Marchers of Valhalla

by Robert E. Howard

Edition includes 'The Grey God Passes.' Illustrated by Marcus Boas.

Genres: Fantasy, Pulp, Short Stories, Sword and Sorcery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adventure

191 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1977

About the author

Robert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."

He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.

—Wikipedia

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of eight oddball bits and pieces and leftover stories by Robert E. Howard. He only sold two of them, A Thunder of Trumpets and Sea Curse, both to Weird Tales. There has been speculation that Glenn Lord, owner of Howard's literary estate, may have done some editing or lengthening (or had it done) prior to publication of the book in in 1978, but I don't believe that was ever resolved definitely. In any event, they're mostly pretty good stories, good for pulp fantasy and adventure fans. It's fun to read and speculate what his inspiration may have been for certain styles and concepts; Jack London, H.P. Lovecraft, William Hope Hodgson all sprang to my mind. My Berkley edition has a little blurb on the cover saying: "Illustrated * Full Color Fold-Out Poster Inside," which is a nice, slick extended version of the book cover. They unfortunately neglected to identify the artist, Ken Kelly. The book also has a good introduction by Fritz Leiber.

[Little Timmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Robert E. Howard is my all time favorite writer, but for many years much of his work was heavily edited. This is another of the heavily edited collections of Robert E. Howard's stories. I am a purist when it comes to a writers works. I know some of these stories are no longer PC but they should be read as Howard wrote them and understood that he wrote in another time period. Don't read this book unless you just can't find any others of Howard's unedited books to read. Message me if you need a list of what is good from this awesome fantasy and action writer.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was overall a good collection of Howard's short fiction. While his sword and sorcery work gets the most attention, his westerns and horror are equally good in my opinion. The only flaw I had in this volume was a couple of the stories didn't feel like true Howard tales, almost as if other writers had taken fragments and then fleshed the stories out (which I think is what happened as the book pretty much states such.) That being said, most of the stories ring true and overall I was very entertained.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember seeing an advertisement for a stand-alone copy of Marchers of Valhalla, even though it’s not long enough to be a novel. The image was a striking depiction of Viking warriors marching against a blowing wind in what appeared to be a desert (or the American Midwest).
I only own one copy of the story, in the Baen collection Eons of the Night. I don’t know how “true” it is, since the Baen books were known for using less-than-pure REH.
Years ago, I think around 2002 or 2003, I began reading the story but only got a few pages in. I have thought about it from time to time, but never got around to actually reading it again.
The story is about Viking progenitors (proto-Scandinavians) who are driven by their wanderlust through Asia, across the Bering Strait, and down into North America where they encounter ancient civilization and betrayal.

2.5 Characters
Satisfactory with positive exceptions
The characters are typical Howard, which means the protagonist is a violent, bloody-handed barbarian and the villains are remnants of an ancient, decayed civilization. Hialmar, the hero, even maintains a close friend who is a Pict (compare with Kull and Brule (the Kull stories), or Niord and Grom (The Valley of the Worm). The only really interesting exchange, for me, is when Hialmar challenges Asgrimm, the chief of the tribe, over a woman.
I do like that Hialmar is even less restrained than Conan or other Howard characters. He is probably the most savage barbarian I have ever read about from REH.

3 Pace
Good
Despite the cookie-cutter characters, the story is interesting because it moves quickly. Howard’s ability to create incredible scenes and epic structures without spending time describing them is on display (though not fully refined).

2.5 Story
Satisfactory with positive exceptions
The basic plot is something any REH fan is familiar with- barbarians fighting, drinking, and eventually betrayed by a wicked and decayed civilization. There are some aspects here that keep this interesting though…
The story is an attempt to give Texas a deeper and more ancient history. Howard dreamed of fantastic places, and though he adored his native Texas, he seemed to suffer an inferiority complex in that local history only went as far back as the Conquistadores.
This adventure also ties Conan’s pre-historical world with the modern world, thus it fits nicely into Howard’s essay The Hyborian Age. I also wonder if Howard used this story as an outline of sorts for the Conan adventure Red Nails.

3 Dialogue
Good
The dialogue in the story doesn’t seem special at first, but then a reader realizes that it feels natural, and that’s not an easy thing to do when the people talking are proto-Scandinavians or the long lost members of an ancient civilization.
Howard also has a “bail-out” in the form of the story narrator, James Allison. Because he is a modern, educated man, he can ascribe particular feelings and thoughts to Hialmar that Hialmar himself probably could never have articulated or realized.

