Search Results for: Turlogh O’Brien

UNTITLED STORY (The Dane came in with a rush, hurtling his huge body forward . . .). Featuring Turlogh Dubh O’Brien.

First published in Weird Tales in October 1931. Featuring Turlogh Dubh O’Brien.

In “Waterfront Fists,” Steve Costigan finds himself in Honolulu, where Bill O’Brien, a fellow crew member of the Sea Girl, announces that Steve has been matched to fight a formidable opponent from the ship Ruffian that very night. First published in Fight Stories September 1930. Featuring Steve Costigan. It was published again in Fight Stories volume 6 number Summer 1940 but then under the name, Mark Adam, and the title STAND UP AND SLUG!

“The Shadow of the Hun” by Robert E. Howard is an epic tale set in a time of ancient wars and legendary warriors. The story begins on a warship where three distinct warriors from different backgrounds – Athelstane the Saxon, Don Roderigo del Cortez, and Turlogh Dubh O’Brien – converse about their upcoming battle against the Saracens. Athelstane, a towering Saxon with golden hair and beard, inquires about these Eastern enemies, and Don Roderigo, a tall, dark Spaniard, describes the Saracens as brave and cruel, adherents of Muhammad. Turlogh, a well-built, dark-haired Gaelic warrior, adds his insights, dismissing the existence of dragons but acknowledging the dangers that await them.

“The Ghost in the Doorway” is a supernatural tale set in Ireland, recounted from the memoirs of Captain Turlogh Kirowan. During Cromwell’s rule in Ireland, Kirowan finds himself alone in County Clare. He seeks refuge in the ruins of an O’Brien clan castle, where he encounters the ghost of Conmac O’Sullivan, an ancestor from his mother’s side. By “Patrick MacConaire”. 

“The Dark Man” is a gripping tale set in the ancient, rugged landscapes of Connacht. It begins with Turlogh Dubh, an exiled warrior of the Clan na O’Brien, encountering a fisherman on a snowy shore. Turlogh, described as a formidable and darkly handsome man, is on a mission to rescue Moira, the daughter of a Dalcassian chief, abducted by Viking raiders led by Thorfel the Fair.

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.

Howard’s first version (as Spears of Clontarf) finally saw print in a chapbook in 1978, and his Grey God Passes version was also published posthumously in the anthology collection titled Dark Mind, Dark Heart in 1962.

“The Grey God Passes” is a vivid tale set during a tumultuous period in Irish history, focusing on the Battle of Clontarf and the symbolic end of the Norse gods’ influence over the region.

The story begins with Conn, a thrall (slave), confronting a mysterious stranger who knows of Conn’s killing of his master, Wolfgar Snorri’s son. The stranger, later revealed to be Odin, the Grey God, hints at an impending war in Ireland and vanishes after predicting doom and the fall of gods.