Unravelling the tangled timeline of Solomon Kane's adventures.
Introduction
This post is an attempt to examine the chronology of Robert E. Howard’s stories and poems that describe the adventures of Solomon Kane. It is not a discussion of the order in which the stories were published -- largely in Weird Tales. Nor is it an attempt to reconstruct the order in which the stories were originally written, as the Del Rey edition The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane has already done an admirable job in that respect.[1] The purpose of this post is to examine the evidence, drawn from Howard’s canonical material, that relates to the chronology of Kane’s life. It should then be possible to determine whether a coherent timeline can be established for the puritan adventurer.
There are actually two types of chronology to be considered: the relative and the absolute. Relative chronology is concerned with how the stories, and other events in Kane’s life, fit together as a sequence. Absolute chronology is a matter of attaching firm dates to Kane’s adventures, where they intersect with real historical events. The Solomon Kane canon will be examined for both types of chronological information.
The world encompassed
There are two instances in which we can pin down Solomon Kane’s activities to a fixed time and place, and they are both connected to real historical figures. The poem “The One Black Stain” tells how Kane was present at the execution of Sir Thomas Doughty – on the orders of Sir Francis Drake – as St. Julian’s Bay in Patagonia on 2nd July 1578.[2] For Kane to have participated in this historical event he would no doubt have had to have been a part of Drake’s expedition, which left England in 1577.[3]
Kane’s ability with the rapier was likely one of the reasons that persuaded Drake to give him a place on his voyage. Drake clearly admired Kane’s swordsmanship: in “Wings in the Night”, we find out that Drake referred to Kane as ‘Devon’s king of swords’.[4] Note the strong association of Kane with his native county of Devon, where Drake was also born -- it is possible that Kane was young when he threw in his lot with Drake, and may have still been living in Devon. If so, the restless young man would surely have leapt at the chance to sail with Drake and see the world. By the time Kane returns to England in 1580,[5] he is sadly disillusioned with Drake, and there is no record of his having further dealings with the man.
Some years later, Kane sets sail with Sir Richard Grenville, another Devon-born sailor. Grenville undertook two voyages to the New World. The first, in 1585, saw him responsible for transporting settlers to the colony of Roanoke in North America, although Grenville turned privateer on the return journey, capturing a Spanish galleon.[6] The second voyage, in 1586, started out as a resupply mission to the colony. Again, though, Grenville went privateering on his way back to England, this time raiding towns in the Azores.[7] It seems likely that Kane sailed with Grenville’s second expedition, and possibly the first as well. In “Hawk of Basti”, Hawk reminisces about how he and Kane had been part of Grenville’s fleet, and had “harried the Dons from the Azores to Darien and back again”.[8]
What is certain is that Kane was with Sir Richard Grenville at the Battle of Flores, which took place off Flores Island in the Azores in 1591. The poem “Solomon Kane’s Homecoming” reveals that Kane was on board Grenville’s ship, the Revenge, as it faced 53 Spanish ships alone.[9] After heavy fighting, Grenville ordered his ship sunk, but his officers surrendered to the Spanish instead. A few days later, Grenville died of the wounds he had received during the battle; the other English prisoners died when the Revenge sank in a storm on the way back to Spain.[10]
In order to have survived, Solomon Kane must have been transferred to a Spanish ship that weathered the storm. Unfortunately, Kane’s good fortune only lasted until his arrival in Spain: “Solomon Kane’s Homecoming” strongly implies that the Spanish handed him to the Inquisition, who tortured him.[11] (The Inquisition viewed Protestants as heretics, and dealt with them accordingly.)[12] Presumably, this is what is referred to in “Wings in the Night”, which states that Kane ‘had languished in the dungeons of Spain’s Inquisition.’[13]
Unfortunately, these nautical escapades are the only fixed points in the whole of Solomon Kane’s timeline. When it comes to the other events in his life, the best that can be hoped for is to place them in a relative sequence, and, occasionally, include a rough guide to the dates when they might have taken place.
A trip to Torkertown
In “The Right Hand of Doom”, John Redly tells how the ‘king’s soldiers’ captured the necromancer Roger Simeon.[14] If this story takes place in England, then this helps to narrow down the date. There was no king on the throne between the death of Edward VI in 1553 and the accession of James I in 1603.[15] Solomon Kane would have been too young to have been active in the reign of Edward VI, so this story must take place in the reign of James I, that is, no earlier than 1603. This would fit with the fact that Kane has been embarking on adventures for some time, and that his name is not unknown in England. When Redly looks set to cause trouble, the tavern-keeper warns him “That be Solomon Kane, the Puritan, a man dangerouser than a wolf.”[16] Clearly, Kane’s reputation precedes him.
“The Right Hand of Doom” is set in and around Torkertown, a fictional place, presumably in England. Torkertown does not seem to have any particular significance for Kane -- if he had had important business there, it would surely have been shown, or at least referred to, in the story. Yet, “Skulls in the Stars” sees Kane on his way to that same town. Does he really visit the place twice, at different times? It’s possible, but it is also possible that the two Torkertown stories take place back to back. There is no direct evidence for this, but the circumstantial evidence fits. In “Skulls in the Stars”, Kane has clearly had many battles against evil,[17] which would fit with the tavern-keeper knowing his reputation in “The Right Hand of Doom”. If “Skulls in the Stars” is not part of one extended visit to Torkertown, then there is nothing concrete to suggest where it fits in Kane’s travels.
However, if “The Right Hand of Doom” and “Skulls in the Stars” do take place at about the same time, then it is most likely that “Skulls in the Stars” occurs first. That story sees Kane travelling towards Torkertown, and he is not familiar with the route. At this point, he is only a few hours’ walk from the town. “The Right Hand of Doom” opens with Kane staying at a tavern some miles from Torkertown, presumably having been there and conducted whatever business he might have had in that place. Following his encounter with Roger Simeon’s severed hand, he returns to Torkertown in order to find out what had happened at the necromancer’s execution. To place the stories in the other order would make no sense: if Kane had already been to Torkertown then he would have had no reason to return, other than to satisfy his curiosity about Simeon.
Lone wolves
“Red Shadows” opens in the mountains of France, with Solomon Kane vowing to avenge the rape and murder of a girl. The first two chapters of this story cover a period of a few months, as Kane kills the members of the bandit gang and finally comes face to face with their leader, Le Loup.[18] However, Le Loup escapes from Kane, and when the story resumes, in Africa, it appears that years have gone by since their first encounter.[19] As we find out, Solomon Kane has not been idle in that time. He had begun by tracing Le Loup to the nearest port, taking ship and following him to Italy -- however, Le Loup had gone by the time that Kane arrived. Kane nearly caught Le Loup in Florence, again on the road to Rome, and one more time at some unspecified wharf as Le Loup sailed for Spain. Some time later, Kane learned of a white man being landed on the African coast, and, believing it to be his quarry, Kane hired a ship take him to the same location.[20]
This story gives very few hints about how it fits in with Kane’s other adventures. Given that "Red Shadows" sees the first meeting between Kane and N'Longa, then it must be set before the other stories that feature the African shaman. Additionally, there is Kane's reaction to finally despatching Le Loup: instead of being pleased that the long hunt is over, Kane experiences a feeling of futility. We are told that 'He always felt that, after he had killed a foe.' Clearly, Kane has killed other men in the name of vengeance.
