"Andrew J. Offutt - Cormac 04 - Tigers Of The Sea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Offutt Andrew J)

epic heroism, in which the mighty King Kull comes out of the past to aid the people of the heather in
smashing the overbearing legions of Rome; the only other story mentioning Cormac is тАЬWorms of the Earth,тАЭ
in which Bran Mak Morn induces the Little People to aid him in the destruction of a cruel and overweening
Roman general. (Incidentally, I think an amalgamation of these two Bran Mak Morn tales would make an epic
movie worthy of Cecil B. deMilleтАФwith someone like Jack Palance playing the part of the Gaelic hero Cormac
of Connacht...)
Not long after Bran and Cormac smashed the Roman legions in Britain, Rome itself fell to the Goths and the
Empire was at an end. The British Isles slowly reverted to the bronze-age savagery of the Dark Ages as Pict,
Gael, Saxon and Jute strove with the semi-Romanized Britons for supremacy, while the first trickle of Viking
activity began to be felt from the north. It was during this period, renowned in semi-mythical history for the
exploits of King Arthur, that the hero of this book flourishedтАФCormac Mac Art. Cormac is a hero out of the
standard clothтАФтАЬa tall, rangily built man, deepchested and strong,тАЭ with тАЬsquare-cut black hair and dark,
smooth face... This manтАЩs eyes were narrow slits and of a cold-steel grey, and they, with a number of scars
that marred his face, lent him a peculiarly sinister aspect.тАЭ Cormac is an outcast Irish sea-rover who ranges
with the Danish Viking, Wulfhere the Skull-splitter.
Four tales of Cormac Mac Art are know to exist. Except for тАЬThe Night of the Wolf,тАЭ which appeared in the
Dell paperback collection Bran Mak Morn, they are published in this collection for the first time. I have
arranged these four tales in what I think is as logical an order as may be inferred from the internal evidence. In
тАЬThe Temple of AbominationтАЭ (evidently the earliest attempt of HowardтАЩs concerning this hero, and the only
tale in the series having a supernatural theme) Cormac states to Wulfhere: тАЬAlaric led his Goths through the
Forum fifty years ago, yet you barbarians still start at the name of Rome. Fear not; there are no legions in
Britain.тАЭ He goes on to say that тАЬmost of the chiefs are gathering about Arthur Pendragon for a great.
concerted driveтАЭтАФagainst the Saxons. тАЬThe Night of the Wolf,тАЭ which I have placed third in the series, ends
with Cormac and Wulfhere escaping with their crew in a long ship called the Raven, which is the name of their
ship in the fourth tale, тАЬTigers of the Sea.тАЭ Now, in тАЬTigersтАЭ there is a discrepancy: Cormac states in this tale
that тАЬSome eighty years ago... Alaric and his Goths sacked the imperial cityтАЭтАФimplying that thirty years have
passed since тАЬThe Temple of AbominationтАЭ yet he also says that тАЬDamnonia and the country extending to
Caer Odun, is ruled over by Uther Pendragon.тАЭ Yet mythology states that Uther preceded Arthur. I have
changed the text to read тАЬ80 yearsтАЭ in both cases, as this is a little closer to the supposed period of Arthurian
events. Evidently Howard wrote тАЬTigers of the SeaтАЭ so long after тАЬThe Temple of AbominationтАЭ that he had
forgotten what he had written in the earlier story.
A few centuries later Turlogh OтАЩBrien, an Irish outlaw-wolf very similar to Cormac Mac Art, appears on the
scene. He roams alone, an outcast, fighting with Viking and Gael alike, the hands of all men against him.
тАЬThe Dark Man,тАЭ in which a super naturally-endowed image of the now-legendary Bran Mak Morn aids Turlogh
in destroying the Vikings who kidnapped and slew an Irish princess, is one of HowardтАЩs finest tales. Turlogh
possesses the same streak of moody pessimism about the universe as Kull and Cormac; in тАЬThe Gods of
Bal-SagothтАЭ Howard writes of him: тАЬ...but to the black haired fighting-man of the West, it seemed that even in
the loudest clamor of triumph, the trumpet, the drum and the shouting faded away into the forgotten dust and
silence of eternity. Kingdoms and empires pass away like mist from the sea, thought Turlogh... and it
seemed to him that he and Athelstane walked in a dead city, through throngs of dim ghosts...тАЭ This is
HowardтАЩs own basic attitude showing throughтАФthe attitude of the outsider who feels life to be somehow
unsatisfying and unreal.
Another Irish hero takes the stage in тАЬThe Cairn on the HeadlandтАЭтАФRed Cumal, who fought under King Brian
Boru against the Vikings at the battle of Clontarf. But Red Cumal does not quite fit into the pattern, for he is
described as massive, bearlike and red-bearded; he is doubtless descended from one of those tribes with a
strong dash of Celtic who arrived in Ireland later than the pure-strain Gaels.
Finally we have Cormac Fitzgeoffrey, another outlaw-warrior, who followed Richard the Lionhearted to the Holy
Land for plunder and adventure. Cormac, of Norman-Gaelic ancestry, looks and acts more like Conan than
any of HowardтАЩs heroes since the Hyborian age. Dark, scarred, sinister, his great muscular frame suited in
chain mail, he wades through his enemies like a steel juggernaut, the silver skull embossed on his shield