This short story by Robert E. Howard is one of his mixes of history and fantasy was never published when the author was alive. Its first apparition in printing was in 1962, in a collection titled Dark mind, Dark Heart edited by August Derleth Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was a writer of fantasy and historical adventure pulp stories published mainly in Weird Tales magazine in the 1930s. ... August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. ...

The tale revolves around a fictionalised version of the Battle of Clontarf, but recast in Howard's views, with doomful vision and fantasy elements. While the historical facts of the battle are true to history, as known by Howard, they are not the most important parts of the story. the main protagonist is Turlogh Dubh O'Brien , an outcast from Brian Boru's own clan, and a recurring character of Howard's always appearing in stories with fantasy or horror elements. Combatants Gaelic Irish Dublin Vikings Commanders Brian Boru† Sigtrygg Strength ca. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The core of the story, as indicated by the title, is the fact that along with the victory of Christian King Brian over the heathen vikings, so passes the influence of supernatural beings from our world. Among the Irish dead is a fey prince whose passing will cause the death of his fairy lover, a metaphor for the waning away of all the Sidhe. Odin himself makes some impressive and doomful appearance, making the battle a Götterdämmerung... more Wagnerian in tone than the utter end of the world predicted for Ragnarök , though it is indeed the end of a world. A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. ... by Sophie Anderson A fairy is a spirit or supernatural being that is found in the legends, folklore, and mythology of many different cultures. ... In Irish mythology, the sídhe (pronounced shee) are a supernatural race, quite distinct from humankind. ... For other meanings of Odin, Woden or Wotan see Odin (disambiguation), Woden (disambiguation), Wotan (disambiguation). ... (help· info) (Twilight of the Gods – see Notes) is the last of the four operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner. ... Look up Ragnarok in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

While little known, this story can be regarded as a turning point in the timeline of Howard's universe. While even in his stories that take place in incredibly ancient times, the horror, supernatural and Cthulhu mythos elements are seen as survivals from older, more horrible epochs, it can be perceived that in stories that take place later, such elements are viewed as even more horrible and abnormal. (compare the view of the supernatural in the Kull or Conan the Barbarian stories, with that in the Solomon Kane tales or in The Black Stone or The Children of the Night for instance) The notable exception being Worms of the Earth where, in the fourth or fifth century, even a hard bitten hero like Bran Mak Morn finds horror beyond his ability to stand. Cthulhu mythos (often capitalized: Cthulhu Mythos) is the term coined by the writer August Derleth to describe the shared elements, characters, settings, and themes in the works of H.P. Lovecraft and associated writers. ... A complete edition of Kulls stories from 1995 Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. ... Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian, from the name of his homeland, Cimmeria) is a literary character created by Robert E. Howard in a series of fantasy pulp stories published in Weird Tales in the 1930s. ... Solomon Kane is a fictional character created by the pulp-era writer Robert E. Howard. ... Worms of the Earth is a short story by American fantasy fiction writer Robert Ervin Howard. ... Bran Mak Morn is a hero of several pulp fiction short stories by Robert E. Howard. ...