It's entirely possible that the events of "Red Shadows" overlap with some of Kane's other adventures. While he would not have abandoned his search for Le Loup, there must have been times when the trail went cold. At these times, Kane may have wandered somewhat at random, trusting to God to guide him to his quarry, or vice versa.[21] During the course of these wanderings, it is entirely likely that Kane, who seems to have a talent for getting into trouble even when he isn’t looking for it, would have stumbled into other adventures.
Black Forest trifles
“Rattle of Bones” and the fragment “The Castle of the Devil” were written one after the other, and are both set in the Black Forest in Germany. It’s plausible that these stories take place fairly close together, although there is no evidence within the stories themselves to back this up. Similarly, the fragment “Death’s Black Riders” was the next to be written by Howard, and this, too, is set in a forest. Although the forest is not named, it’s possible that it is the Black Forest, and that this fragment is set at around the same time as the other two stories.
Additionally, there is some evidence to suggest that “Rattle of Bones” takes place relatively early in Kane’s career. When the skeleton that had been chained up in the Cleft Skull tavern is freed, and takes its revenge on the tavern-keeper, Kane struggles to cope with this turn of events. He seems unaccustomed to witnessing supernatural happenings. ‘“Great God!” he muttered as cold sweat formed on his body. “This thing is beyond all reason, yet with mine own eyes I see it!”[22] Surely the Kane of later years -- the man who has seen N’Longa’s spirit reanimate a corpse, or who has fought the vampires of the hills of the dead -- would not have reacted in such a way.
The prophecies of Isaiah
Kane’s search for Marylin Taferal, as described in “The Moon of Skulls”, covers a ‘thousand miles of land and sea’[23] and has stretched across ‘bitter years’.[24] How many years isn’t certain, but it’s possible to make some educated guesses. Marylin says that she was ‘little more than a baby’[25] when kidnapped, which surely can’t have been more than 5 or 6 years of age. By the time that Kane finds her in Negari, she is described as a woman, even though she is still a very young woman, ‘little more than a child’.[26] As a minimum, I would say that she could be 12 here, which was the legal age of consent at this period.[27] So Marylin must have been a prisoner for a minimum of 6 or 7 years, and possibly several years longer. That said, Kane’s search for Marylin did not begin as soon as she was abducted: Marylin’s family originally believed Sir John Taferal’s story that she had drowned. When Sir John finally made a dying confession to Kane, Marylin’s abduction was already ‘some years agone’.[28] So all we have to fall back on is the fact that Kane has spent years in his search.
Those years were very busy. Kane started by sailing the seas in search of El Gar, the Barbary corsair to whom Sir John Taferal had sold Marylin. Learning that El Gar had sold Marylin on to an Istanbul merchant, Kane then switched his search to the Levant. The next stage of the journey led him to the west coast of Africa, and, finally, inland in search of the city of Negari. That might sound like a straightforward search, leading directly to Marylin, but it clearly wasn’t. Behind those bare bones lie a full story, likely many full stories, of the ‘sea-fights and the land fights -- the years of privation and heart-breaking toil, the ceaseless danger, the everlasting wandering through hostile and unknown lands’.[29]
There is one interesting note on the timing of “The Moon of Skulls”. Near the end of the story, when Kane looks back on the destruction of Negari, he quotes four separate verses from the Bible – not just any version of the Bible, but specifically the King James version (Isaiah 24:18, 25:2, 29:5 and 29:9). Prior to the King James version, the main English-language version was the Geneva Bible, the Old Testament of which was published in 1560.[30] The different versions of these texts -- Kane's and those of the two different Bibles -- are shown below, with the differences shown in bold.[31]
| Isaiah 24:18 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kane | King James Bible, 1611 | Geneva Bible, 1560 |
| And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. | And it shall come to passe, the he who fleeth from the noise of the feare, shall fall into the pit; and he that commeth up out of the midst of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth doe shake. | And he that fleeth from the noise of the feare, shal fall into the pit;& he that commeth up out of the pit, shalbe taken in the snare for the windowes from on high are open, and the fundacions of the earth do shake. |
| Isaiah 25:2 | ||
| Kane | King James Bible, 1611 | Geneva Bible, 1560 |
| For Thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defended city a ruin; a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. | For thou hast made of a citie, an heape; of a defenced city, a ruine: a palace of strangers, to be no citie, it shall never be built. | For thou hast made of a citie an heap, of a strong citie, a ruine; even the palace of strangers of a citie, it shal never be buylt. |
| Isaiah 29:5 | ||
| Kane | King James Bible, 1611 | Geneva Bible, 1560 |
| Moreover, the multitude of Thy strangers shall be like small dust and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth suddenly away; yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. | Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shalbe like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shalbe as chaffe, that passeth away; yea it shalbe at an instant suddenly. | Morevoer, the multitude of thy strangers shalbe like smale dust, and the multitude of strong men shalbe as chaffe that passeth away, and it shalbe in a moment, even suddenly. |
| Isaiah 29:9 | ||
| Kane | King James Bible, 1611 | Geneva Bible, 1560 |
| Stay yourselves and wonder; cry ye out and cry; they are drunken but not with wine; they stagger but not with strong drink. | Stay your selves and wonder, cry yee out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine, they stagger, but not with strong drinke. | Stay your selves, and wonder: they are blinde,& make ye blinde: they are dronken, but not with wine: they stagger, but not by strong drinke. |
Comparing the different versions, it should be clear that Kane is quoting from the King James version, not the Geneva version. Aside from minor differences in spelling and punctuation, there are some distinctive textual differences between the two versions. For example, verse 24:18 starts with 'And it shall come to pass' in the King James version, something omitted in the Geneva version, while in verse 29:9 the King James version has 'cry yee out, and cry' while the Geneva version has 'they are blinde,& make ye blinde'. The significance of Solomon Kane quoting from the King James Bible is this: it was not published until 1611, and therefore "The Moon of Skulls" cannot take place before this date.
