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Introduction

“The Cairn on the Headland” by Robert E. Howard is a tale woven with elements of the supernatural, history, and a touch of horror. The story is set in Ireland, near Dublin, and revolves around a mysterious cairn believed to have connections to ancient Nordic gods and Irish history.

It has a rather convoluted history, being in effect an adaptation of Howard’s earlier story Spears of Clontarf, a historical adventure story by Howard focusing on the Battle of Clontarf (1014) and featuring Turlogh Dubh O’Brien or Black Turlogh, a fictional 11th Century Irishman created by Howard. Howard later rewrote “Spears” as “The Grey God Passes”, which was very similar to Spears of Clontarf, but with added fantasy elements. Howard failed to sell the story in either version during his lifetime.

“The Cairn on the Headland” (Howard’s third version of Spears of Clontarf) was a horror story set in the present and succeeded in getting published in Strange Tales (January 1933). Howard earned $140 for the story. It was later reprinted in August Derleth’s Skull-Face and Others, as well as in Lancer Books’ paperback collection Wolfshead.

From the letters:

In a letter (#191) to To Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. February 1932, we learn that he was happy with the payment:

Oh, yes; I finally made Claytons’. I sold them a couple of yarns in a row, and while they kept me waiting awhile for the dough, they paid well when they did pay — $134 for one, and $144 for the other. Short stories too. I hope to gosh I can sell them a long novelet.

The first story was “People of the Dark” and the other one was “The Cairn on the Headland”.

The sale of the story to the Claytons is also mentioned in another letter (#195) to Tevis, circa March 1932:

Glad you liked the Roof business and the Sowers stuff. I’ve had quite a few praises on the Sowers thing, but don’t know whether they’ll get into the Souk. Likely not. Those yarns I sold Clayton were to their Strange Tales.

And at the end of a long letter (#220) to Lovecraft on November 2, 1932 he asks:

P.S. Have you read my “Cairn on the Headland” in the latest Strange Tales? If not, I’ll be glad to lend you my copy. It was the artist’s idea, not mine, to deck Odin in a solid steel cuirass!

Not happy with what the editor did with his story, he mention the story again in a letter to Lovecraft, circa December 1932:

I’m glad you liked the yarns mentioned. The editor took liberties with “The Cairn on the Headland”. In the original version, O’Brien was born in America. The editor changed this and made O’Brien a native of Ireland, but neglected to change the line: “We were countrymen in that we born in the same land.” That would seem to make “Ortali” an Irishman, too, when I intended him for an American-born Italian. In making Odin a purely evil spirit, I did that partly for dramatic effect, and partly because I was writing from the viewpoint of the ancient Irish. They must have considered that god an utter devil, considering the murdering, looting and destroying habits of his worshippers. Their shrines and monasteries were burned and demolished, their priests slaughtered, their young men and young women butchered on the altars of the one-eyed deity, and over all towered Odin. Seeing his effigy looming through the smoke of destruction and the flame of slaughter, dabbled with blood, and bestriding mangled corpses, the victims must have seen in him only the ultimate essence of evil.

Howard wrote to the Clayton Magazines (letter #247) on June 13, 1933:

A few weeks ago I wrote you asking a release of the British Empire rights on my stories, “People of the Dark” and “The Cairn on the Headland,” published in Strange Tales. I have had no reply from you.

The story

The story begins with the narrator, a large, bear-like man with red hair and blue eyes, who is distinctly of Northern European descent, conversing with a man named Ortali, a sophisticated, slender individual of Latin origin. They are opposites in appearance and mentality. Ortali is intrigued by the cairn and its history, while the narrator, knowledgeable about Irish lore and history, is more reserved and wary of disturbing the cairn.

Ortali, driven by a mix of curiosity and greed, is determined to uncover the cairn’s secrets, hoping to find treasures. The narrator is reluctant, believing in the superstitions and legends surrounding the cairn. The cairn is said to have been erected following the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 A.D., a significant event where the Irish, led by King Brian Boru, defeated the Norse invaders. The narrator speculates that the cairn might cover something other than just a fallen Norse chief, possibly something more ominous and linked to Nordic mythology.

Amidst this backdrop, the narrator encounters a strange, powerful woman named Meve MacDonnal, who speaks in an archaic form of Gaelic. She gives him a crucifix of Saint Brandon the Blessed, claiming it has protective powers against evil. This encounter leaves the narrator confused and slightly alarmed, as the woman seems to belong to a different era.

The story takes a turn when Ortali decides to excavate the cairn alone at night. The narrator, after a disturbing dream where he relives a past life as a warrior in the Battle of Clontarf, rushes to stop Ortali, fearing the unleashing of an ancient evil. In his dream, he learns that the cairn covers the body of Odin, the Norse god, who had taken a mortal form to aid his people in battle. The dream reveals that Odin, in his mortal guise, could be killed, and that the cairn was built to contain his potentially resurrecting spirit.

As the narrator arrives at the cairn, he witnesses Ortali uncovering it. In a horrifying turn of events, a holly sprig falls from Ortali’s lapel onto the figure in the cairn. This act awakens the slumbering entity, revealed to be the spirit of Odin, now a monstrous and malevolent force. Ortali is instantly killed by the awakened entity.

In a climactic moment, the narrator uses the crucifix given by Meve MacDonnal to repel and banish the fiendish spirit back into the ether. The story concludes with the narrator reflecting on the surreal and terrifying events, holding onto the crucifix that saved him from a gruesome fate.

Characters

  • Narrator/James O’Brien/Red Cumal: The protagonist, who feels a deep connection to Irish history and folklore. He is blackmailed by Ortali and has a strong sense of his ancestral past.
  • Ortali: The antagonist, a sophisticated and greedy individual who seeks to uncover the treasures he believes are hidden within the cairn.
  • Meve MacDonnal: A mysterious woman who claims to be from the narrator’s clan and gives him a protective crucifix. Revealed to be a ghost from the past.
  • Odin/The Gray Man: The Norse god, buried beneath the cairn, who is released by Ortali and confronted by the narrator.

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Source: Wikipedia.