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Bran Mak Morn is a hero of several pulp fiction short stories by Robert E. Howard. In the stories, most of which were first published in Weird Tales, Bran is the last king of Howard's romanticized version of the tribal race of Picts. Flynns Detective Fiction from 1941. ...
Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936)[1] was a classic American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. ...
This page is about the fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine and its heirs. ...
A replica of the Hilton of Cadboll Stone. ...
Howard's history of the Picts
At 13, Howard, being of Scottish descent, began his studies of Scottish history and became fascinated with what he calls "the small dark Mediterranean aborigines of Britain."[1] As these Picts were portrayed as inferior to later tribes, Howard imagined them as a link between modern and ancient times.
His Picts originated on a group of islands near what was once Valusia, the kingdom of the Atlantean Kull. When Atlantis, Lemuria, and Valusia sank into the sea, the Picts survived and were flung into a period of cultural decline. They forgot the art of metal-working and returned to the technique of flintknapping. Valusia is a fictional country in the Kull stories of Robert E. Howard. ...
A complete edition of Kulls stories from 1995 Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. ...
Picture of Platos description of Atlantis Atlantis (Greek: , Island of Atlas) is the name of a legendary island first mentioned in Platos dialogues Timaeus and Critias. ...
Lemuria is the name of a hypothetical lost land variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. ...
A flintknapper is an individual who shapes flint or other stone through the process of knapping or lithic reduction, to manufacture stone tools, strikers for flintlock firearms, or to produce flat-faced stones for building or facing walls. ...
They migrated to the North until they reached Caledon, the northern lands of the later British Isles. They drove the extant tribes northward until the Aryans, Celts, and Germans invaded.[2] Caledonia is the Latin name given by the Roman Empire to a northern area of the island of Great Britain. ...
The Aryan race is a concept in European culture that was influential in the period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ...
“Celts†redirects here. ...
The Picts were pushed to the North, where they mingled with the tribes they had defeated earlier. Forgetting most of their technological skills, they became brutish and skilled in warcraft.[3]
Although Bran Mak Morn has dark eyes, he does not resemble the Caledonian Picts as Howard depicts them. He refers to himself as a Mediterranean, possibly meaning that he associates himself with the more ancient Picts.[4]
Picts in fantasy Many writers have been drawn to the idea of the Picts and created fictional stories and mythology about them in the absence of much real data. This romanticised view tends to portray them as occasionally noble savages, much as the view of Europeans on Native Americans in the 18th century. A section of Benjamin Wests The Death of General Wolfe; Wests depiction of this Native American has been considered an idealization in the tradition of the Noble savage (Fryd, 75) In the 18th century culture of Primitivism the noble savage, uncorrupted by the influences of civilization was considered...
An independent origin and development of writing is counted among the many achievements and innovations of pre-Columbian American cultures. ...
They are an especial favourite race of Robert E. Howard and are mentioned frequently in his tales, having a continuity from the tales of King Kull of Atlantis, where they are his allies to the Hyborian Age of Conan the Barbarian where they are the mortal enemies of the Cimmerians, who are actually descended from the old Atlanteans though they do not remember their ancestry or old alliance. Howard also wrote tales about the last King of the Picts Bran Mak Morn set in real historical time and they figure commonly as enemies of Cormac mac Art. Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936)[1] was a classic American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. ...
A complete edition of Kulls stories from 1995 Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. ...
Picture of Platos description of Atlantis Atlantis (Greek: , Island of Atlas) is the name of a legendary island first mentioned in Platos dialogues Timaeus and Critias. ...
An illustration of The Hyborian Age primarily based upon a map hand-drawn by Robert E. Howard in March 1932. ...
Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet. ...
The Cimmerians (Greek: , Kimmerioi) were ancient equestrian nomads who, according to Herodotus, originally inhabited the region north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea, in what is now Russia and Ukraine, in the 8th and 7th century BC. Assyrian records, however, first place them in the region of what is...
