Listen to the story. Recorded by David Drage:
The story starts at 15:58 if you like to skip the podcast.
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.
Published in:
- STRANGE TALES OF MYSTERY AND TERROR Volume 3 Number 1, Clayton Magazines Inc., January 1933
- SKULL-FACE AND OTHERS, Arkham House, 1946
- AVON FANTASY READER #7, Avon Publishing Company, 1948
- THE MACABRE READER, Ace, 1959
- THE MACABRE READER, Digit Books, June 1960
- WOLFSHEAD, Lancer, 1968
- ミステリマガジン1969年11月( MISUTERIMAGAJIN 1969 NEN 11 GATSU) (MYSTERY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 1969), Hayakawa Publishing Corporation , November 1969 (Japanese)
- WOLFSHEAD, Lancer, 1972 (n.d.)
- SKULL-FACE OMNIBUS, Neville Spearman, 1974
- SKULL-FACE OMNIBUS, Neville Spearman, 1975
- SKULL-FACE OMNIBUS, Volume 1, Panther, 1976
- DAS HAUS DES GRAUENS, Erich Pabel Verlag KG, September 1977 (German)
- SKULL-FACE, Editrice Nord, October 1978 (Italian)
- LE PACTE NOIR, NeO, 1st Quarter 1979 (French)
- LE PACTE NOIR, Marabout, January 1981 (French)
- 剣と魔法の物語 (KEN TO MAHŌ NO MONOGATARI), Sonorama Bunko, December 1986 (Japanese)
- LE PACTE NOIR, NeO, November 1987 (French, 2nd printing)
- ROSTRO DE CALAVERA, ST (Spanish), 1987
- IL FURORE DI CTHULHU, Fanucci Editore, January 1988 (Italian)
- RIVALS OF WEIRD TALES, Bonanza, 1990
- LE PACTE NOIR 1, Fleuve Noir, November 1991 (French)
- WYSŁAŃCY WALHALLI, Wydawnictwo Arka, 1992 (Polish)
- SKULL FACE, Editrice Nord, March 1993 (Italian)
- TUTTI I CICLI FANTASTICI – I CICLI CELTA E DI FACCIA DI TESCHIO, Newton Compton Editori, April 1995 (Italian)
- BEYOND THE BORDERS, Baen, October 1996 (restored text)
- MAGAZÍN POUTNÍK 11, Klub Julese Vernea, 1996 (Czech)
- BLACK HOUND OF DEATH (GONCHIE SMERTI), North-West, 1999 (Russian)
- PIMEDUSE RAHVAS, Fantaasia, 2002 (Estonian)
- PULP REPLICA: STRANGE TALES #7, Girasol Collectables, March 2003
- PULP FACSIMILE REPRINT: STRANGE TALES #7, Wildside Press, September 2004
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S STRANGE TALES, Dennis McHaney, January 2005
- WINGS IN THE NIGHT, Wildside Press, November 2005
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S STRANGE TALES, Dennis McHaney, December 2005
- THE EXOTIC WRITINGS OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Girasol Collectables, October 2006
- WINGS IN THE NIGHT, Wildside Press, January 2007
- THE HAUNTER OF THE RING & OTHER TALES, Wordsworth Editions, September 2007
- PEOPLE OF THE DARK, Cosmos Books, November 2007
- THE CAIRN ON THE HEADLAND, THE DREAM SNAKE, THE FEARSOME TOUCH OF DEATH, AND THE HYENA, Dodo Press, February 2008
- THE HORROR STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Del Rey, October 2008
- THE HAUNTER OF THE RING & OTHER TALES, Wordsworth Editions, 2008
- MITRANIA NR. 4 2009, Mitrania, 2009 (Swedish)
- PEOPLE OF THE DARK AND OTHER HORROR STORIES, Halcyon Press, Ltd., January 2010
- THE HORROR STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Tantor Media, Inc., March 2010 (audio)
- THE ROBERT E. HOWARD OMNIBUS: 99 COLLECTED STORIES, Halcyon Press, Ltd., May 2010
- THE HORROR STORIES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD, Subterranean Press, March 2011
- FROM DARK CORNERS: THIRTEEN UNUSUAL TALES FROM FAMOUS AUTHORS, Nuelow Games, August 2011
- ZPÁTKY DO TEMNOTY, Albatros Media, 2011 (Czech)
- KULL OF ATLANTIS AND OTHER STORIES, Jame-Books, August 2012
- TOTE ERINNERN SICH, Festa Verlag, September 2012 (German)
- WEIRD TALES: 101 WEIRD, STRANGE, AND SUPERNATURAL STORIES VOLUME 4, Civitas Media, January 2013
- LES OMBRES DE CANAAN, Bragelonne, February 2013 (French)
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S COLLECTED WORKS, Jame-Books, February 2013
- WEIRD TALES: 101 WEIRD, STRANGE, AND SUPERNATURAL STORIES VOLUME 4, Civitas Media, May 2013
- LES OMBRES DE CANAAN. LA PIERRE NOIRE, Bragelonne, February 2014 (French)
- THE FEARSOME TOUCH OF DEATH, Ulwencreutz Media, July 2014
- FEKETE TURLOGH ÉS A KELTÁK, Delta Vision Kft., November 2014 (Hungarian)
- SWORDS OF THE NORTH, REH Foundation Press, December 2014
- I FIGLI DELLA NOTTE. RACCONTI DELL’ORRORE VOLUME 1, Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, March 2015 (Italian)
- LOS DIOSES DE BAL-SAGOTH, Costas de Carcosa, February 2016 (Spanish)
- FOUR TALES OF TERROR, Ozymandias Press, July 2016
- БЕЗЫМЯННЫЕ КУЛЬТЫ: МИФЫ КТУЛХУ И ДРУГИЕ ИСТОРИИ УЖАСА (NAMELESS CULTS: CTHULHU MYTHOS AND OTHER HORROR STORIES), AST, August 2016 (Russian)
- FOUR TALES OF TERROR, Jovian Press, October 2016
- PULP FACSIMILE: STRANGE TALES V3N1, Fiction House Press, April 2019
- LES GUERRIERS DU VALHALLA, Le Livre de Poche, November 2020 (French)
- IL CICLO CELTA, GM Libri, February 2021 (Italian)
- THE NECRONOMICON: TALES OF ELDRITCH HORROR FROM THE MASTERS OF THE GENRE, Arcturus Publishing, August 2021
- PULP FACSIMILE REPRINT: STRANGE TALES V3N1, Adventure House, October 2021
- THE HAUNTER OF THE RING (NECRONOMICON BOXED SET), Arcturus Publishing, November 2021
- SWORDS OF THE NORTH, the Ultimate Edition, REH Foundation Press, May 2024
Source: Wikipedia.