Belit, the heroine of Poul Anderson's Conan novel, was a Robert E. Howard character.
I saw a scene from Conan the Barbarian where Conan played by Arnold Schwarzenegger asked his god, Crom, for help and added "But, if not, to Hell with you!" My attitude to the gods is: "We ask your help but, if not, we'll do it ourselves."
According to Anderson, Crom bestows, on those that he favours, strength and heart but nothing else. We are pleased to learn that Crom Cruach was an Irish pagan god who ran afoul of St. Patrick, of course.
I was pleased to find Crom in Conan The Rebel because Mitra seems too civilized a god for Conan. With some gods, the message basically is that we are on our own and that it is up to us what we do.
3 comments:
That's Howard's outlook, too.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
It's all very well to be strong and self-reliant, and I agree those are good qualities. But it comes with limits. Howard was so grieved when his mother was dying that he committed suicide. I like to that if he had believed in something bigger than himself that faith would have enabled not to despair and to continue living.
Ad astra! Sean
Well, I was sorry when my parents died, but I didn't feel any impulse to suicide. Howard was... well, compared to Lovecraft he was normal, but that's not much of a comparison!
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