There is one other historical reference in "The Moon of Skulls", when Nakari tempts Kane with the prospect of ruling at her side and conquering the world. Kane’s reaction to this gives another hint as to when the story might take place. Kane describes Europe as ‘torn by civil and religious strife, divided against herself, betrayed by her rulers, tottering’.[32] This could be a reference to the French Wars of Religion, a series of conflicts spanning the period 1562 to 1598, which were fought between the Protestants and Catholics of France.[33] It could also be a reference to the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48), which started as a war between various Protestant and Catholic states, but developed into a more widespread conflict involving the major European powers of the day.[34] If this is the case, then “The Moon of Skulls” would have to be set in 1618 or later.
As with “Red Shadows”, where Kane’s search for Le Loup spans years, there remains the question of whether Kane’s search for Marylin Taferal takes up all of his time, or whether he pursues other goals when the trail goes cold. It’s entirely possible that his search is interrupted by other, unwanted, delays. (More on that, later.)
Vengeance is mine
The internal chronology of “The Blue Flame of Vengeance” is reasonably straightforward. Solomon Kane learns that a friend’s daughter has been killed by the pirate Jonas Hardraker. He sends word to Hardraker, who is on the Spanish Main, presumably announcing his intention to kill the man. It is not clear whether Kane himself is in the same area as Hardraker at the time. If not, he travels to the Main in an attempt to lay his hands on the pirate. Hardraker somehow escapes from Kane, who follows the pirate to Portugal and then on to England, where the action of the story takes place. Kane’s pursuit of Hardraker lasts for nearly two years.[35]
There is no evidence for how “The Blue Flame of Vengeance” should be placed relative to the other stories. However, there are hints that it takes place in the later stages of Solomon Kane’s life. When Kane first meets Jack Hollinster the youth notices that Kane has lost his Devon accent,[36] presumably because Kane has spent a long time away from home, travelling the world. Also, Kane tells Hollinster that he has, in the past, killed ‘various evil men’,[37] showing that he has had a few adventures already. More tellingly, Kane calls Hollinster ‘young sir’ and ‘lad’,[38] which suggests that Kane himself is no longer young. This shouldn’t be a surprise: Kane used to dandle his friend’s daughter on his knee when she was a baby, so he is clearly considerably older than her.[39] That young child had grown into a woman by the time that Hardraker killed her, and Kane himself has aged accordingly.
In terms of the absolute chronology of this story, there are a couple of points to note. They can both be found when Solomon Kane admonishes Jack Hollinster for swearing. Kane says, “Young man, your words are vain and worldly. They are as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”[40] The reference to the ‘sounding brass and tinkling cymbals’ paraphrases a passage from the Bible.[41] The exact spelling used in the story matches that of the King James version of the Bible, which was not published until 1611. However, the differences between the King James version and the earlier Geneva version are sufficiently small that it cannot be said for certain which one Kane is quoting.[42] Kane’s following words to Hollinster are unequivocal, though: ‘full of sound and fury, signifying nothing’ is a direct quote from William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth (5.5.27-28).[43] Aside from the revelation that Kane is familiar with the play – unlike later Puritans, who closed down the theatres,[44] Kane has apparently visited at least one – there is also the fact that Macbeth was first performed in 1606.[45] “The Blue Flame of Vengeance” cannot take place earlier than that date, unless, of course, Kane in some way had access to Shakespeare’s work before it first appeared on stage.
Into Africa
The clearest internal chronology within the Solomon Kane stories can be found within the series of African adventures that start with “The Hills of the Dead”. At the opening of that story, N’Longa says to Kane, ”Many moons burn and die since we make blood-palaver.”[46] He’s presumably referring to their first meeting in “Red Shadows”, and clearly quite some time, likely years, has passed since that story.
“Wings in the Night” is very firmly set after “The Hills of the Dead”. Kane carries the staff of Solomon, which N’Longa gave him in “The Hills of the Dead”, and there is a reference to ‘the months that had passed since he turned his face east from the Slave Coast’,[47] which he did at the start of “The Hills of the Dead”. In “Wings in the Night”, Kane also speaks of the musket that was broken when battling the vampires of “The Hills of the Dead”.[48] There is a clear continuity here: “Wings in the Night” takes place shortly – probably a few months – after “The Hills of the Dead”.
At one point, the landscape that Solomon Kane travels through in “Wings in the Night” reminds him of the hills of Negari,[49] so “Wings in the Night” must take place after “The Moon of Skulls”. There is no indication, though, of how much time might have passed between those two stories.
“The Footfalls Within” sees Solomon Kane still trekking across Africa. This story refers back to Kane’s visit to Negari in “The Moon of Skulls”, to the events of “The Hills of the Dead” and to Akaana, presumably a reference to “Wings in the Night”.[50] “The Footfalls Within” must be set after all three of these stories. This is backed up by the fact that Kane carries the staff of Solomon. Additionally, there is no mention of Kane’s musket in his fight against the slavers, a fight in which he uses every weapon at his disposal. The obvious implication is that “The Footfalls Within” takes place after Kane has shattered his musket while fighting the vampires in “The Hills of the Dead”.
We can see a definite progression in these three stories – “The Hills of the Dead”, “Wings in the Night” and “The Footfalls Within” – as Solomon Kane treks eastwards across Africa. These stories take place after “The Moon of Skulls”, which itself can be no earlier than 1611, so Kane’s epic African journey no doubt begins later than that date.
There are two other adventures that are strong candidates for inclusion in this prolonged African journey. In “Hawk of Basti”, we find Kane deep in the African interior, believing himself to be the only white man within a thousand miles.[51] Kane’s boots are worn and his clothing is tattered, and he has clearly been travelling for some time.[52] Kane also thinks back to the time when his musket was destroyed in “The Hills of the Dead”,[53] so “Hawk of Basti” must be set after that story.
There is also some evidence to suggest that “Hawk of Basti” takes place before “The Footfalls Within”. It is in “The Footfalls Within” that Kane finally comes to terms with the great age and power of the staff that N’Longa gave him, and learns that it was once wielded by his namesake, the King Solomon of the Bible. Kane comes to regard the staff as ‘not merely a tool of black magic, but a sword of good and light against the powers of inhuman evil forever.’[54] Surely, “Hawk of Basti”, in which Kane calls the staff ”a thing of black magic”,[55] must come before Kane’s revelation about the staff, not after it.
It is also tempting to place “Hawk of Basti” before “Wings in the Night”, based on the fact that Howard wrote them in that order. Also, the Kane who meets Jeremy Hawk feels a little calmer, a little more composed, than the Kane who’s been through the events of “Wings in the Night”, and whose self-control is still visibly frayed in “The Footfalls Within”.
In terms of absolute chronology, “Hawk of Basti” sees Kane state that he was last in England, many months previously, and that Elizabeth I was still on the throne when he left.[56] Elizabeth died in 1603,[57] so Kane’s departure can have been no later than that. Less helpful is the information that Kane and Hawk both sailed under Sir Richard Grenville in 1585 or 1586 -- the fact that it has been ‘many a year’[58] since those events does little to narrow down the current setting.
