The Night of 30th of January 90 Years Ago....

 

The Animals of The Paean God

 

I`ve visited Epidaurus many times in the past. But last week another road lead me there for one more (and definitely not the last!) time. Apart from the breath-taking ancient theatre that Epidaurus is known worldwide, there you can also find the sanctuary of Asclepius. A son of Apollo which is known in the ancient world as the God of medicine. And as a God, amongst the many epithets he bears, one is "Paean" (The Healer) and he shares it with Apollo. Thats the reason I choose it as a title of this thread so to somehow honour both the father and son.

In Epidaurus most of the ancient findings are diplayed outdoors but there is also a small museum inside this area. What I noticed this time is that amongst the saved pieces of the sanctuary there is many marble animal decorations. Mostly lionheads but also dogheads and boarheads. So I thought to take photo of them one by one as as far I remember its rare to see so many of them in one plac alone. Here I present them to you below in a series of photos. Some of them might look that its the same, but its not. All photos are from different pieces. Some of them are not really clear and thats because it was a cloudy day outside (so not a lot of sunlight) and also the light in the museum halls was a bit low at some areas. But still you can get a good picture of how they looked like. Majestic!

The Fight of Steel Helmets

 Ernst Jünger - A short letter to his brother, Friedrich "Fritz" Georg,

In the field, 18th of June 1917

Dear Fritz, 

 So you'll be back in the field soon. Hopefully, you now have an clear grasp of [military] service. 

We don't have a fixed trench system here, but widely scattered outposts concealed in ravines, behind bluffs and in wooded groves. These positions are a thorn in the English’s side, and rarely a day has passed in recent times when he has not tried to infiltrate. On one such occasion I had a long night fight with twenty-four men against two detachments of Indians led by English officers and against an English reserve platoon. At the critical moment their leader, an English lieutenant, armed with club and revolver, approached to within a few paces. A shot through the eye just in time and sleep sent him to the eternal hunting grounds. As prisoners we brought three wounded Indians into our trench. 

 The English lieutenant we found only the next evening in the high grass. Only two live cartridges were still in his cold [this is mispelled in the original, he sure means “colt” - i.e. revolver], along with four empty shells. I took his steel helmet, a bullet had torn the a shred from the edge. We also found a flat metal flask filled with Scotch whisky. Standing next to him in the dark, we poured out a libation for the dead man - who had filled it for us. 

 At the end of the day I will have my new trophies shipped home. I now possess: a splendid English carbine, suitable for future hunting purposes, plus a cartridge box, the shot-through steel helmet of the English lieutenant, his blood-spattered club and his cigarette case, which Kius gave me. 

 Here the overgrown fields are now magnificently colorful.

Your Ernst

SOURCE:

Martin - Dispatches From The Past

Quorthon and the Song of Blood

 

By 

C. DEAN ANDERSSON

Once upon a time in Sweden, a musician named Quorthon named a rock band after the Countess Bathory, who bathed in blood. 

Once upon a time in Texas, in 1988 I wrote a horror novel about the Countess Bathory titled Raw Pain Max, Book 2 in my Texas Horror Trilogy (Torture Tomb, Raw Pain Max, and Fiend).

Raw Pain Max features a man and woman who love metal music. But the woman is more than she seems. She is a reincarnation of Countess Bathory. 

While writing RPM, I discovered there was a rock band in Sweden named after the Countess. The song “Woman of Dark Desires” on Bathory’s Under the Sign of the Black Mark is about her. My novel needed mood-setting quotations at the beginning. A quote from a band named after the Countess would be perfect. I wrote to Bathory’s record company and asked permission to use a quote from “Woman of Dark Desires. Quorthon himself answered and said, “Quote the whole damned album, if you want!”

I wrote back and thanked him and, because he was from Sweden, as was my father, I sent him copies of my Viking sword and sorcery fantasy trilogy, Warrior Witch of Hel, Death Riders of Hel, and Werebeasts of Hel, originally published under my pen name, Asa Drake. The books tell of the adventures of a woman warrior named Bloodsong in a Viking world of Gods and Heroes.

In other letters, Quorthon talked about the “sound pictures” he was creating for a new album, Blood Fire Death. He also mentioned obtaining permission from a Swedish historical museum to play an ancient musical instrument, a Viking Age horn, to add authenticity to the album. He explained that he was trying something new. He hoped Bathory’s fans would like it. He was including normal speed-thrash metal tracks, but he was also adding tracks to express his love of his native land and its history. He was determined that Sweden’s pride in its heritage would not vanish. And so, when Bathory’s Blood Fire Death was released, Viking Metal was born. 

My Viking Heroic Fantasy novels evidently struck Quorthon as having been drawn from the same Well of Inspiration as his Viking Metal music. When Blood Fire Death was released, Quorthon sent me a Bathory sweatshirt with the Blood Fire Death art, plus the vinyl album autographed by himself and the other two members of Bathory. He also sent a Bathory Hordes V.I.P. membership card. You can read a scan of the letter he sent me along with all these treasure at the bottom of this article.

Later, when Bathory released the first all Viking Metal album, Hammerheart, a masterpiece of musical creativity, in my opinion, every track a gem, I discovered to my surprise that the track titled, “One Rode to Asa Bay,” was dedicated to me, and that it referenced my Bloodsong Saga pen name, Asa Drake.

I intended to travel to Sweden and talk with him in person one day. His letters, like his music, indicated a person of high intelligence and deeply held beliefs. I recall his describing how much he loved his country’s dark forests and the way looking at the gray winter sea made him feel, and I understood. Merely looking at pictures of the things Quorthon described spawned emotions in me similar to the ones he expressed. Perhaps it is a genetic thing, some kind of Jungian ancestral memory, or maybe I have watched that vintage Kirk Douglas movie, The Vikings, too many times...... 

YOU CAN READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Es Zittern Die Morschen Knochen

 

As of today, one year ago, Hjarulv Henker crossed at the realm of death. His earthly presence is may be gone but through his music, writings  and several of his other artistic creations his spirit will always be here, to haunt forever! 

Hail Hjarulv!