Marchers of Valhalla

"Marchers of Valhalla" is a very interesting collection of 3 of Robert E. Howard's most revealing tales. The best, by far, is "The Grey God Passes," an excellent, brooding re-creation of the battle of Clontarf in 1014 A.D. between Celtic Christian Irish and pagan Vikings. This fine story was unpublished at Howard's death in 1936 and only saw print in 1962. The other two stories, "Marchers of Valhalla" and "The Thunder-Rider" belong to that sub-genre of "racial memory" stories first made prominent by Jack London, a writer that heavily influenced REH. Both feature the typical Howard skill in storytelling, and "Thunder-Rider" in particular offers a special insight into Howard's view of modern life, but they seem to be final drafts that were going to be polished and expanded a little more before being in final form. Still, even lesser Howard is worth reading. In "MofV," crippled Texan James Allison remembers a past life as the warrior Hialmar of the Aesir. In "Thunder-Rider" assimilated Native American James Garfield, also a Texan, undergoes an Indian rite to recall his past life as Iron Heart, a 16th century "Comanche war-hawk." Is Allison speaking for Howard when he says: "I was born out of my time, and even the exploits of this weary age were denied me." Although the stories are very worthwhile, I really don't like the Marcus Boas illustrations in the Donald M. Grant editions (1972, 1979) of this book. They are incredibly garish, lurid and give a very peculiar spin on the text. One makes a Viking queen look like a Times Square hooker!