the Germanic lack of artistic values - I'm not inclined to believe that modern artists get anymore satisfaction out of expressing themselves in their modern ways, than the German scalds and minstrels derived from telling their legends and composing and singing their sagas. And I'm not convinced that the proportion of honest artists among them was much less than it is in the present day.
A Means to Freedom, p.644.
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