Khlit the Cossack is a literary character created by Harold Lamb for Adventure between 1917 and 1926.
A wandering Cossack hero, Khlit defies conventional stereotypes: he is not a lover, he is not youthful or flamboyant. An excellent horseman, he is also a fine swordsman, with a fine sword (the sword itself has an interesting past, which Khlit only discovers as the series progresses), but he isn't flashy. He is gruff and moody, but no anti-hero swathed in shades of gray--he protects the innocent when it is in his power to do so. He is a firm believer in swift, sharp justice and devout in his faith, though not given to prayer or religious musings. It is his keen wit that allows him to survive through countless treacheries and intrigues. [1]
Some American researchers[ who? ] call Khlit a "hero of Odyssean wit".[ citation needed ] He always gets into a seemingly hopeless situation, from which he manages to get out, after all, being a step away from death. Khlit's adventures unfold not only in Ukraine, but far beyond. Travelіng across Asia the old Cossack encounters the empire of Assassins, finds the grave of Genghis Khan and the treasures of St. John the Baptist, beats the Chinese army, heads the united Tatar horde, becomes a khagan (imperial title), saddles the elephant in India, saves Afghanistan from a new conquest, etc. [2]
Harold Lamb wrote one short story and 18 novellas about Khlit. A number of the Khlit tales were collected in two books: The Curved Saber (Doubleday 1964) and The Mighty Manslayer (Doubleday 1969). More recently University of Nebraska Press reprinted all of Lamb's Khlit tales in a four-volume series entitled Wolf of the Steppes, Warriors of the Steppes, Riders of the Steppes and Swords of the Steppes.
List of stories published in Adventure:
Jack Perrin was an American actor specializing in Westerns.
Harold Albert Lamb was an American writer, novelist, historian, and screenwriter. In both his fiction and nonfiction work, Lamb gravitated toward subjects related to Asia and the Middle East.
John Hartford Hoxie was an American rodeo performer and motion-picture actor whose career was most prominent in the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1930s. Hoxie is best recalled for his roles in Westerns and rarely strayed from the genre.
Raymond William Hatton was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures.
Bertram Mortimer Lytell was an American actor in theater and film during the silent film era and early talkies. He starred in romantic, melodrama, and adventure films.
Sally Crute was an American actress of the silent film era.
Joseph W. Girard was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 280 films between 1911 and 1944. He was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.
Charles Hill Mailes was a Canadian actor of the silent era.
Hector V. Sarno was an Italian-born American film actor who began in the silent era. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1912 and 1948. He was born in Naples, Italy and died in Pasadena, California.
Howard "Duke" Worne was an American director and actor of the silent era. He directed more than 70 films between 1919 and 1931. He also appeared in 27 films between 1914 and 1928. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in Los Angeles, California. In 1930, Worne married silent film actress Virginia Brown Faire, to whom he remained married until his death three years later in 1933.
Robert McKim was an American actor of the silent film era and a performer in vaudeville. He appeared in nearly 100 films between 1915 and 1927. He played the arch villain opposite Douglas Fairbanks's Zorro in The Mark of Zorro in 1920.
W. C. Tuttle was an American writer who sold more than 1000 magazine stories and dozens of novels, almost all of which were westerns.
William Desmond was an American actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1915 and 1948. He was nicknamed "The King of the Silent Serials."
Edward Elkas was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1911 and 1926. He was born in New York City. On Broadway, Elkas portrayed a headwaiter in A Tale of the Wolf (1925) and was assistant stage manager for The Wedding Day (1897).
Adventure was an American pulp magazine that was first published in November 1910 by the Ridgway company, a subsidiary of the Butterick Publishing Company. Adventure went on to become one of the most profitable and critically acclaimed of all the American pulp magazines. The magazine had 881 issues. Its first editor was Trumbull White. He was succeeded in 1912 by Arthur Sullivant Hoffman (1876–1966), who edited the magazine until 1927.
Fred Myton was an American screenwriter. He wrote 168 films between 1916 and 1952, mostly low-budget "B" pictures for Poverty Row studios and independent producers. He wrote many films for Producers Releasing Corporation.
Durandal is a novel of historical fiction by Harold Lamb. The first part of a 1931 novel, it was published as a stand-alone book titled simply Durandal in 1981 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher in an edition of 1,875 copies of which 400 were boxed and signed by the artists. Intended as the first part in a proposed trilogy, it was followed in 1983 by The Sea of the Ravens, comprising the second section of the 1931 novel. A final volume to complete the trilogy, to be titled Rusudan, has yet to be published. The book has illustrations by George Barr and Alicia Austin.
Ernst Pittschau was a German stage and film actor.
William James Herbert Hayens was an English novelist and editor. He was well known for his juvenile fiction and books written for schools.
Howard Andrew Jones is an American speculative fiction and fantasy author and editor, known for The Chronicles of Hanuvar series, The Chronicles of Sword and Sand series and The Ring-Sworn trilogy. He has also written Pathfinder Tales, tie-in fiction novels in the world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, published by Paizo. He is the editor of Tales from the Magician's Skull and has served as a Managing Editor at Black Gate since 2004. He assembled and edited a series of eight volumes of the short fiction of Harold Lamb for publication by Bison Books.