Howard's Picts are said to have originated in the westernmost reaches of North America, and gradually migrated into the Mediterranean area. At one time they spread to large areas of the world, but gradually vanished except for several splinter groups. Although some of these groups lived in remote jungles and southern continents, the most prominent body of Picts settled in the British isles, where they displaced a supposedly mongoloid race that had been the initial residents of the isles (though their origins were elsewhere).
An interesting point is that, in the Hyborian age, when they populate the Western edge of Europe and share a border with Aquilonia, which tries to push them further west to colonize new provinces, the Picts show clear native American influence, in their appearance, dress, armament, manner of conducting wars... and even the place names of the new Aquilonian provinces... It is hard to tell whether this is a case of inconsistency on the part of Howard, or a throwback to their earliest origins and savagery, as Hyborian Picts are definitely more primitive and Savage than those Kull knew. Aquilonia (pop. ...
This previous race sought refuge underground, and over long millennia they evolved into stunted and hideous creatures, who were the initial subjects of tales concerning elves and dwarves. The Picts were in turn displaced by the invading Celts, and they fled northward and interbred with a tribe of 'red haired barbarians,' resulting in a genetic shift toward diminished height. Following subsequent Roman, Breton, and Saxon invasions, the Picts too sought refuge underground, just like the natives they had displaced before. For alternate meanings, see Lightning (disambiguation). ...
This page is about a mythological race. ...
“Celts†redirects here. ...
Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ...
The Bretons are a distinct celtic ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. ...
This article does not cite its references or sources. ...
Howard's descriptions of the later Picts portray them as very small in height, squat and muscular, adept at silent movement, and most of all brutish and uncivilised. They painted themselves with woad, much like the historical Picts, and lived in very large caverns, some natural and some artificially expanded. They had a custom of burning enemy prisoners alive, a ceremony usually presided over by their 'wizards' or priests, whom Howard portrayed as having a twisted philosophy and mindset produced by many years of hatred, in direct opposition to the Pictish warrior-king Bran Mak Morn, who attempted to restore the Picts to their honourable place in the world and drive out the Roman invaders. Binomial name L. Woad (or glastum) is the common name of the flowering plant Isatis tinctoria in the family Brassicaceae. ...
Roman Catholic priest A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ...
Bran Mak Morn's mindset was very unusual for his time and location, because he favored an alliance of the 'native' British populations, including the Picts, Bretons, and Celts, against the Romans, in a setting when each of these tribes fostered an intense hatred and mistrust for all the others. Robert E. Howard also mentions that some warriors among the Picts could assume the forms of wolves, in the manner of werewolves, on their own free will. These Picts were a 'race' with whom Howard felt the most affinity, and for this reason they were one of his favourite subjects, despite being almost wholly fictitious and deviating from historical fact. Wolves may refer to: Gray Wolf Other uses of Wolf: see Wolf (disambiguation) Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Category: ...
A werewolf in folklore and mythology is a person who changes into a wolf, either by purposefully using magic in some manner or by being placed under a curse. ...
Social-Darwinist overtones The social Darwinism and pro-Aryan overtones of Howard's other works are also apparent in the Bran Mak Morn stories. He refers to the Picts as "primeval savages" and "untamable."[5] Bran Mak Morn is depicted as the leader of a dying and degenerate people, and he is deeply aware of their inevitable path to extinction--though like all Howard characters, he chooses to fight against this rather than succumb. His main enemies are the Romans, and he makes an unholy alliance to defeat them in "Worms of the Earth". Social Darwinism is the idea that Charles Darwins theory can be extended and applied to the social realm, i. ...
History - Ancient history - Ancient Rome This is a List of Ancient Rome-related topics, that aims to include aspects of both the Ancient Roman Republic and Roman Empire. ...
Worms of the Earth is a short story by American fantasy fiction writer Robert Ervin Howard. ...