In the poem “The Return of Sir Richard Grenville, the ghost of Solomon Kane’s old captain helps him to fight off a group of unnamed enemies. His attackers are ‘naked men’ who want to hang his head on ‘the ju-ju tree’,[59] so it seems clear that this takes place in Africa. Sir Richard is described as ‘Long fallen’,[60] so this poem is set a long time after the Battle of Flores in 1591. Other than that, there is nothing to indicate where this event sits in the sequence of Kane’s adventures.
Similarly, “The Children of Asshur” seems like it should fit somewhere in Kane’s African trek, but offers no clues as to precisely when. Kane still has his sword, his pistols, and the staff of Solomon, but there is no reference to his musket, which suggests that this takes place after “The Hills of the Dead”. The staff is referred to as ‘the sharp-pointed strangely carved, cat-headed stave’,[61] with no reference to the revelation that it was once the staff of Solomon, so it could be argued that “The Children of Asshur” is set before “The Footfalls Within”.
You can’t go home again
The poem “Solomon Kane’s Homecoming” was the last time that Robert E. Howard wrote about the puritan avenger, and marks the end of Kane’s known adventures. The absolute chronology of the poem is impossible to ascertain. In terms of the relative chronology, though, it is certainly set at a late date. Kane mentions several of his canonical exploits. There’s the ‘deathless queen’ in a ‘City of the Mad’[62] which is likely a reference to “The Moon of Skulls”. (If this is the case, then “Solomon Kane’s Homecoming must be set after 1611, which is the earliest date for “The Moon of Skulls”.) The poem also mentions ‘grisly hills / where dead men walked at night’,[63] a clear reference to “The Hills of the Dead”, along with ‘winged demons’ that must surely be the akaanas of “Wings in the Night”.[64] More tellingly, Kane states in the poem that “age comes on apace”[65] and that he is finally tired of travelling the world.
One last chronological note from “Solomon Kane’s Homecoming” pertains not to his adventures, but to something apparently much more personal.
“Where is Bess?” said Solomon Kane.
“Woe that I caused her tears.”
“In the quiet churchyard by the sea
she has slept these seven years.”[66]
This is the only reference to this woman in all of the Solomon Kane stories. We don’t know who she is -- although we can say who she isn’t, namely Queen Elizabeth I, as has been suggested.[67] Kane had no love for the queen, and wouldn’t have been upset to hear of her passing. Then there is the timing: Elizabeth died in 1603, and seven years after this would bring us to 1610. However, as we have just seen, the events of the poem cannot take place before 1611. Lastly, and most obviously, Elizabeth I is buried in Westminster Abbey in London, not in a quiet churchyard on the coast. Whoever Solomon Kane’s Bess was, we do know that she died seven years prior to Kane’s homecoming, and that he had not been back in all those years to learn of her passing.
Huguenot avenger
As well as the adventures that are dramatised, the Solomon Kane stories and poems refer briefly to other incidents in Kane’s life. Several things suggest that he has travelled fairly extensively in continental Europe. In “The Moon of Skulls”, Kane compares Nakari’s throne room to the courts of Europe, and to European castles he has seen.[68] This gives the impression that he has seen a lot of the continent prior to 1611, the earliest point at which “The Moon of Skulls” can be set. Additionally, Kane has been to Calais, which was where he first saw Gaston l’Armon, also known as Gaston the Butcher. Years later, Kane meets l’Armon during the events of “Rattle of Bones”, and his failure to recognise the man nearly costs him his life.[69]
Perhaps Kane first saw l’Armon while he was serving as a captain in a French army, something we learn a little about in “The Blue Flame of Vengeance”. Hollinster asks, ‘“Were you not a captain in the French army for a space, and were you not at --” he named a certain name.’[70] Tantalisingly, we never find out the name of that French town. If Hollinster had heard of it, then presumably it was infamous for the atrocities committed there by the men under Kane’s command. Kane himself admits as much, saying, “Aye. I led a rout of ungodly men, to my shame be it said, though the cause was a just one. In the sack of that town you name, many foul deeds were done under the cloak of the cause”’.[71]
Kane had fought for what he believed to be a just cause, which suggests that he was fighting on the Protestant side in the French Wars of Religion. Queen Elizabeth I of England supported the French Protestant Huguenots with money and sometimes with troops, so Kane might well have found himself fighting in France either at the behest of his queen or as a volunteer. There are two conflicts within the Wars of Religion whose timings fit with blank spots in Solomon Kane’s known chronology: the ‘War of the Three Henrys’ (1587-89) and the Franco-Spanish War (1595-98).
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition
In “Skulls in the Stars”, Solomon Kane finds the mutilated body of a man killed by Gideon’s ghost. He shudders, ‘a rare thing for him, who had seen the deeds of the Spanish Inquisition and the witch-finders’.[72] I find it difficult to believe that Kane would have willingly watched the tortures carried out by the Catholic Inquisition, so it is likely that this refers to the time when he himself was tortured by them, a time when he no doubt witnessed atrocities being committed against other prisoners.
More intriguing is the reference to Kane having seen witch-finders at work. Witch hunts took place over a long period across Europe, as well as the North American colonies, and we know that Kane visited all of these places. As for when and where Kane might have witnessed the witch-finders at work, it is difficult to say.
Ship ahoy!
According to the conversation between Solomon Kane and Jonathan Hawk in “Hawk of Basti”, the two men served together in at least one of Sir Richard Grenville’s expeditions to the Americas. Kane sailed on Sir Richard Grenville’s ship, while Hawk sailed with a captain named John Bellefonte (apparently fictional), and it seems that Kane left that trade while Hawk continued.[73] Presumably, Kane returned to England with Grenville in 1586, and did not join any of the other English captains operating in the Caribbean. It is likely that Kane had grown tired of the dubious morality of their activities. In “Hawk of Basti”, he says of Bellefonte, “I’ve heard he became no better than a common pirate,”[74] betraying both a lack of personal knowledge about the situation and a contempt for a man who would stoop to crime. Similarly, in “The Castle of the Devil”, when John Silent suggests that Kane should join him in fighting the Turkish corsairs and sailing the seas, Kane replies, “I have sailed them and found them to be little to my liking. Many who call themselves honest merchantmen be naught but bloody pirates.”[75]
Kane may well have encountered Ben Allardine for the first time while sailing with Sir Richard Grenville. In “The Blue Flame of Vengeance”, we find out that Kane knew Allardine before he became part of Jonas Hardraker’s pirate crew, ‘before the brotherhood of buccaneers turned into a bloody gang of cutthroat pirates’.[76] Like Jeremy Hawk, Allardine appears to have been a legitimate privateer who later turned to piracy. Kane also had dealings with the captain under whom Allardine served prior to Hardraker. That captain was presumably also a pirate, as Kane has an encounter with him in the Tortugas before shooting him off Cape Horn.[77] Unfortunately, there is no clue as to when these events took place.
