Pre-Tolkien Fantasy & Cosmic Horror | A Reading Diary, Spring 2024

[@feanor7080]

‘May you grow old enough to enjoy reading fairy tales again’ - CS Lewis.

[@SherdsTube]

A perfect encapsulation :)

[@VigiliusHaufniensis]

Your interpretation of that song was honestly unreal

[@SherdsTube]

Gosh, thanks so much!

[@kieran_forster_artist]

Sam, there are only a very small number of booktubers that combine knowledge, the absence of cynicism and the ability to unpretentiously inspire people to read and love books as part of a quiet life….you are definitely one of the few. Thus changing the world to the extent possible!

[@SherdsTube]

Gosh, thank you for saying such kind things, Kieran! :)

[@kieranforster4815]

Keep coming back to ur channel, noticing that I had been unsubscribed btw, …..man, you’re becoming a national treasure I fear

[@eliotallsop9052]

Hi Sam, beautiful and inspiring video essay. I can certainly relate to putting away childish things then rediscovering them later in life. A box of half forgotten dreams. Congratulations on the praise you received from Mr Ligotti, much deserved. Also enjoyed your musical interlude. Kind regards Eliot

[@SherdsTube]

Thank you so much for the kind words, Eliot. Really glad you can relate!

[@rottenfralort]

Yet another great entry - love to see it. Perfect timing for a Sunday when I was feeling a bit sluggish. And what a nice surprise to discover your musical talent! I was aware that you compose music, but the singing surprised me. I appreciate that you were brave enough to show us :) The combination of music and "enchanting" fantasy made me want to recommend one of my all-time favorite musical artists that not enough people know of, and what for me personally is the perfect listening companion for "fairy-like", pastoral or enchanting books. I am talking of the French duo Natural Snow Buildings. They make strange, beguiling, and hypnotic folk music combined with washed-out ambient and heavy drones. Their sound is hard to capture in words, for me, it has something "magical" in it that I have not found in many other places. They have tons of releases, but not that many are easy to get ahold of (very little of their work is on Spotify for instance). If you can somehow get to hear 'The Dance of the Moon and the Sun' that is a fantastic place to start. A masterful record I keep coming back to, among many in their great discography. It is possible to listen to it here on KZbin. Hope you (or anyone else) will be as enchanted as me by these wonderful musicians :) Greetings, Andreas - Copenhagen/Stavanger

[@SherdsTube]

Very pleased to have provided a little diversion on a slow Sunday :) Thrilled that you enjoyed the song. I wasn't initially sure about including it, but it's just a bit of extra fun, I suppose. Thanks ever so much for this recommendation. Natural Snow Buildings sounds very much like my kind of thing, but I've never come across the name before. I will certainly be checking them out. Thanks again for all your support and kindness, Andreas!

[@samthoburn243]

I can't tell you how happy this video made me. Thank you so much

[@SherdsTube]

Thrilled to hear that. Thanks for telling me - it's my pleasure.

[@unitarcha]

Thanks immensely for yet another excellent video. You truly are a inspiring person! :) For me, the greatest cosmic horror mixed with a (for lack of a better word) "philosophical" horror is definitely "I Have a Special Plan for This World" by Thomas Ligotti. Not the short story, mind you, but the poem, specifically performed by David Tibet (I find the later written version, with some changes and expansions, of rather inferior quality, even if not much). I consider it the most "horror thing" ever. I have first heard it a year ago as I was falling asleep, and the combination of phasing out with a hauntingly incessant droning of music and extremely vivid, crooked images, have made a lasting impression on me. So much so that I have listened to it again the next day, in the dead of night on my shadowy baclony with a limited and framed view of the strasless sky, and have heard it again and again dozens of times since, very much aware of how unhealthy it is. But those verses echo in my mind like a acute koan, promising some great and terrible awakening, even though I know there is non - and that is the point and the terror of this poem :) It is simply exquisitely distilled "ligottian style", all those decaying hallways, creaking stairs, alleys seemingly leading to some secret places, that total hopelessness of being, the nightmare of reality, of this "outrageous nonsense". The dream-like story of a demented plan, misguided attempt to find an asnwer from those other deranged individuals... I am pretty sure that if I have read it during my years of depression, I would have repeated it over and over for weeks and months like a prayer. Now I value it for making me feel (maybe somewhat suprisingly) the stongest emotion any piece of art ever did. One of my favourite lines: "So I began to envision a darkness that was long before the dark of night, and a strangely shining light that owed nothing to the light of day."

