The Shadow of the Vulture

Introduction

“The Shadow of the Vulture” is a short story by Howard. He sold the story on March 6, 1933, and it was published in The Magic Carpet Magazine, in January 1934. The story introduces the character of Red Sonya of Rogatino, who later became the inspiration for the popular character Red Sonja, the archetype of the chainmail-bikini-clad female warrior. Howard sold the story for $140.

Unlike Howard’s better-known fantasy work, “The Shadow of the Vulture” is historical fiction, set in the 16th century. It uses the career of Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (also known as Sultan Suleiman I), the aftermath of the Battle of Mohács (1526), and the later Siege of Vienna of 1529 as a backdrop for imaginary characters and events.

From the letters

From an interesting letter (#238) to H.P. Lovecraft on March 6, 1933, we learn:

I’m curious to know how the readers will like Gottfried von Kalmbach, one of the main characters in a long historical yarn I sold Wright, concerning Suleyman the Magnificent’s attack on Vienna. A more dissolute vagabond than Gottfried never weaved his drunken way across the pages of a popular magazine: wastrel, drunkard, gambler, whore-monger, renegade, mercenary, plunderer, thief, rogue, rascal — I never created a character whose creation I enjoyed more. They may not seem real to the readers; but Gottfried and his mistress Red Sonya seem more real to me than any other character I’ve ever drawn.

And in another letter (#252d) to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. July 1933 Howard promises to send him a copy of the story:

And thanks, again, for the kind things you said about my work. I’ll send you that copy containing the yarn about Von Kalmbach, when it appears.

Obviously, the January 1934 edition of Magic Carpet must have been out as early as November 1933. On November 3, Howard writes (letter #265) again to HPL:

Thank you very much for the kind things you said about the yarns in Magic Carpet. “Alleys of Darkness” isn’t much of a yarn, but I do like “The Shadow of the Vulture”. I tried to follow history as closely as possible, though I did shift the actual date of Mikhal Oglu’s death. He was not killed until a year or so later, on the occasion of a later invasion of Austria, in which the Akinji were trapped and destroyed by Paul Bakics. The incident of Suleyman’s fete to celebrate his “victory” and his proclamation concerning his campaign is among the most curious episodes of history, which is often ironic.

Plot

In Istanbul, the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sends home members of a Holy Roman diplomatic envoy whom he has kept imprisoned for nine months. He recognizes one of the members, however; a knight by the name of Gottfried Von Kalmbach, who had seriously wounded him during the Battle of Mohács. The Ottoman Grand Vizier Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha entrusts the widely feared soldier, Mikhal Oglu, with hunting down Von Kalmbach and retrieving his head.

Mikhal Oglu and his warriors raid the countryside between the Ottoman Empire and Vienna in preparation for Suleiman’s attack on the city. They attack a small Danubian village, in which Von Kalmbach had been sleeping off the previous night’s drinking. He fights his way free, and rides for Vienna, where the townspeople are preparing for the arrival of Suleiman.

The full Ottoman army arrives, and the siege begins. Von Kalmbach fights the encroaching Turkish soldiers atop the walls. He meets a belligerent, red-haired woman who fights alongside the men – ‘Red’ Sonya of Rogatino, revealed to be the sister of Suleiman’s favourite harem girl, Hurrem Sultan. When one fight against a number of Turks proves to be overwhelming, she comes to Von Kalmbach’s aid.

Later, there is a lull in the siege and the defenders content themselves with drinking wine in the city square. Red Sonya insults Von Kalmbach, and an argument breaks out. Drunk and furious, Von Kalmbach spurs the men into an impromptu attack on the Ottoman encampment outside the city. Coincidentally, the drunken raid thwarts a surprise attack planned by the sultan, to have been assisted by traitors within the walls of Vienna.

The sultan eventually concedes defeat, and the Ottoman army prepares to leave. Von Kalmbach, however, is drugged and kidnapped by the traitors in Vienna – an Armenian merchant and his son, who had been in communication with the Sultan’s vizier and hoped to claim the knight’s head. Red Sonya comes to Von Kalmbach’s aid yet again. She blackmails the Armenian into delivering a message to Mikhal Oglu, who was serving as vanguard for the capitulating Ottoman army. Oglu receives the message and, believing Von Kalmbach to be alone and not too far away from his position, leaves the column with a small contingent. He is met, however, by an Austrian ambush.

In Istanbul, Suleiman is holding celebrations in honour of his ‘victory’ in central Europe. He receives a strange package in the mail, and Ibrahim opens it, hoping it to be the head of Von Kalmbach. It turns out to be the severed head of Mikhal Oglu, and included is a belittling note from Red Sonya and Von Kalmbach.

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