The name The name is derived from the name of Brennus, the Gaul who sacked Rome, and comes from a Britonnic word meaning "raven". Howard says the Mak Morn was inspired by the Irish hero Goll mac Morna. He added a k to give the name a non-Gaelic appearance.[6] A sculpture, depicting this Brennus that adorned an 18th or 19th century French naval vessel Brennus, a chieftain of the Senones of the Adriatic coast of Italy, who in 387 BC, in the Battle of the Allia, led an army of Cisalpine Gauls in their attack on Rome. ...
Goll mac Morna (or Goal mac Morn) was a member of the fianna and an uneasy ally of Fionn mac Cumhail in the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. ...
Cthulhu Mythos Twice in Worms of the Earth mention is made of the black gods of R'lyeh, resting place of Cthulhu, creation of H. P. Lovecraft, a friend and correspondent of Howard. In the earliest extant copy of Worms of the Earth mention of Cthulhu himself is made by name although this was later changed to Nameless Gods in the final edition. Also mentioned in the same story is the water monster Dagon, a real-world Philistine god mentioned in a fictional context in some stories by Lovecraft. Lovecraft himself references Bran Mak Morn in his short story "The Whisperer in Darkness". Rlyeh is in the middle of one of the biggest patches of empty ocean on Earth. ...
Cthulhu in the lost city of Rlyeh For other uses, see Cthulhu (disambiguation). ...
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of fantasy, horror and science fiction. ...
Dagon was a major northwest Semitic god, reportedly a god of grain and agriculture, worshipped by the early Amorites, by the people of Ebla and Ugarit, and a major god, perhaps the chief god, of the Biblical Philistines, enemies of the ancient nation of Israel. ...
The historic Philistines (see note Philistines below) were a people that inhabited the southern coast of Canaan around the time of the arrival of the Israelites, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts. ...
The Whisperer in Darkness is a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, written in 1930. ...
Homage Bran Mac Mufin, a character in Dave Sim's graphic novel Cerebus, is an homage and parody of Bran Mak Morn. His name is a play on words, referring to the grain bran and the breakfast sandwich McMuffin. David Victor Sim (born May 17, 1956 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian comic book writer and artist, best known as the creator of the 6,000 page graphic novel Cerebus the Aardvark. ...
Trade paperback of Will Eisners A Contract with God (1978), often mistakenly cited as the first graphic novel. ...
Cerebus the Aardvark (or simply Cerebus) was an ambitious monthly independent comic book begun by Canadian artist Dave Sim in 1977, and running for 300 issues and 6,000 pages, through March 2004. ...
// wheat bran Bran is the hard outer layer of and consists of combined aleurone and pericarp. ...
The McMuffin is the brand name for a breakfast sandwich available at McDonalds consisting of a slice of Canadian bacon, a grill-cooked egg, and a slice of cheese on an English muffin. ...
The Robert E. Howard stories Most of Howard's Bran Mak Morn stories were first published in Weird Tales. A few stories didn't appear in print until after Howard's death.
Note: The order of publication does not correspond with the order in which the stories were written.
- "Kings of the Night" (first publication: Weird Tales, November 1930). The first story to feature Bran as a king and describes him as a direct descendant of another Howard character, Brule the Spear-Slayer, companion of the Atlantean King Kull.
- "The Dark Man" (Weird Tales, December 1931). Set centuries after Bran's death he appears as an idol worshipped by the surviving Picts in which his soul is said to be resident.
- "Worms of the Earth" (Weird Tales, November 1932). The last Bran story and the only story told through the Pict's point of view.
- "Men of the Shadows" (Bran Mak Morn, Dell, 1969). Originally a poem placed at the beginning of the Bran Mak Morn story (1926) of the same name. The poem was first published in 1957 in Always Comes Evening, a collection of Howard poems. The poem and the story, which features Bran as a chief and not a king, were first published together in the Dell novel. This was Howard's first Bran Mak Morn story.
