August 2017 - "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth"
Aug 24, 2017 20:09:31 GMT -5
Post by Jason Aiken on Aug 24, 2017 20:09:31 GMT -5
Having finished up this story tonight I have to say I thought it was pretty entertaining. Is this one of REH's best/ No, not by a long shot, but I enjoyed this one better than some of the lower-tier Conan yarns.
It turns out the title of the story is quite appropriate with there being multiple deities present: Groth-golka, the deathbird, A-ala (Brunhild) the goddess, and finally the eldritch Gol-goroth. I thought that REH made solid use out of all three during the course of the story, especially Groth-golka at the beginning. I enjoyed the climax with Gol-goroth, but basically blink and you'll miss him.
The servants were also kind of cool. The apish men not so much as their kind of over-used in heroic fiction, but I thought the priests garbed in parrot feathers were a pretty cool visual.
I was wondering how a Saxon like Aethelstane became a Viking, and thankfully REH was kind enough to fill us in on his backstory.
The ending was fairly enjoyable, first with Turlogh and Athelstane meeting the Spanish knights and realizing they seemed to be zealots, but not having any better options went along with them, and of course, the outro with Turlogh, King of Bal-Sagoth overlooking the final moments of his kingdom as he sails away.
Speaking of which, has anyone narrowed down which Hyborian Age race the brown-skinned Bal-Sagothians and their red-skinned antagonists belonged to? It appears the brown-skinned folk once controlled all of the islands in the chain, with the red-skinned folk reverting to barbarism and taking them over one at a time.
Could the red-skinned group be a type of Pict? Not sure who the brown-skinned ones would be, but supposedly from the one of the western Hyborian Age nations, or perhaps the Baracha Isles?
It's too bad we won't get more tales of Turlogh and Aethelstane...I would love to see what they got up to in the Middle East.
It turns out the title of the story is quite appropriate with there being multiple deities present: Groth-golka, the deathbird, A-ala (Brunhild) the goddess, and finally the eldritch Gol-goroth. I thought that REH made solid use out of all three during the course of the story, especially Groth-golka at the beginning. I enjoyed the climax with Gol-goroth, but basically blink and you'll miss him.
The servants were also kind of cool. The apish men not so much as their kind of over-used in heroic fiction, but I thought the priests garbed in parrot feathers were a pretty cool visual.
I was wondering how a Saxon like Aethelstane became a Viking, and thankfully REH was kind enough to fill us in on his backstory.
The ending was fairly enjoyable, first with Turlogh and Athelstane meeting the Spanish knights and realizing they seemed to be zealots, but not having any better options went along with them, and of course, the outro with Turlogh, King of Bal-Sagoth overlooking the final moments of his kingdom as he sails away.
Speaking of which, has anyone narrowed down which Hyborian Age race the brown-skinned Bal-Sagothians and their red-skinned antagonists belonged to? It appears the brown-skinned folk once controlled all of the islands in the chain, with the red-skinned folk reverting to barbarism and taking them over one at a time.
Could the red-skinned group be a type of Pict? Not sure who the brown-skinned ones would be, but supposedly from the one of the western Hyborian Age nations, or perhaps the Baracha Isles?
It's too bad we won't get more tales of Turlogh and Aethelstane...I would love to see what they got up to in the Middle East.
As for your questions, the brown-skinned Bal-Sagothians were akin to the Stygians, Khemuris and Negaris, and they probably existed during Hyborian Age (thanks, Deuce!); I'm also not sure about the red-skinned people who destroyed Bal-Sagoth.
