54 replies to this topic

[Kortoso]

Now we're heard that Robert E. Howard gave the height and weight of his character Cormac fitzGeoffrey as 6'2" and 210 pounds (or so) and that he also said that Cormac was exactly(?) the same size as Conan. Can you all help me track down both of these citations?

I believe that the first one comes from a Cormac tale; since it may not be easily available, a quote from the tale would be perfect. I believe that the second citation is from a letter. Anyone have any clue?

Thanks!

[Mikey_C]

Hawks of Outremer: "Cormac FitzGeoffrey was a fraction of an inch above six feet, but with his mighty shoulders and two hundred pounds of iron muscle, he seemed shorter."

The Blood of Belshazzar: "Among these tall sons of the desert and mountains his height did not seem particularly great, though it was above six feet. But the breadth and thickness of him were gigantic. His shoulders were broader, his limbs more massive than any other warrior there."

The Slave Princess: "Over six feet in height he stood, and his shoulders and steel clad limbs were mighty."

That's part of what you're looking for: I'm afraid I don't have the letter.

[Kortoso]

Excellent, thanks, that's the first piece.

[Solomon_skin]

Does anyone know if all the Cormac Fitzgeoffrey stories have been collected into one volume?

[RichardS]

The stories and the synopsis for "The Slave Princess" are all in "Lord of Samarcand and Other Adventure Tales of the Old Orient" published by University of Nebraska Press - Bison Books.

The details are here: http://howardworks.c...fsamarcand.html and you can get it from Amazon pretty easily.

HTH

Richard

[Crom]

I managed to grab a copy during Howard Days and finally cracked it open last week. Great stuff! Highly recommended.

[Vulmea]

I have to say that Howard's Oriental stories are fast becoming my favourites!

I've just finished reading Hawks of Outremer and I enjoyed it immensely. Cormac Fitzgeoffery is very cool!......single-minded, determined and fearless!

Edited by Vulmea, 03 October 2006 - 10:56 PM.

[Otto Harkaman]

Well just started reading Hawks of the Outremer and the description of Cormac FitzGeoffrey is dead on Conan.

Interesting the different characters REH invents.

[godzilladude]

Well just started reading Hawks of the Outremer and the description of Cormac FitzGeoffrey is dead on Conan.

Interesting the different characters REH invents.

Last few years I've told folks that THIS was the predecessor of the Conan stories, NOT Kull. The only thing that Kull and Conan have in common is they're barbarian kings of ancient lands. Kull stories are about Kull, and the universe out to get him and confuse him, very self-oriented. The Conan stories are typically about a hero being an effector of Destiny, effecting changes that ripple over nations and lots of other folks, not just the hero. The FEEL of the Conan stories, the anger and the Catalyst at a Key Point in History, that's Conan and the Crusade stories. AND, the Crusade stories were written just before Conan. REH in his letters talked about the chance to write the historical works, at Farnsworth's suggestion, at first a little leery, then that he really enjoyed them. BUT, he couldn't have his hero be the HERO, and thereby alter history. He could put them right there, at the key point, everything ready to go, the Big Cataclysmic Point in Time, but history is history, so he'd have to wrangle some sub-plot to try to get something out of the story. I personally think Conan was his creation to allow him to have his hero be that linch-pin of Destiny, that affects the Great Change at a key point in time. Sure, he pulled the Kull character back out of the box, but the Conan stories are VERY different to me. Probably one reason why I like the Conan stories a lot, and find the Kull ones kinda boring.

My two cents.

[Otto Harkaman]

Thanks for the reply, interesting analysis!

[Kortoso]

Cormac FitzGeoffrey was a fraction of an inch above six feet, but with his mighty shoulders and two hundred pounds of iron muscle, he seemed shorter.

...not much of a "giant", it seems...

[Rusty Burke]

Cormac FitzGeoffrey was a fraction of an inch above six feet, but with his mighty shoulders and two hundred pounds of iron muscle, he seemed shorter.

...not much of a "giant", it seems...

In 12th century Palestine he probably qualified as a giant.

Rusty

[deuce]

Cormac FitzGeoffrey was a fraction of an inch above six feet, but with his mighty shoulders and two hundred pounds of iron muscle, he seemed shorter.

.


Actually, that description sounds a LOT like KEW's Kane.

[Otto Harkaman]

Would KEW had access to read Hawks of the Outremer ?

I'll have to reread the description of KANE

[Rusty Burke]

Would KEW had access to read Hawks of the Outremer ?

Certainly. He was a big fan of REH even before the "boom" of the 1970s. The only way to get REH (and the other writers he liked) was to start buying old pulp magazines, and Karl became a lifelong collector. It's quite likely that he would have read "Hawks" in Oriental Stories.

Not that I think Cormac had any kind of direct influence on Karl's depiction of Kane. I'm just answerin' the question.

Rusty

[deuce]

I wasn't implying any direct imitation of Fitzgeoffrey. It's just that the quote, in isolation, suddenly struck me as very similar to the way KEW described the "Mystic Swordsman". Actually, I always felt that Kane was just Karl idealizing his own appearance.

[Sailor Costigan]

Hey Deuce,

Did you catch my tip of the hat to Cormac Fitzgeoffrey in Volume 3, Issue 11 (November 2006) of the Cimmerian? I wrote a poem based upon an histrorical battle (The Battle of Arsuf) that Cormac would likely have been a part of based on Howard's background info in the story Hawks of Outremer.

the grub

I wasn't implying any direct imitation of Fitzgeoffrey. It's just that the quote, in isolation, suddenly struck me as very similar to the way KEW described the "Mystic Swordsman". Actually, I always felt that Kane was just Karl idealizing his own appearance.

[deuce]

Yes I did. Nice piece of versifyin', Chris.

[Sailor Costigan]

Yes I did. Nice piece of versifyin', Chris.

Thanks man. I had redo it for Leo. He wanted all the lines to have the same number of syllables and such. The last stanza I kept untouched so it has an extra syllable. I really dig the character and wish Howard had written more stories concerning him. In fact, it was just such a wish, accompanied by a vivid "what if" daydream of mine that put the idea into my mind. I had already known about the Battle of Arsuf and was like, "that's about the same time period into which Howard placed ol' Fitz...hmm..." When the Bison book came out, the Lord of Samarcand, I was able to concentrate on those crusader stories and found them to be so much fun. Very much like the Lamb historicals but with that Howard flair. We have a lot to talk about come June, my friend. Looking forward to it.

the grub

[Sermon Bath]

after reading the fitzgeoffrey stuff, i didnt find him that much like conan............he seems very amoral..more prone to rescue a maiden in order to sell her as a slave rather than drag her to bed like conan........I loved cormac fitzgeoffrey......a few more stories and he could have become reh's greatest in my opinion.............the slave princess was the best and id like to read richard's tierneys completion...i like tierney..........

anybody know how i can get a text of that story without paying a small fortune for the book?

Reh said that the stories of the crusades featured characters more like real people as opposed to the stuff in weird tales and other magazines that forced him to use more heroic characters...........