- "Bran Mak Morn" (Bran Mak Morn: A Play & Others, Cryptic Publications, 1983). Also known as "Bran Mak Morn: A Play." Written in 1922/3.
- "The Children of the Night". In this tale Bran does not appear directly but rather the story elaborates on his cult, which first appears in "The Dark Man." Events in the narrative correspond with the timeline and events noted in "Worms of the Earth."
A complete edition of Kulls stories from 1995 Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. ...
Worms of the Earth is a short story by American fantasy fiction writer Robert Ervin Howard. ...
Poems - A Song of the Race (Bran Mak Morn, Dell, 1969).
Fragments - Untitled, "A grey sky arched over the dreary waste. ..."
- Untitled, "Men have had visions ere now. ..." The fragment is believed to be the beginning of a Bran Mak Morn story.
Book editions
Collections Howard's stories, poems, and fragments featuring Bran Mak Morn have been published several times as a collection in book form. Not every publication has been a complete collection. - Bran Mak Morn, Dell, 1969.
- Worms of the Earth, Donald M. Grant, 1974. Illustrated by David Ireland.
- Worms of the Earth, Zebra Books, July 1975.
- Worms of the Earth, Orbit, 1976.
- Worms of the Earth, Ace, June 1979.
- Bran Mak Morn, Baen, January 1996.
- Bran Mak Morn: The Last King, Wandering Star, 2001.
- Bran Mak Morn: The Last King, Del Rey, June 2005.
Pastiches Other writers have published novels featuring Howard's Bran Mak Morn. - Legion from the Shadows, Karl Edward Wagner, Zebra Books, 1976.
- For the Witch of the Mists, David C. Smith and Richard Tierney, Ace Books, March 1981.
Karl Edward Wagner (4 December 1945 – 13 October 1994) was an American writer, editor and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. ...
Adaptations
Comics Bran Mak Morn has appeared in several issues of Marvel Comics' Savage Sword of Conan. In 1974 "Men of Shadows" was adapted by writer Roy Thomas and appeared in SSoC #102-104, and 106. Marvel Comics is an American comic book line published by Marvel Publishing, Inc. ...
Roy Thomas (born November 22, 1940, Missouri, United States) is a comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lees first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. ...
The Film Peter Berg will direct the movie Bran Mak Morn for Universal Pictures. Chris Romano is writing the script. The movie is slated for 2008 release. Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964 in New York City) is an American actor and film director. ...
Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ...
Copyright and Trademark The name Bran Mak Morn and the names of Robert E. Howard's other principal characters are trademarked by Paradox Entertainment of Stockholm, Sweden, through its US subsidiary Paradox Entertainment Inc. Paradox also holds copyrights on the stories written by other authors under license from Robert E Howard Properties Inc. Since Robert E. Howard published his Bran Mak Morn stories at a time when the date of publication was the marker, the owners had to use the copyright symbol, and they had to renew after a certain time to maintain copyright, the exact status of all of Howard's Bran Mak Morn works are in question. [7] Paradox Entertainment is a Swedish company (now based in Los Angeles) that owns many intellectual properties, the most famous of which is Conan the Barbarian. ...
The Australian site of Project Gutenberg has many Robert E. Howard stories, including several Bran Mak Morn stories[8]. This indicates that, in their opinion, the stories are free from copyright and may be used by anyone, at least under Australian law. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...
Subsequent stories written by other authors are subject to the copyright laws of the relevant time.
Notes - ^ "Foreword" in Bran Mak Morn, Robert E. Howard, Dell Publishing Company, 1969, p. 8-9.
- ^ "Kings of the Night" in Bran Mak Morn, p. 65-6.
- ^ "Men of the Shadows" in Bran Mak Morn, p. 51.
- ^ Ibid, p. 39.
- ^ Ibid, p. 45.
- ^ "Foreword", p. 9.
- ^ Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States at Cornell University
- ^ http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html#letterH
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