Listen to the story. Recorded by David Drage:
The story itself starts at about 15:50 into the recording.
Introduction
A short story with elements of fantasy and horror. As often in Howard’s stories, there is a link to the Cthulhu Mythos, in this case, mixed also with elements of both Norse Mythology and Catholic Christianity.
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). It was later reprinted in August Derleth’s Skull-Face and Others, as well as in Lancer Books’ paperback collection Wolfshead.
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
Source: Wikipedia.