157 replies to this topic

[deuce]

A mysterious "white goddess" ruling primitive people is not at all an uncommon theme in fantasy/lost race fiction.

And I can't help but see some similarity between Belit and Xena.

Howard told Novalyne Price that Belit was an actual "goddess" to the Corsairs.

Xena and Belit? REH never even mentions Belit with a sword in her hand.

[mario]

well not xena anyway.However, call it a hunch,even if REH didnt mention her with a sword in text, I dont think she became 'queen of the black coast 'solely for her looks and ability to plan and bark orders...Goddess or not , when you choose that lifestyle you gotta 'make your bones',you do not go in innocently.

[Libaax]

A mysterious "white goddess" ruling primitive people is not at all an uncommon theme in fantasy/lost race fiction.

And I can't help but see some similarity between Belit and Xena.

Howard told Novalyne Price that Belit was an actual "goddess" to the Corsairs.

Xena and Belit? REH never even mentions Belit with a sword in her hand.

Some people find Xena to a warrior princess dream come true in film,tv that they see every other fierce female warrior in historical or fantasy setting as Xena like.

Im a big fan of Xena but Belìt was vastly different other than being fierce woman who had power of male warrior,rogues.

[amster]

A mysterious "white goddess" ruling primitive people is not at all an uncommon theme in fantasy/lost race fiction.

And I can't help but see some similarity between Belit and Xena.

Howard told Novalyne Price that Belit was an actual "goddess" to the Corsairs.

Xena and Belit? REH never even mentions Belit with a sword in her hand.

In one mad instant she was there--a tense white shape, vibrant with love fierce as a she-panther's. The dazed Cimmerian saw between him and the onrushing death, her lithe figure, shimmering like ivory beneath the moon; he saw the blaze of her dark eyes, the thick cluster of her burnished hair; her bosom heaved, her red lips were parted, she cried out sharp and ringing at the ring of steel as she thrust at the winged monster's breast.

What exactly did Belit thrust with, then?

[Amra_the_Lion]

she cried out sharp and ringing at the ring of steel as she thrust at the winged monster's breast.

I'm going to say that is pretty good circumstantial evidence of a piercing weapon made of steel be it sword, dagger, etc. To be fair thrust could mean push, although in this context I don't see Bêlit pushing on the monster's chest. I'd say weapon for sure. Plus what steel is ringing, the monster's armored chest plate? Nope, sword or dagger for sure.

Merriam Webster definition:

¹thrust
verb \ˈthrəst\
thrustthrust·ing


Definition of THRUST


transitive verb

1
: to push or drive with force : shove

2
: to cause to enter or pierce something by or as if by pushing <thrust a dagger into his heart>

3
: extend, spread

4
: stab, pierce

5
a : to put (as an unwilling person) forcibly into a course of action or position <was thrust into the job> b : to introduce often improperly into a position : interpolate

6
: to press, force, or impose the acceptance of upon someone <thrust new responsibilities upon her>
intransitive verb

1
a : to force an entrance or passage b : to push forward : press onward c : to push upward : project

2
: to make a thrust, stab, or lunge with or as if with a pointed weapon <thrust at them with a knife>

Edited by Amra_the_Lion, 26 February 2012 - 09:54 PM.

[amster]

"There is life beyond death, I know, and I know this, too, Conan of Cimmeria--" she rose lithely to her knees and caught him in a pantherish embrace--"my love is stronger than any death! I have lain in your arms, panting with the violence of our love; you have held and crushed and conquered me, drawing my soul to your lips with the fierceness of your bruising kisses. My heart is welded to your heart, my soul is part of your soul! Were I still in death and you fighting for life, I would come back from the abyss to aid you--aye, whether my spirit floated with the purple sails on the crystal sea of paradise, or writhed in the molten flames of hell! I am yours, and all the gods and all their eternities shall not sever us!"

"Ummm...okay," the barbarian muttered in retort, "thanks for sentiment and all, I'm just not sure how much help you'd be. You've never held a broadsword in your entire life."

[Ironhand]

"Ummm...okay," the barbarian muttered in retort, "thanks for sentiment and all, I'm just not sure how much help you'd be. You've never held a broadsword in your entire life."

Umm, no, not me. If white goddess Belit, with bosom heaving and red lips glistening, was declaring her extravagent love for me, I wouldn't quibble. Declare away, Belit, whatever you say. Where's your cabin?

[Ironhand]

Deuce
if the Tigress had just taken the coastal route, her crew would've run a gauntlet of Stygians, Shemites, Argosseans, Barachans and Zingarans coming and going.

Belit might have considered that to be "living off the fat of the land".

