‘The Testament of Athammaus’ – Clark Ashton Smith
I came across this tale in L. Sprague De Camp’s ‘Swords & Sorcery’ collection, you might have better luck clicking Here if you fancy reading it for yourself.
Every so often (more like ‘far too often’…) I find myself in the position where I’ve somehow got four books on the go and I’m not making headway on any of them. Just the right time then to step away from those books, grab a short story collection from the shelves and see if anything takes my fancy. It usually does.
I picked up ‘Swords and Sorcery’ with the notion of reading either Howard’s ‘Shadows in the Moonlight’ (maybe another time) or Lord Dunsany’s ‘Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweler’ but then I saw ‘The Testament of Athammaus’, lurking at the back of the book, and that was my mind made up for me ;o) Let me tell you about it.
Commoriom ‘was aforetime the resplendent, high-built capital, and the marble and granite crown of all Hyperborea’... until one day when everyone suddenly left and the deserted city fell into ruin. Many tales have been told, hinting at why this event took place, but only Athammaus’ tale in any way reflects what happened on that dreadful day. And now, finally, Athammaus is ready to tell us just what happened…
What happens when the dead just won’t die…? Well, in anyone else’s hands, you’d normally be looking at zombies and very likely a franchise. Clark Ashton Smith though? ‘The Testament of Athammaus’ is Smith’s typical brand of cosmic horror but with a sly vein of humour running through it that really makes the story stand out from the rest. After all, how often do you find a demonic villain happy to take time out to troll the executioner who just took his head? You can also tell that Smith is having a lot of fun with his descriptions of Knygathin Zhaum who somehow looks worse and worse every time he comes back from the grave. I was getting serious ‘Evil Dead 2’ vibes as I read this tale ;o) As fun as it is to read though, ‘The Testament of Athammaus’ is a horror story at heart, with a moonlit vigil especially tense and more than a little chilling as we finally get to see how Knygathin Zhaum makes his escapes.
Athammaus not only tells us the real story behind Commoriom’s fall but also proves to be a very interesting narrator in his own right; setting the scene perfectly but also being the happiest man I’ve ever seen in a Clark Ashton Smith story. Athammaus gets real job satisfaction from the role, helping to uphold the law but also carrying on a family tradition (and being bloody good at what he does). I’m not knocking the normal ‘just about to die/go completely insane’ lead but it made a nice change to see a Clark Ashton Smith character who was perfectly happy to be just where he was ;o)
I’ve got a long day ahead of me so I’m going to stop here but before I go, definitely give ‘The Testament of Athammaus’ a shot if you come across it. It was a lot of fun and while I wasn’t looking for it, I’m glad that I found it.
I picked up ‘Swords and Sorcery’ with the notion of reading either Howard’s ‘Shadows in the Moonlight’ (maybe another time) or Lord Dunsany’s ‘Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweler’ but then I saw ‘The Testament of Athammaus’, lurking at the back of the book, and that was my mind made up for me ;o) Let me tell you about it.
Commoriom ‘was aforetime the resplendent, high-built capital, and the marble and granite crown of all Hyperborea’... until one day when everyone suddenly left and the deserted city fell into ruin. Many tales have been told, hinting at why this event took place, but only Athammaus’ tale in any way reflects what happened on that dreadful day. And now, finally, Athammaus is ready to tell us just what happened…
What happens when the dead just won’t die…? Well, in anyone else’s hands, you’d normally be looking at zombies and very likely a franchise. Clark Ashton Smith though? ‘The Testament of Athammaus’ is Smith’s typical brand of cosmic horror but with a sly vein of humour running through it that really makes the story stand out from the rest. After all, how often do you find a demonic villain happy to take time out to troll the executioner who just took his head? You can also tell that Smith is having a lot of fun with his descriptions of Knygathin Zhaum who somehow looks worse and worse every time he comes back from the grave. I was getting serious ‘Evil Dead 2’ vibes as I read this tale ;o) As fun as it is to read though, ‘The Testament of Athammaus’ is a horror story at heart, with a moonlit vigil especially tense and more than a little chilling as we finally get to see how Knygathin Zhaum makes his escapes.
Athammaus not only tells us the real story behind Commoriom’s fall but also proves to be a very interesting narrator in his own right; setting the scene perfectly but also being the happiest man I’ve ever seen in a Clark Ashton Smith story. Athammaus gets real job satisfaction from the role, helping to uphold the law but also carrying on a family tradition (and being bloody good at what he does). I’m not knocking the normal ‘just about to die/go completely insane’ lead but it made a nice change to see a Clark Ashton Smith character who was perfectly happy to be just where he was ;o)
I’ve got a long day ahead of me so I’m going to stop here but before I go, definitely give ‘The Testament of Athammaus’ a shot if you come across it. It was a lot of fun and while I wasn’t looking for it, I’m glad that I found it.
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