3 Style/Technical
Good
I think this story is rougher than Howard’s later works, but it’s still well written. Many people have decried the framing and the use of James Allison (I believe “clunky” is one word that is used), but it doesn’t bother me so much. The Allison stories are certainly not my favorite Howard yarns, but in some ways they are the truest, in the sense that Howard felt like James Allison. I think he desperately wished for the memories of past adventures from previous lives to keep him company and bolster his ego.

2.8 Overall
Satisfactory with positive exceptions
Although Marchers isn’t my favorite Howard story, and the story is generic, Howard was able to make it exciting. The battle against the “people of the islands” is exciting, the red-haired enemy is mysterious, and you just know the people of the city are eventually going to turn against Hialmar and his people.
Howard wanted to live a life of adventure, and this story is an excellent example of his dreams. But he framed it in the perspective of a character not unlike himself, James Allison. This makes the story more personal. It is, I believe, a tale motivated by feelings of inferiority; Howard wanted Texas to be more than it was, and he wanted more out of himself.
I think Howard was really engaging in an experiment though. On one hand, he liked to explore the concept of lost civilizations. On the other he wanted to write about Texas, and this early attempt is mingling the geographic area with the Nordic barbarians he loved to write about. Later he decided that the geographic area wasn’t as important as the flavor, and thus turned to writing such masterpieces as Beyond the Black River (which is little more than a Texas cowboy story told in the world of Conan).

[Jack Dunne · Rating 5 out of 5]

REH, one of the greatest writers of all time, possessing an ability to write heroic fantasy with a poetic style never to be matched again. The title story features James Allison, one of his harder to find, but most memorable characters who can recall his past lives.
If you can find 'The Valley of the Worm' and 'The Garden of Fear' read them after reading this book.

'Thunder Rider' is also in here, which is a similar theme and one of his best.
Highly Recommended Stuff.
Also, check out Jack London's 'The Star Rover' which REH loved immensely and inspired him to write epic tales of past lives...

[Stuart Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vikings, sailors, and cowboys. A collection of REH's stories featuring tough men, gods, and epic battles. Starts with "The Grey God Passes," one of my favorites. In other stories the Vikings are the good guys fighting for the goddess Ishtar. A story of a woman meeting a man in India who is well on his way to true enlightenment. Ghost stories with drunken sailors. Ghost stories and time travel with cowboys. We finish with one of REH's classic villains, the slimy, crawling, mewling creatures living in caves beneath the Earth.

A fun collection full of thrills and rip roaring action.

[Trae Stratton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced but missing the final touches you expect of REH, especially in the case of the backup tale The Thunder Rider. Curiously, the two stories in this edition share the same template of a “contemporary” man sharing the soul of a former hero and reliving a past adventure he is incapable of in his “modern day.” I can only wonder if the tale of the second character would have eventually been fleshed out as a soul descendant of the first.

[William Sariego · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eight short stories of varying length by the creator of Conan. An overall nice collection that reveals Howard's range as a writer. First read this anthology in 1982 and it still holds up 40 years later.

[Poetreehugger]

Exactly what you’d expect from this author. Swinging swords, gushing blood, cloven skulls, and so on.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some clunky elements dealing with multiple lives style time travel, but the mood and ending to both of these stories more than made up for any initial dopeyness.

[wayne john mcauliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

More great REH. The Grey God Passes is the standout

[Animal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story collections are never created equal. However, the ones that shine, shine. There are some bangers in here.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm giving these only two stars as I have read better examples of Howard's short story writing..a lot of the tales in this failed to grip me which was a shame as generally I like Howard's stuff and find it a enjoyable light diversion before reading something else.
It's maybe a sign then that such a short book took me about a week to read...of gripped I think I would have dispatched this to the read pile in maybe two days.
The book melds historical points with supernatural elements whether it be ancient races and God's or tales of the wild west with some sort of twist and yet the tales themselves to me just didn't really seem to have the necessary substance despite being well written.
I wouldn't quite say it's a boring collection and had I not read a recent Howard anthology that maybe picked the best bits I may have enjoyed it more...that I suspect is the problem I came to this with high expectations..alas they got dashed...this was OK..but nothing special.

[John Somers · Rating 4 out of 5]

16/20. A short story collection by the writer of Conan. I really enjoyed The Thunder-Rider, Marchers of Valhalla and the Grey God Passes (Howard's telling of the battle of Clontarf). I didn't think much of A Thunder of Trumpets and the faring town stories Sea Curse & Out of the Deep were only okay but For the Love of Barbara Allen was quite interesting and the the final story The Valley of the Lost is cool as it is a H.P Lovecraft type story set during a feud in the old west. Overall highly recommended for fans of R.E. Howard who would like to read something other than Conan.

[Brett]

Fantasy

[AndrewP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story collection

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

read SOMETIME in 2007

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book.