[deuce]

Deuce
if the Tigress had just taken the coastal route, her crew would've run a gauntlet of Stygians, Shemites, Argosseans, Barachans and Zingarans coming and going.

Belit might have considered that to be "living off the fat of the land".

I assume that was sheer chutzpah, IH. You're smart and well-read in REH's works. Let's consider all the factors.

The Tigress didn't have Conan as "first mate".

Last I checked, the Tigress was NOT the Bismarck.

As I said, the Tigress would be running a gauntlet all the way UP the coast, and then, most importantly, DOWN the coast from Zingara. Sure, Belit might have sneaked to Zingara, but the word would've been out on her way back. She would've had Zingaran freebooters AND privateers on her trail. Then Barachans and Argosseans. Then Shemites and Stygians.

Howard gives no indication that any of those sea-wolves were pu$$ies. ONE ship versus scores/hundreds. One would think that Belit's BEST raiding would've been on the way up. Thus and therefore, her ship would've been weighed down/slower on the return trip. EXACTLY the trip where she would have needed every bit of speed to outrun her enemies.

As I said before, I think Belit made a return trip from Zingara (if nothing else) by "cutting across" to Kush; NOT hugging the coast as a target for every sea-dog.

No way to "power" through". No way to "sneak" through otherwise.

[Ironhand]

Yeah, Belit had smarts and chutzpah. Even if she followed your strategy, it would have been an epic raid.

[deuce]

Yeah, Belit had smarts and chutzpah. Even if she followed your strategy, it would have been an epic raid.

So, what raid do you envision? Let's "war-game" it factoring everything we know about Belit and the Hyborian Age.

BTW, what does that emoticon signify, specifically?

[deuce]

Stephen Fabian's (REH artist extraordinaire's) "Dance of Belit":


http://www.google.co...,r:9,s:12,i:137

[Ironhand]

Yeah, Belit had smarts and chutzpah. Even if she followed your strategy, it would have been an epic raid.

So, what raid do you envision? Let's "war-game" it factoring everything we know about Belit and the Hyborian Age.

BTW, what does that emoticon signify, specifically?

It's called "roll eyes", but I personally interpret it as "loving it". (Whatever "it" is.)
If I were writing the scenario as you describe it, I would have lots of ship-to-ship and melee-on-deck action on the trip north, then for the trip south, cutting across the open sea in uncharted waters, some supernatural encounter that would make the trip north look like a swim in the kiddies' pool. In the course of escaping, they have to jettison most of the treasure, and Belit, dissatisfied, says "When can we do it again?"

After further consideration, Belit plans to repeat the raid after this little trip she's planning up the Derkheba River.

No lesser man than Conan could team up with Belitch without suffering multiple heart attacks.

Edited by Ironhand, 30 July 2012 - 05:19 AM.

[Aza9]

No lesser man than Conan could team up with Belitch without suffering multiple heart attacks.

Conan just shrugs his shoulders, puts his feet up and takes a gulp of good wine.

[Boot]

Stephen Fabian's (REH artist extraordinaire's) "Dance of Belit":


http://www.google.co...,r:9,s:12,i:137

Is that a Stygian boob job?

[Ironhand]

Stephen Fabian's (REH artist extraordinaire's) "Dance of Belit":


http://www.google.co...,r:9,s:12,i:137

Is that a Stygian boob job?

Yeah, she looted a shipment of boobs from a Stygian merchant ship.

[GreenGaul]

Cast in the mold of humanity, they were distinctly not men. They were winged and of heroic proportions; not a branch on the mysterious stalk of evolution that culminated in man, but the ripe blossom on an alien tree, separate and apart from that stalk. Aside from their wings, in physical appearance they resembled man only as man in his highest form resembles the great apes. In spiritual, esthetic and intellectual development they were superior to man as man is superior to the gorilla. But when they reared their colossal city, man's primal ancestors had not yet risen from the slime of the primordial seas.

The template for the Yaga of Almuric?

[deuce]

Cast in the mold of humanity, they were distinctly not men. They were winged and of heroic proportions; not a branch on the mysterious stalk of evolution that culminated in man, but the ripe blossom on an alien tree, separate and apart from that stalk. Aside from their wings, in physical appearance they resembled man only as man in his highest form resembles the great apes. In spiritual, esthetic and intellectual development they were superior to man as man is superior to the gorilla. But when they reared their colossal city, man's primal ancestors had not yet risen from the slime of the primordial seas.

The template for the Yaga of Almuric?

Quite honestly, I think there could be a direct connection. The Yaga queen knew that men "once leapt between the stars". Considering that the "Winged Ones" civilization was eons (if not millions of years') older than humanity, who knows where they ended up?