The horrible darkness of unknowing and terror glides through our subconscious in terrible times. It occurs when it is dark and we can’t find our way, or when a strange visage appears on the horizon. In “Rattle of Bones” by Robert E Howard, who was also the progenitor of the sword and sorcery genre. Howard’s story features weird elements and hallmarks of the sword and sorcery genre: intense action and menacing villains.
Who is Solomon Kane?
I thought it would be important to discuss the hero of our tale, as he appears in many other stories as well. Solomon Kane was the invention of Robert E. Howard, who also created the classic Conan the Barbarian, and Kull the Conqueror. Though, Solomon differs from these two former characters as his slavish devotion to his faith is what pushes him forward on adventure. That is to say, Kane is a faith-based warrior, attempting to fight evil in the name of his convictions.
“Unlike Conan and Kull—two of Howard’s creations I’ve discussed in recent posts—Solomon Kane is neither barbarian nor king. Instead, he’s a Puritan adventurer traveling through Europe and Africa during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries” (Cohen).
In addition, Kane is a serious figure interested in serious work. Though, much like many of Howard’s character, they unwillingly stumble into abstract adventures where monsters are melded with the Lovecraftian horror. In isolation, the story “Rattle of Bones” is a hybrid of adventure and horror. The story has gruesome deaths and dark settings perfect of readers interested in Gothic horror with a flair of frenzy.
Summary
The Tavern
Our story begins in a black forest near the Cleft Skull Tavern that was “low, long and rambling, built of heavy logs.” Over the front door was the portentous sign that featured the image of the titular cleft skull. Two men, Solomon Kane and Gaston l’Armon, are greeted by their host, a bearded man who is suspicious of their motives.
Howard describes them: “The two men sat down, with the bearing of men who have traveled far. One was a tall gaunt man, clad in a featherless hat and somber black garments, which set off the dark pallor of his forbidding face. The other was of a different type entirely, bedecked with lace and plumes, although his finery was somewhat stained from travel. He was handsome in a bold way, and his restless eyes shifted from side to side, never still an instant” (Howard).
The two men eat and then are off to bed, deciding to leave early in the morning when there is sunlight.
Sleeping Quarters
The two adventurers, Kane and Gaston, follow the host to their quarters. After he has left, they discuss how they could possibly bar the door from intruders in the night.
“Let us see if there be any way to make fast the door,” said Kane. “I like not the looks of mine host.”
“There are racks on door and jamb for a bar,” said Gaston, “but no bar.”
“We might break up the table and use its pieces for a bar,” mused Kane.
“Mon Dieu,” said l’Armon, “you are timorous, m’sieu.”
Kane scowled. “I like not being murdered in my sleep,” he answered gruffly.
Here, the story reveals that the two men met on the road. While Kane recognizes Gaston, he can’t quite place where he knows him from exactly.
After fruitlessly searching for a bar to the door in their own room, they begin to search the tavern. They look through a second room and find nothing. Then, upon venturing into the third room, they discover “that the door was provided with a small barred opening, and fastened from the outside with a heavy bolt, which was secured at one end to the door-jamb” (Howard).
On the floor of the room, there is a darkened spot where dried blood coagulated. Kane remarks that “Men have died here” when Gaston discovers a secret room that has the bones of a long-dead victim shackled to the floor. Gaston makes a crude remark of the dead man and is rebuked by Kane. Though Gaston says that he would come back from the dead to kill his attacker.
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
As Kane thinks about the “demonry” of this murder, Gaston places a gun to the back of his neck. Kane recognizes the man as Gaston the Butcher and that he even recalls seeing him “in Calais some years agone.” Just as Gaston is telling him that Kane will never see him again, a strange sound occurs, which Kane refers to as “the rattle of bones.”
The two men exchange words regarding Kane’s naiveté, Gaston’s barbarism, and Gaston’s league with the host, but right before Gaston kills Kane, a great shape takes up behind him.
“And with the suddenness of death, from the darkness behind Gaston’s back, a broad, vague form rose up and a gleaming blade swept down. The Frenchman went to his knees like a butchered ox, his brains spilling from his cleft skull. Above him towered the figure of the host, a wild and terrible spectacle, still holding the hanger with which he had slain the bandit” (Howard).
The host, whose insanity becomes clear to Kane, begins to lament his long, tortured years in a “Continental” prison. This imprisonment destroyed his mind for crimes he never committed. He tells Kane: “and here I make war on all men….”
The host reveals to Kane that he had taken his bitter resentment for revenge out on anybody who came to his tavern. This includes a Russian sorcerer who threatened to kill him after death. Thus, the host stripped him of flesh and shackled him in the secret room. Yet, while monologuing, a force sweeps the host into the small room and the door slams shut. Kane, alone, waitis in the darkened tavern.
As Howard tells the reader: “Kane’s groping hands, sweeping over the floor, found a pistol, and he straightened, facing the door where the maniac had vanished. He stood in the utter darkness, his blood freezing, while a hideous muffled screaming came from the secret room, intermingled with the dry, grisly rattle of fleshless bones. Then silence fell” (Howard).
Analysis
The story “Rattle of Bones” by Robert E Howard is a story of revenge and vengeance. It features the crusader character Solomon Kane in a passive mode (typically his best stories) where he watches horror unfold. Gaston, a maniacal and plotting character, greedy and craven, attempts to slay Kane. In the process of his own ignorance, the ghost slaughters him in revenge. The host, whose wishes revenge on humanity, is killed by a terrifying sorcerer that he himself killed.
Furthermore, the story is a cyclical tale of blood begetting blood. To do harm is to have harm cast upon you. Kane, a fallible character of shortsightedness and anger, falls prey to Gaston. Later, the sight of sorcery unhinges him in the secret room but makes it out unscathed. Seemingly, he is the only character in the story not seeking vengeance to some degree.
“Rattle of Bones” by Robert E Howard is a weird tale–and there are many of them–but it is simple and fun for any reading on a dark evening.
Works Cited
Cohen, Douglas. “The Tortured Soul: Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane. Dec. 11, 2008. Web. https://www.tor.com/2008/12/11/solomonkanetorturedsoul/
Howard, Robert E. “Rattle of Bones.” Weird Tales. 1929. Web. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70653/pg70653-images.html
Leave a comment