[@SherdsTube]

My word! I'm absolutely going to have to seek out this performance. I'm a fan of Current 93, too, so it could be just my thing. Thanks so much for alerting me to it. And thanks so much for the kind words.

[@shoresofpatmos]

I got to be honest I feel the same way. That poem is truly addicting to me. I keep returning to it very regularly for some time now.

[@michaelschniepp3947]

I could only dream of ever becoming so eloquent, insightful, and learned. Inspiring. Thanks for the video.

[@SherdsTube]

Ah, you're far too kind! It's my pleasure. :)

[@emilymitchell6823]

I read Lord of the Ring first, as a child, purely by happenstance. When my mum finally handed me a copy of The Hobbit, I always remember it as a slightly heartbreaking moment. After all the darkness and scale and big emotions of LoTR, The Hobbit felt almost naive to me, at about 11 or 12 years old. Like I had 'seen too much' almost! It's only in the last few years, now in my thirties, where I've gone back to The Hobbit, and the tenderness of it, the way the prose treats little details, is so rich it made me almost cry from the comfort it afforded me. I love how much I've been pointed towards in this video, thank you so much

[@SherdsTube]

Gosh! You must have been quite a precocious reader - I recall being quite defeated by LOTR at that age. It's wonderful that you're able to appreciate The Hobbit so much more now. Thanks for sharing this, and for the very kind words :)

[@kieran_forster_artist]

Really appreciate the links w tse and jj, Ulysses

[@ryanbartlett672]

I agree with others...fantastic work. Topic and calm, honest delivery. Nice folk song lerformance too. Thanks

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks ever so much for saying so. Really glad you enjoyed it!

[@menelvegor]

Fantastic work

[@SherdsTube]

Cheers! Very glad you think so! :)

[@Paromita_M]

Beautiful 🙏🏽

[@SherdsTube]

Thank you! You're very kind :)

[@jamesdoran160]

The song rocks. If you had a video or recording of Tam Lin I’d run it up 🔥

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks so much! I don't have a full recording, I'm afraid, but I recommend listening to the performances that inspired me - Mike Waterson and Anne Briggs both sing beautiful versions. Perhaps I'll get my act together and record it one day. :)

[@jamesdoran160]

Hell yeah dog. I checked out their versions and yours is totally different. Awaiting the folk EP

[@semiote]

Thanks for another lovely video. I've been hoping for a long time you'd make a video on fantasy literature, and now you've done so! I grew up reading voluminous amounts of Tolkien, and have for a long time wanted to read a number of the pre-Tolkien works you covered, but haven't gotten around to it! Plus, I loved the musical interlude. I haven't played guitar for many years, but as a teenager I spent a lot of time trying to learn songs by Bert Jansch and John Renbourn on the guitar, and the piece you played reminded me of that vibe.

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks, Mandel! It was at least partially inspired by our little exchange on Tolkien. I hope it won't be the last video I make on fantasy literature. Very glad you enjoyed the song. Yes! I really like Bert Jansch's playing. Even more, I love Nic Jones's style - I wonder if you've come across him? He's an absolute fave of mine. :)

[@semiote]

@@SherdsTube No, I hadn't heard of him! When I was a kid, my access to these sorts of things was quite limited. This was before the internet was a common thing: I didn't even have access to a computer until I went to college. And, British folk wasn't exactly wildly popular in south San Diego. I heard of Bert Jansch through reading magazine articles on Led Zeppelin, and to get my hands on his music (for years, only a compilation called "The Best of Bert Jansch"), I had to save up my allowance for I don't know how many months and then beg my dad to drive me for an hour to a tiny, somewhat distant folk shop so I could buy a Jansch CD and the one book of Jansch songs they had. I didn't expand my knowledge of folk until college, and by then my interest in exploring beyond Jansch had dipped. I ended up falling in love with John Fahey and a few others, but my knowledge is still pretty limited...