In “The Moon of Skulls”, Marylin Taferal repeatedly calls her rescuer ‘Captain Kane’.[78] Marylin has not seen Kane since she was a young child, several years ago, so Kane must have been known by that title at that time. We know from “The Blue Flame of Vengeance” that Kane served as a captain in a French army at some point prior to 1606, and maybe that was where he picked up the title. There is no evidence for Kane using this title at a later date. Maybe he simply relinquished it when leaving the French army. Perhaps he wanted to put behind him all reminders of his army service, during which the men under his command committed atrocities.
However, there is another possible explanation for Kane’s use of the title ‘captain’: Solomon Kane was a ship’s captain when Marylin Taferal was young. In “The Moon of Skulls”, Kane reveals that he has “sailed the seas, even to Hindostan and Cathay”.[79] We know that Kane had taken part in Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the world in the 1570s, and that he had sailed on more than one occasion with Sir Richard Grenville. None of those voyages, though, visited Cathay (that is, China) or Hindustan (the northern part of the Indian subcontinent). Clearly, Kane has been on at least one other extensive sea voyage – might he have captained the ship on that occasion?
During Drake’s circumnavigation, he did land on the west coast of Africa, in what is now Sierra Leone.[80] In the 17th century, Sierra Leone was a major hub for the Atlantic slave trade, with Africans who had been captured in the interior being brought to the coast and held for shipment to the Caribbean or the Americas.[81] Maybe this was where Kane witnessed the horrors endured by the slaves awaiting shipment across the ocean, something he describes in “Solomon Kane’s Homecoming” when he says, “And I have seen heads fall like fruit / in the slaver’s barracoon”.[82]
Strange new worlds
Solomon Kane had some adventures in the Americas, which the Europeans were opening up for exploration, and exploitation, in the 16th century. In “The Blue Flame of Vengeance”, Kane claims to have lived in Darien for a time.[83] (Darien, an area in modern-day Panama, was conquered by the Spanish in the early part of the 16th century.) In “Wings in the Night”, he talks of having ‘battled red Indians in the New Lands’.[84] Finally, in “The Footfalls Within” he says that has fought the indigenous people of Darien.[85]
According to Jeremy Hawk, he and Kane travelled to Darien and back, and this must have taken place in one of Sir Richard Grenville’s expeditions. It is possible that that was the occasion when Kane spent time in Darien, and had his encounters with the indigenous population. However, Grenville did not spend any prolonged time in Darien. Fortunately, there is another alternative, though: Francis Drake visited Darien in his expedition of 1572-73, anchoring in a natural harbour while he carried out work on his ships, and later travelling inland to raid a Spanish treasure convoy.[86] It is possible that Kane was part of this expedition of Drake’s. While the 1572 expedition experienced its fair share of hardships, it was not plagued with the internal problems of the later circumnavigation. It is feasible that Kane’s first experience with Drake was satisfactory, and that he did not part company with Drake until after his execution of Sir Thomas Doughty.
The grapes of wrath
Two separate stories mention a time when Kane rowed in a Turkish galley, and that seems to have been neither a voluntary or a pleasant service. “Wings in the Night” talks of him as ‘chained to the bench’,[87] while “The Footfalls Within” reveals the fact that he still bears the ‘scars made by Moslem whips’.[88] Presumably, Kane was a galley slave at this time, which goes some way towards explaining why he loses his self-control so badly when faced by the cruelty of the slavers in “The Footfalls Within”.
In that story, the slaver Hassim seems to recognise Solomon Kane by name, suggesting that his exploits are well known in the Muslim world. Hassim states that Kane has fought the Turks in the past. Hassim also mentions a man called Kemal Bey, apparently a Turkish shipowner, whose face Kane had scarred in a past encounter. As well as fighting the Turks, Hassim says that Kane has caused trouble for the Barbary corsairs.[89] The corsairs had caused trouble for Kane, in return: in “Wings in the Night”, we learn that Kane had ‘toiled in Barbary vineyards’.[90] We do not know the circumstances of this last, but, given that it appears in a list of unpleasant experiences that Kane had endured, it is doubtful that he was there of his own free will. After all, the primary goal of the corsairs was the capture of Christian slaves.
It is clear that Solomon Kane has a history of conflict with both the Turks and the Barbary corsairs, with each side causing trouble for the other at times. There is no evidence for when these events took place, apart from the fact that it was before his epic African journey. It’s possible, though, that they happened during his search for Marylin Taferal. “The Moon of Skulls” reveals that his search brought him into contact with at least one Barbary corsair, and also took him to the eastern Mediterranean in search of a merchant of Istanbul. The events described above would make very convincing episodes in the long saga of that search.
Squaring the circle
Having looked at all the evidence, this would ideally be the place to pull it all together, and build a comprehensive timeline out of all the different jigsaw pieces. In reality, though, things are not so simple. The Solomon Kane canon mentions many events from the man’s life, but it offers little in the way of concrete evidence on how those events fit together, or precisely when they might have taken place. In addition, there is one big stumbling block, namely how to reconcile the chronology of “The Moon of Skulls” with that of Kane’s prolonged African journey.
In “The Moon of Skulls”, Solomon Kane quotes from the King James bible, which was not published until 1611. At the end of that story, Kane firmly announces his intention to return to England, and to return Marylin safely to her family in Devon. This would place him back in England in 1611 or later. However, “Wings in the Night” -- which references events in “The Moon of Skulls” and must take place after it -- forms part of Kane’s long African trek. Later in that epic journey, Kane’s conversation with Jeremy Hawk reveals that he was last in England in 1603, or earlier. How, then, can Kane have returned Marylin Taferal to England in 1611 or later, and also have left England by 1603 to undergo his long African journey? Something doesn’t add up.
One possible answer to this conundrum is that Kane lies to Hawk when he tells him that he left England by 1603, when Elizabeth I was still on the throne. However, Kane is not the type of lie, and certainly not without a very good reason, which is lacking here. I can’t see that he would gain anything by misleading Hawk about his movements years ago, nor is Kane suspicious enough of Hawk to feel the need to withhold the real information. After all, he’s prepared to lend Hawk a pistol, powder and shot, something he would not have done if he feared the man.
Another possible explanation is that Kane does not return to England with Marylin Taferal, but this in turn raises the question of why he would change his plans. Marylin clearly states her desire to return to England, and there is no indication in the story that she has friends or relatives elsewhere that she might decide to return to instead.[91] In order to reassure Marylin that all will turn out well, Kane tries to instil in her a sense of confidence in both his own prowess and in the fact that God will see them safely home.[92] Having staked his own reputation, and his faith in providence, on achieving this feat, I cannot imagine that Kane would abandon the task.
