“That night something of youth and beauty died in the elder world.”
(The Quest of Iranon, pg.156)
Welcome back to Our Daily Lovecraft. There may still be time to escape…if you can.
If you’re just joining us, you can start your Lovecraftian journey here!
According to the intro on this one, there’s a lot going on in this story. But as per usual, I took that into account and then forged ahead to develop my own thoughts on the matter.
For once we’ve left the first person narrator behind in favor of a third person omniscient point of view instead. We’re told the story of Iranon, who as a young lad, dwelt in the city of Aira but was forced out and seeks to once again find its glory. He passes through a village that sneers as his ideas as the people there only work and work some more. A young boy joins him and together they journey to Oonai where things are all about drink and song. Their journey and stay last for so long the boy grows old and dies and eventually Iranon – who seems to be immortal – continues on. Eventually he finds an old shepherd and asks him about Aira. Surprisingly enough, the shepherd does indeed recall that name – but not in the way Iranon imagined.
It’s a story that has an, “Ooh, that’s unfortunate,” ending with a bit of a twist as well. And it may well be a harsh satire on Protestant work ethic (so says the intro), but I got hung up on Iranon’s story, trying to figure out if he was immortal, what his past really was, and then discovering his end. Likewise, I got mildly distracted by mentions of past places, such as Thraa, Ilarnek, and Kadatheron which existed in “The Doom That Came to Sarnath,” as well as Olathoë and Lomar which came into existence way back in “Polaris.” It was at those mentions I wondered – is Iranon real? Or were these places meant to be real? Given that locations in Sarnath’s world have already been referenced, they seem to have solidified in Lovecraft’s universe. Lomar, however, was visited in dreams, though it was supposed to have been a place that existed in the far past. So it seems now Lomar has taken a firm place in the universe as well. I keep waiting for locations from “The White Ship” to make an appearance, but so far they might only exist in dreams.
For now.
The first person narrator here is visiting his friend, Denys Barry, who is spiffying up an old family castle in Ireland, and who also plans on draining a bog, ripping up the peat, and building stuff because ‘Murica. (Denys used to live in America, and can’t handle seeing unused land and no development in sight.) However, the locals know better than to mess with the bog, so they’ve all bailed – as should have Denys and the rest of the folk he brought in from elsewhere to do the work. What got them? Who’s to say? Ghosts perhaps? We’ll never know.
I have to say – I’m not used to seeing spectral stuff lurking around. And when I say that I’m thinking in terms of what these particular wraiths are doing. In “The Nameless City” had some, but they didn’t really do anything. “The Doom That Came to Sarnath” featured a few I suppose, but that was fast, violent, and curse-based. These seem to dwell here, make people do things, and then lure them to their deaths (maybe?). There’s dance and song involved. So it does feel more like a ghost story than a lot of his other tales.
Also, I keep forgetting to mention that it would seem Lovecraft also has a kind of affinity for marble, typically as a building substance for grand cities, may they be horrific or infinitely gorgeous. While there are other echoes of similar substances in different stories (i.e. golden domes), marble is by far the most prevalent. I wonder why.
Reference alert! The image of fauns dancing on Maenalus is evoked for our narrator, a cheeky mention from “The Tree.”
No Comments