[@Qscrisp]

Owen Barfield, one of the Inklings, wrote a whole book pretty much about the effects of language that you're describing: Poetic Diction. It's written in a somewhat diffuse style, unfortunately, but worth a look, anyway. One of his main examples is the phrase "prophets old", entirely different, of course, in feeling, from "old prophets". I attempted Eddison some years back but couldn't get very far, I'm afraid. You are making me reconsider. I have been reading Lord Dunsany recently and keep thinking I would like to read Lud-in-the-Mist (Hope Mirrlees) this year. One of my favourite fantasy writers when I was a teenager was Nancy Springer (The Book of the Isle), though I wonder what I would make of her work if I revisited it. I also loved Jack Vance's Lyonesse series. I tried William Morris's The Well at the World's End some years back and found it a curious mixture: enchanting language and yet a curiously dull story, like looking at a beautiful old tapestry and admiring the colours and the stitching but not being able to follow the meaning of the images. On the whole I keep thinking I would like to return to fantasy literature but my attempts leave me with the impression it's hard to find exactly what I'm looking for. Wonderful rendition of 'Tam Lin', by the way.

[@SherdsTube]

I will certainly be seeking out that Barfield book - I'd be especially curious about how it interacts (if it does at all) with Wordsworth's attack on 'poetic diction' in the Preface to Lyrical Ballads. May I ask which Dunsany you've been reading? I adore both 'The King of Elfland's Daughter' and 'The Blessing of Pan', but - shamefully - those are the only two I've read. I aim to correct that this year. 'Lud-in-the-Mist' is a wonderful little book - so odd to think it's by the same author as that hyper-modernist poem, 'Paris'. Interestingly, along with George Macdonald's 'Phantases', 'The Well at the World's End' was one of my candidates for this video - I still hope to try it at some point. From what you describe, it sounds like it could be quite a demanding read. Really glad you enjoyed the little snippet of 'Tam Lin' - I thought singing all 32 verses might be pushing it ;)

[@Qscrisp]

@@SherdsTube I've been reading the Penguin selection of Dunsany (In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Tales), which was given to me last year. I also possess Ballantine editions of The King of Elfland's Daughter and At the Edge of the World. True to my recent record with fantasy, I tried The King of Elfland's Daughter and gave up on it. This tendency is perhaps odd as fantasy really was my first love in literature. I might not be the bookworm I am without it. Anyway, I haven't lost faith. I am trying again with Dunsany, partly because of the circumstances in which I received the book. (Incidentally, I also enjoyed the film Dean Spanley recently.) The Barfield book goes beyond literary criticism and is saying something about the development of human consciousness. I found what he was saying a little bit elusive, but interesting nonetheless.

[@Qscrisp]

@@SherdsTube Also, I hope I don't put you off The Well at the World's End. On reflection, I do seem to have a strange relationship to fantasy literature, but I can say that Morris's use of archaic vocabulary and cadences is among the best (the best?) I have encountered in fantasy literature and that there are some very memorable scenes in it.

[@kewl0210]

Great stuff as always, SherdsTube guy.

[@SherdsTube]

Thank you! :) You can call me Sam, by the way.

[@kewl0210]

@@SherdsTube Thanks Sam

[@mitchell8151]

Love your videos!

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks so much for saying so!

[@TheSalMaris]

This disproves that April is the cruelest month doesn't it? Structure, characterization, subtext, imagery, et al, are all apart of the apparatus of any good writing in any genre. Thank you for the recommendations and your musical interlude.

[@SherdsTube]

My absolute pleasure. Thanks so much! :)

[@ForrestAguirre]

Tom Bombadil is, BY FAR, my favorite character in LotR. I'm honestly glad they didn't put him in the movie adaptions. He deserves his own spotlight. Thanks for posting this. Fantasy was my segue into literature "proper" and I love most those writers that comingle the two: Borges, Calvino, Kafka, et al. This episode is chock full of goodness. When my wife and I took a vacation in the UK, the first destination spot we stopped at was Eagle and Child. It was incredible to think that we were among the ghosts of the inklings. And their fish and chips and smashed peas were fantastic on a typically-rainy Oxford summer day. Of course, after that, we headed to the Bodleian for a tour.