This leaves us looking for a plausible explanation as to why Kane might not have returned to England with Marylin. Perhaps he was somehow able to send word to the Taferal family, resulting in one of Marylin’s relatives meeting them on their homeward journey, and taking over responsibility for the young woman. Kane does refer to Marylin’s brothers, who had been willing to join him in the search for their sister, and it's possible that they joined Kane and Marylin en route.[93] However, it seems less likely that Kane would simply have handed Marylin over and returned to his foreign travels. After all, he announced his intention to return to England before Marylin made her own wishes known. Kane has spent several hard years on his quest, and admits to feeling intensely homesick.[94]
Something else argues against Kane having handed Marylin over to a trusted relative and abandoned his return journey to England. I can only believe that Kane would have handed Marylin over in person, to ensure her safety, and he must have had at least one conversation with whoever had come from England to collect her. Elizabeth I was still queen when Kane last left England, but was dead by the time this conversation must have taken place. Surely Marylin’s relative would have mentioned this to Kane. The fact that Elizabeth I had died was a big piece of news -- for England, for the wider world, and for the puritans who might have much to fear (or gain) from a change of ruler. If Kane had known of Elizabeth’s death, he would surely have had no reason not to pass on this news when Jeremy Hawk asked if the queen still reigned.
There is, however, another explanation for why Kane does not return to England with Marylin Taferal: she dies somewhere on the way. But this raises another question, namely why Kane doesn’t travel to England to tell the Taferal family what has happened. It would be an unpleasant task, but Solomon Kane has never been one to shirk an unpleasant obligation. Perhaps Marylin’s death is so distressing that he simply sends word to her family and tries to distract himself from his grief by adventuring into the unknown. (There is some precedent for this, as described in “The Blue Flame of Vengeance”. When Kane served in the French army, and the men under his command committed atrocities, it is implied that Kane went to sea for a while to help ease the painful memories.)[95] This explanation is plausible given the changes we see in Kane on his long African trek. If Kane had lost the young woman that he cared for, and whom he'd promised to safely return home, it would help to explain his increasing mental fragility, his uncontrollable rage, and his awareness of the limits of his powers.
Of course, all of this is based on the assumption that Robert E. Howard had thought through the chronological implications of Kane quoting from the King James Bible. In reality, that quotation may have been a simple oversight, or a mistake. Perhaps Howard did not realise that the King James Bible was not published until 1611; perhaps he did not have a precise chronology of the Kane stories in mind, so was not aware that this date would cause a problem.
However, if Howard’s historical knowledge was incorrect in this instance, then it also throws into doubt some of the other historical references in the Kane stories. Kane quotes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth in “The Blue Flame of Vengeance”, but maybe Howard did not realise that the play was not performed until 1606, and did not intend the story to be set after that date. Likewise, the reference to the king’s soldiers in “The Right Hand of Doom” might not necessarily mean that Howard intended the story to be set after the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. (If “The Right Hand of Doom” was only the second Solomon Kane story to be written, then Howard might not have put too much thought into the character’s historical context at that point.)
That would leave a situation in which none of the historical references in the Kane stories are reliable, except for when Howard explicitly places Kane in a specific historical event, such as the voyages of Sir Francis Drake and Sir Richard Grenville. In that case, the only information that we have is the evidence that indicates the relative sequence of events. That, as we have seen, is sadly lacking, and leaves us only with the following:
- “The Hills of the Dead” takes place ‘many moons’ after Kane and N’Longa met in “Red Shadows”.
- “Wings in the Night” is set many months after Kane left the African coast in “The Hills of the Dead”. It is also set after “The Moon of Skulls”.
- “Hawk of Basti” and “The Children of Asshur” must take place after “The Hills of the Dead”, as Kane is carrying the staff of Solomon that N’Longa gave him in that story.
- “The Footfalls Within” must take place after “The Moon of Skulls”, “The Hills of the Dead” and “Wings in the Night”, as it references those stories.
- “Solomon Kane’s Homecoming” mentions events from “The Hills of the Dead”, “Wings in the Night”, and, most likely, “The Moon of Skulls”, so must occur later than these.
This really isn’t very much to go on. In this case, it may be best to assume that the internal chronology follows the order in which the stories were written, with the exception of “The One Black Stain”, which harks back to earlier historical events. This would give the order as follows:
- The One Black Stain
- Skulls in the Stars
- The Right Hand of Doom
- Red Shadows
- Rattle of Bones
- The Castle of the Devil
- Death’s Black Riders
- The Moon of Skulls
- The Blue Flame of Vengeance
- The Hills of the Dead
- Hawk of Basti
- The Return of Sir Richard Grenville
- Wings in the Night
- The Footfalls Within
- The Children of Asshur
- Solomon Kane’s Homecoming
Solomon Kane: an unauthorised biography
The canonical evidence provides only a very sketchy, and sometimes downright confusing, picture of Solomon Kane’s chronology. So perhaps it’s time to give in to temptation -- like Solomon Kane with the whiff of adventure in his nostrils -- and indulge in a little speculation. What follows is an attempt to place the canonical evidence into some sort of coherent whole. There will be no attempt at pure invention, no creating of adventures from scratch to fill the many gaps, just a few inferences and educated guesses on how best to place the known events of Solomon Kane’s life.
There are two caveats to this approach. Firstly, as discussed above, the timing of “The Moon of Skulls” and any assumptions about the fate of Marylin Taferal are highly speculative. Secondly, this timeline was assembled using a principle akin to Occam’s razor. Where there are multiple references to, say, Kane sailing as far as Darien, to his spending time in Darien, and and to his killing Indians in Darien, it is simplest to assume that these all refer to the same event, rather than to several different visits to the place. Similarly, when “The Moon of Skulls” refers to Kane visiting the Levant to track down a Turkish merchant, and other stories mention battles with Turks, and an encounter with a ship owner from Istanbul, I have assumed them to be references to the same thing.
So, let’s start at the beginning. There’s a little town on the Devon coast which Solomon Kane calls home. Presumably, he was born and raised there. Certainly, he still thinks of it as home, and he feels the urge to return -- albeit very briefly -- in between his travels abroad. Perhaps the first time that Kane leaves England is when he sails with Francis Drake on his expedition of 1572-3. While serving under Drake, he spends time in Darien, learning woodcraft and fighting the local population as well as the Spanish. Kane must have been young at the time,[96] and some young boys went to sea at that period. However, Kane already has a reputation as a good swordsman, something that would not be possible if he were still a child. Giving him the somewhat arbitrary age of 16 when Drake set sail in 1572, Kane would have been born around 1556.
