"The Charnel God" | |
---|---|
Short story by Clark Ashton Smith | |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre(s) | Fantasy |
Publication | |
Published in | Weird Tales |
Publication type | Pulp magazine |
Publisher | Popular Fiction Publishing Co. |
Media type | |
Publication date | March 1934 |
Series | Zothique |
"The Charnel God" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the March 1934 issue of Weird Tales .
According to Emperor of Dreams: A Clark Ashton Smith Bibliography (1978) by Donald Sidney-Fryer, "The Charnel God" was first published in the March 1934 issue of Weird Tales . It was included in the books Genius Loci and Other Tales (1948) and Zothique (1970). [1]
The innkeeper tells Phariom, an outlander from Xylac traveling with his bride Elaith to Yoros, about the god of Zul-Bha-Sair, Mordiggian. Mordiggian devours all the dead in Zul-Bha-Sair. However, Phariom points out that Elaith is not dead but suffers from a malady that renders its victim near deathlike. Despite this, the innkeeper already informed the priests as they prepare to deliver her to the temple. Phariom tries to defend Elaith but is quickly matched by the priests in his defences. Phariom pays the innkeeper for his stay and decides to try to find where Elaith is kept. He learns from merchants in the bazaar that she is in the temple of Mordiggian. On his way to the temple, he notices a beautiful but dead woman is being delivered to the temple. He learns that the victim is princess Arctela. Planning on stealing Elaith from the priests, a sorcerer named Aenon-tha also plans the same. Between his two assistants Narghai and Vemba-taith, they debate whether to carry out the theft and how to do it. Later that night, while he tries to steal Elaith, Phariom finds the three in the process of their plan. Hiding from their sight, he then notices both Elaith and Arctela are missing. Following their footprints, he finds that three have reanimated Arctela and Vemba-tsith takes credit for reviving Elaith. When Phariom confronts them, Aenon-tha offers for them to join forces so they may escape together. Phariom declines the offer. Meanwhile, a great shadow appears which turns out to be Mordiggian. Helped by the priests, Mordiggian takes back Arctela and deals with three sorcerers. One of the priests admits to Phariom and Elaith that Mordiggian is fair, and the two are spared.
Reviewing Genius Loci and Other Tales in the 1983 book The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, E. F. Bleiler recommended the "best stories are "The Ninth Skeleton", "The Phantoms of the Fire", which is well-handled if trite in theme, and "The Charnel God"." [2]
Clark Ashton Smith was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne. As a poet, Smith is grouped with the West Coast Romantics alongside Joaquin Miller, Sterling, and Nora May French and remembered as "The Last of the Great Romantics" and "The Bard of Auburn". Smith's work was praised by his contemporaries. H. P. Lovecraft stated that "in sheer daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception, Clark Ashton Smith is perhaps unexcelled", and Ray Bradbury said that Smith "filled my mind with incredible worlds, impossibly beautiful cities, and still more fantastic creatures".
Averoigne is a fictional counterpart of a historical province in France, detailed in a series of short stories by the American writer Clark Ashton Smith. Smith may have based Averoigne on the actual province of Auvergne, but its name was probably influenced by the French department of Aveyron, immediately south of Auvergne, due to the similarity in pronunciation. Sixteen of Smith's stories take place in Averoigne. In Smith's fiction, the Southern French province is considered "the most witch-ridden in the entire country." The most well-known citizen is Gaspard du Nord of Vyones, a wizard who translated The Book of Eibon into Norman French.
Donald Sidney-Fryer is a poet and entertainer principally influenced by Edmund Spenser and Clark Ashton Smith.
The Emperor of Dreams is a collection of American fantasy author and poet Clark Ashton Smith's short tales arranged in chronological order. It was published by Gollancz in 2002 as the 26th volume of their Fantasy Masterworks series. The collection contains stories from Smith's major story cycles of Averoigne, Hyperborea, Poseidonis, and Zothique. Most of the stories originally appeared in the magazines The Fantasy Fan, Weird Tales, Overland Monthly, Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror, The Magic Carpet/Oriental Stories, The Auburn Journal, Stirring Science Stories, The Arkham Sampler, Saturn and Fantastic Universe.
"The Tale of Satampra Zeiros" is a short story written in 1929 by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Hyperborean cycle, and first published in the November 1931 issue of Weird Tales. It is the story in which Smith created the Cthulhu Mythos entity Tsathoggua.
"The Testament of Athammaus" is a short story by American writer Clark Ashton Smith, part of his Hyperborean cycle. It was published in the October 1932 issue of Weird Tales.
Genius Loci and Other Tales is a collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories by American writer Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1948 and was the author's third book published by Arkham House. It was released in an edition of 3,047 copies. The stories were written between 1930 and 1935.
A Rendezvous in Averoigne is a collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror stories by American writer Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1988 by Arkham House in an edition of 5,025 copies. The collection contains stories from Smith's major story cycles of Averoigne, Hyperborea, Poseidonis, Xiccarph, and Zothique. Its title story is a relatively conventional vampire story.
"The Ninth Skeleton" is a short story by American writer Clark Ashton Smith. It was first published in the September 1928 issue of Weird Tales. It was his first story for Weird Tales.
Zothique is a collection of fantasy short stories by Clark Ashton Smith, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the sixteenth volume of its Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in June 1970. It was the first themed collection of Smith's works assembled by Carter for the series. The stories were originally published in various fantasy magazines in the 1930s, notably Weird Tales.
"The Dark Eidolon" is a sword and sorcery short story by American writer Clark Ashton Smith, forming part of his Zothique cycle of stories. It was first published in Weird Tales in 1935 and has been variously republished, notably in the anthology The Spell of Seven, edited by L. Sprague de Camp.
"Xeethra" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the December 1934 issue of Weird Tales.
"The Empire of the Necromancers" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the September 1932 issue of Weird Tales.
"The Death of Ilalotha" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the September 1937 issue of Weird Tales.
"The Weaver in the Vault" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the January 1934 issue of Weird Tales.
"The Witchcraft of Ulua" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the February 1934 issue of Weird Tales.
"The Black Abbot of Puthuum" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the March 1936 issue of Weird Tales.
"The Last Hieroglyph " is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the April 1935 issue of Weird Tales.
"The Isle of the Torturers" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle, and first published in the March 1933 issue of Weird Tales.
"The Voyage of King Euvoran" is a short story by American author Clark Ashton Smith as part of his Zothique cycle. It was first published as "The Voyage of King Euvoran" in the 1933 book The Double Shadow and Other Fantasies. It was republished as "Quest of the Gazolba" in the September 1947 issue of Weird Tales where it was the cover story with art by Boris Dolgov.