Between 1577 and 1580, Kane takes part in Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe. The events of this voyage include the execution of Sir Thomas Doughty, described in “The One Black Stain”, which took place in 1578. Homeward bound, Drake’s expedition puts in on the coast of Sierra Leone, where Kane gets a glimpse of the brutality of the Atlantic slave trade. A few years later, Kane is afloat again, joining Sir Richard Grenville on his expedition of 1586 (and possibly 1585, as well). They sail to the New World, and fight the Spanish from the Azores to Darien and back again.
During the 1580s or 1590s, Solomon Kane travels in continental Europe and sees different courts and castles. This may well be when his travels in the Black Forest take place, as described in “Rattle of Bones”, “The Castle of the Devil” and, possibly, “Death’s Black Riders”. These somewhat aimless wanderings may well have been brought to a halt in the mountains of France, where Kane finds a girl dying of wounds inflicted by the outlaw known as Le Loup. We see this in the opening chapters of “Red Shadows”, a story which then tantalizingly jumps several years, omitting Kane’s continuing efforts to hunt the outlaw down. Kane finally catches up with Le Loup on the west coast of Africa, where he also meets the shaman N’Longa for the first time.
In 1591, Kane joins Sir Richard Grenville again for a voyage that ends at the fatal Battle of Flores. Following the surrender of the ship on which he was serving, Kane is taken prisoner by the Spanish. He is taken to Spain, and, presumably because he is a Protestant, he is tortured by the Inquisition.
Kane himself takes part in some ruthless, violent activities while serving under Grenville. Other English captains of the time go even further, essentially becoming pirates. After leaving Grenville’s service, Solomon Kane clashes with one of these pirates, the captain of Ben Allardine, an acquaintance of his. Kane, who is now the captain of a ship, clashes with this pirate in the Tortugas, but the man gets away. Kane finally catches up with him off Cape Horn and ends the chase -- and the man’s life -- with a shot from his musket. Having rounded the Horn, Kane sails on to China and Hindustan.
At some point between 1595 and 1598, Kane serves as a captain in the Huguenot army, in the Franco-Spanish war. This may be when Kane first sees Gaston l’Armon, in Calais. It is also around this time that ‘Captain Kane’ knows Marylin Taferal, when she is a child young enough to dandle on his knee.
In the early or mid 1600s, Kane fights a duel with Sir John Taferal and learns from the dying man that Marylin has been sold into slavery. He spends several years searching for the girl, starting by sailing in search of El Gar, the Barbary corsair to whom Sir John sold Marylin. Perhaps this is the time that Kane fights with the corsairs, and spends some time working in the vineyards as their slave. Following up on information given to him by El Gar, Kane travels to the Levant to find the Istanbul merchant who purchased Marylin from the corsair. This may well be when Kane fights with the Turks, and, having been captured, is put to work as a galley slave. It is also likely that Kane encounters Kemal Bey around this time. Kemal, a ship owner from Istanbul, was presumably not involved in Marylin’s kidnapping, which is why Kane lets him live (albeit with a scarred face). In the Levant, Kane encounters a Greek sailor who is able to point him in the direction of the west coast of Africa. It takes Kane months to finally track Marylin down in the city of Negari, as we see in “The Moon of Skulls”. By the time the two of them escape from the destruction of that city, the year is 1611 or later.
Marylin Taferal dies while Kane is escorting her back to England. Upset and shaken, Kane returns to Africa, wanting to bury himself in adventure and exploration. He meets N’longa, who gives him the staff of Solomon. After the two of them destroy the vampires in “The Hills of the Dead”, Kane continues his journey eastwards. He encounters an old acquaintance, Jeremy Hawk, and agrees to help him reclaim the throne of Basti from the evil priest Agara. We do not know how the events of “The Hawk of Basti” end, but no doubt Kane kills the despot of the story, regardless of whether it is Agara or Hawk himself. Kane also picks up some new enemies in his travels through Africa, and in “The Return of Sir Richard Grenville” he finds himself fighting hostile natives alongside the ghost of his former captain.
Next, Kane battles the akaanas in “Wings of the Night”, a story which sees the destruction of the both the people of Bogonda and the winged creatures that had been preying upon them. Continuing his eastward trek into Africa, Kane comes across a group of slavers in “The Footfalls Within”, although in this case it is a supernatural entity, not Kane himself, that kills their leader, Hassim. At some point before finishing his journey across Africa, Kane is held prisoner in the city of Ninn by “The Children of Asshur”.
Following this epic African journey, Kane no doubt returned to England. Perhaps it is at this time, as Kane travels to Torkertown, that the events of “Skulls in the Stars” and “The Right Hand of Doom” take place. It may also be on this visit to England that he learns an old friend has gone mad following the death of his daughter at the hands of the pirate Jonas Hardraker. This sparks a two-year pursuit of Hardraker, which brings Kane back to England again for the events of “The Blue Flame of Vengeance.”
The last we hear of Kane is in “Solomon Kane’s Homecoming”. At this point in his life he has had many adventures, and can feel old age creeping up on him – but how old might he realistically be? According to the chronology I've laid out so far, Kane must be at least in his mid-fifties. Going with an age of 65 -- a somewhat arbitrary decision: this is the current state pension age in the UK -- and working forwards from a birth year of 1556, then Kane's homecoming would be set around 1621.
The end of Kane’s life is just as mysterious as its beginning. Having returned to his home town in Devon, Kane declares a wish to settle down there for the rest of his days. This being Solomon Kane, though, the words are no sooner out of his mouth than he is off again, succumbing to the wanderlust that has always been his addiction. This is the last we see of Kane, and any adventures he might have from that point forward will not be recorded by Howard.
Solomon Kane went forth again,
and no man knew his road.[97]
1 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004. ↩
2 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 173. ↩
3 J. Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, Random House 2006, p. 101. ↩
4 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p.278. ↩
5 Drake returned to his home port of Plymouth on 26 September 1580. (J. Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, Random House 2006, p. 144.) It is possible that Kane did not stay on board Drake’s ship, but returned home with John Winter, who parted company with Drake and returned to Devon in his ship Elizabeth in June 1579. (J. Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, Random House 2006, p. 117.) ↩
6 D. Marley, Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present, Oxford 1998, pp. 72-3. ↩
7 J.S. Olson and R. Shadle (eds.), Historical Dictionary of the British Empire, volume 1, Greenwood 1996, p. 484. ↩
8 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 258. ↩
9 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, pp. 381-2. ↩
10 J.S. Olson and R. Shadle (eds.), Historical Dictionary of the British Empire, volume 1, Greenwood 1996, pp. 484-5. ↩
11 Kane describes the Battle of Flores, commenting that they should have sunk the ship, presumably preferring death to capture by the Spanish. Immediately after come the lines ‘The people saw upon his wrists / the scars of the racks of Spain.’ (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 382.) ↩
12 H. Rawlings, The Spanish Inquisition, Blackwell 2008, pp. 90-113. ↩
13 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 278. ↩
14 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 21. ↩
15 Wikipedia (2016), “List of English monarchs”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_monarchs [accessed 9 December 2016]. ↩
16 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 22. ↩
17 Kane says, “A strong man is needed to combat Satan and his might. Therefore I go, who have defied him many a time.” (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 5.) ↩
18 When Kane informs Le Loup why he has been hunting him, he refers to the girl’s death as taking place “Some moons ago”. (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 39.) ↩
19 Le Loup is described as having ‘sunk lower in the years that had passed’. (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 47.) ↩
20 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 48-52. ↩
21 In “The Castle of the Devil”, Kane claims to be wandering at random, trusting that God will guide him, saying, “Sir, what matters it where a man be if he is carrying out God’s plan for him?” (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 88.) In “The Blue Flame of Vengeance”, Kane tells Jack Hollinster, “the Lord is my staff and my guide and methinks he hath delivered mine enemy into mine hands.” (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 189.) ↩
22 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 83. ↩
23 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 103. ↩
24 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 123. ↩
25 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 125. ↩
26 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 122. ↩
27 Wikipedia (2016), “Age of consent reform (UK)”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent_reform_(UK) [accessed 9 December 2016]. ↩
28 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 122. ↩
29 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 124. ↩
30 Wikipedia (2016), “Bible translations into English”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_translations_into_English [accessed 9 December 2016]. ↩
31 Scans of both Bibles are available online. The Geneva Bible of 1560 can be found here: https://archive.org/details/TheGenevaBible1560. The King James Bible can be found here: https://archive.org/details/1611TheAuthorizedKingJamesBible ↩
32 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 135. ↩
33 Wikipedia (2016), “French Wars of Religion”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion [accessed 9 December 2016]. ↩
34 Wikipedia (2016), “Thirty Years' War”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War [accessed 9 December 2016]. ↩
35 Ben Allardine reminds Jonas Hardraker of Kane’s pursuit, and asks, “ha’ you forgot the word sent you near two years ago?” (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 198.) ↩
36 ‘Somewhere, somehow, the the Puritan had certainly lost all the unmistakable Devonshire accent. From the sound of his words he might have been from anywhere in England, north or south.’ (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 187.) ↩
37 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 189. ↩
38 Kane repeatedly calls Hollinster ‘young sir’ (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 186, 187, 211) and once calls him ‘lad’ (ibid., p. 220). ↩
39 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 202. ↩
40 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 184. ↩
41 I Corinthians 13:1. ↩
42 The Geneva Bible was first published in England in its entirety in 1576. The text of this version runs ‘I am as sounding brasse, or a tinkling cymbal.’ (L.E. Berry, The Geneva Bible: A Facsimile of the 1560 Edition, Peabody 2007.) The King James Bible reads ‘I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.’ (R. Carroll and S. Prickett (eds.), The Bible: Authorized King James Version, Oxford 2008, p. 217.) ↩
43 W. Shakespeare and W.J. Craig (ed), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, London: Oxford University Press 1957, p. 868. ↩
44 In September 1642. C.H. Firth and R.S. Rait (eds.), Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 1642-1660, London 1911, pp. 26-7. ↩
45 Wikipedia (2016), “Macbeth”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth [accessed 9 December 2016]. ↩
46 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 225. ↩
47 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 275. ↩
48 “Had I great store of powder and ball, and the musket I shattered in the vampire-haunted Hills of the Dead, then indeed would there be a rare hunting.” (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 305.) ↩
49 ‘To the east, curving from north to south ran a straggling range of hills, for the most part dry and barren, rising in the south to a jagged black skyline that reminded Kane of the black hills of Negari.’ (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 277.) ↩
50 ‘Again the realization swept over him, as it had in the dust-haunted halls of Atlantean Negari, as it had in the abhorrent Hills of the Dead, as it had in Akaana -- that human life was but one of a myriad forms of existence’. (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 344.) ↩
51 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 258. ↩
52 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 264. ↩
53 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 263. ↩
54 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 344. ↩
55 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 264. ↩
56 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 259. ↩
57 Wikipedia (2016), “Elizabeth I of England”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England [accessed 9 December 2016]. ↩
58 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 258. ↩
59 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 271. ↩
60 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 271. ↩
61 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 350. ↩
62 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 382. ↩
63 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 383. ↩
64 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 383. ↩
65 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 383. ↩
66 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 382. ↩
67 J.R. Campbell, “The Mystery of Solomon Kane," Solomon Kane: The Hills of the Dead, Bantam Books 1979, pp. ix-xii. ↩
68 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 115. ↩
69 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 79. ↩
70 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 187. ↩
71 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 187. ↩
72 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 8. ↩
73 Hawk has to recount his continued adventures under Captain Bellefonte, showing that Kane is unfamiliar with these exploits of Grenville’s erstwhile colleague. ↩
74 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 259. ↩
75 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 88. ↩
76 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 201. ↩
77 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 201. ↩
78 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, pp. 122, 126, 165 and 167. ↩
79 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 143. ↩
80 J. Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, Random House 2006, p. 143. ↩
81 J.P. Rodriguez, The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, volume 2, ABC-CLIO 1997, p. 587. ↩
82 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 383. ↩
83 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 201. ↩
84 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 278. ↩
85 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 326. ↩
86 J. Sugden, Sir Francis Drake, Random House 2006, p. 54 ff. ↩
87 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 278. ↩
88 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 327. ↩
89 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 331-2. ↩
90 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 278. ↩
91 “Home! Something of which to be dreamed”, Marylin says to Kane. (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 167.) ↩
92 Kane says to Marylin, “methinks you lack somewhat in faith, both in Providence and in me.” And, a little later, he asks her, “Think you that having led me this far, and accomplished such wonders, the Power will strike us down now? Nay!” (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, pp. 167-8.) ↩
93 Kane tells Marylin, "Your brothers would have come with me, child, but it was not sure that you lived". (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 126.) ↩
94 '"England!" Kane's deep eyes lighted at the word. "I find it hard to remain in the land of my birth for more than a month at a time; yet though I am cursed with the wanderlust, 'tis a name which ever rouses a glow in my bosom." (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 167.) ↩
95 Kane tells Jack Hollinster, “I have drowned some red memories in the sea”. (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 187.) ↩
96 'Red Shadows' says that 'All his life he had roamed about the world'. (R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 48. ↩
97 R.E. Howard, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, New York: Del Rey 2004, p. 383. ↩
This is an incredibly insightful and intriguing essay which every SK fan should know about.
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