[@SherdsTube]

Very glad to hear you're a true Bombadilian, Forrest! ;) Likewise - I increasingly feel most attracted to writers with one foot in ambitious territory and the other in the fantastical - it's odd, though, that we still instinctively separate the two things, isn't it? I need a new vocabulary for this kind of work, it seems. :) Thanks for the kind words! I very much appreciate your continued support!

[@ForrestAguirre]

@@SherdsTube hmm. How about "fantastature"? Seems like a mouthful.

[@ellismanning3163]

Lovely voice for singing lad

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks ever so much! :)

[@iamthelabhras]

When can we expect more SherdsSongs?

[@SherdsTube]

I haven't made anything new for a while. Here's a little EP I make a while ago: sampulham.bandcamp.com/album/the-merry-green-wood

[@iamthelabhras]

@@SherdsTube GRMA for sharing this, Sam. Thrilled to be able to add it to my collection! Please do consider releasing a cover of "Tam Lin". (Perhaps as the first of many SherdsSingles?) I'd love to snag that as well, if & when it becomes available.

[@joachimmagdziak7742]

Great work and so beautifully performed this charming ballad! I also love all of Lord Dunsany's works, his plays especially. His imagination seems to me stronger than Tolkien's. I love "The Hobbit" but still haven't managed to read the whole LOTR. When I think about fantasy I usually think also of another great philologist William Morris and of Robert E. Howard whose "Red Nails" and some poems I'd consider masterpieces.

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks so much! I must try some of Dunsany's plays. I haven't yet read any, I'm afraid. William Morris was a candidate for this video - I was thinking of reading 'The Well at the World's End'. I would still like to at some point soon! Thanks for the recommendations. :)

[@MichaelSlovin]

Beautiful work as usual. Have you ever considered writing a fantasy novel yourself?

[@pdmuhich]

Of Tolkien and his predecessors, Walter Jon Williams wrote: They just couldn’t help themselves. The books they produced are artifacts, great lumpy sticky things that stand outside of their own time, of anybody’s time. No one could mistake their books for works by anyone else. They stand without reference to the mainstream or any other literary tradition, even the traditions of classical fantasy. Their authors clearly had no audience in mind when they wrote them, aside perhaps from some friends or disciples, or, more likely, some inner daimons who demanded a prose work that recalled the experience of reading _The Grettir Saga_ for the first time. Their works are clearly the results of obsession, of visions so eccentric that they verge on dementia. -“Thinking in Icelandic: The Bull Moose Loons and Their Children” In addition to the more usual suspects, I would add James Branch Cabell, whose praise of Eddison is quoted in your book. Also: "And there shall be a flame-green daybreak soon. And love itself will cry for insurrection!" -Mervyn Peake, _Titus Groan_

[@SherdsTube]

Gosh I love that description. Thank you. James Branch Cabell is new to me. I shall explore. That green sun seems to have risen on an elect few :) Thanks again!

[@CruelSpirit]

Another great video. I myself have also been revisiting the fantasy genre, exploring some of the older works. I'm currently 2/3 of the way through Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy and recently aquired a copy of Hope Mirrlees' Lud-in-the-Mist

[@SherdsTube]

Thanks so much! I've definitely set 'Gormenghast' in my sights. I have those three, pretty old Penguin editions waiting patiently for me. 'Lud-in-the-Mist' is delightful, and quite moving, too. Hope you dig it!

[@CruelSpirit]

@SherdsTube Hope you get a chance to read Gormenghast. It really is a joy to read. If it is the edition I'm thinking of, those Penguins have cover illustrations done by Peake as well. It's rare you find an author who's also a great illustrator.

[@jukka.r.2067]

I didn't expect a video focused on old fantasy, but it's great to be suprised at times. I was already aware Lord Dunsany, but Eddison is new to me. Sounds like i should read him in english, but i'm not sure as finn i'm able to get all of it. Well it might take a few times to read it then.

[@SherdsTube]

I'm sure a good translator could capture its flavour in another language - it would be quite a feat, though!

[@MythMasterMao]

I hadn't heard of this channel before a friend sent me this owing to you having read The Worm Ouroboros, which I had finished a few months ago as I was very curious what a 'pagan lord of the rings' would be like. Having read all of Le Morte d'Arthur before, I got to engage in the joy of intertextuality and reference, with the chapter of the Lords of Demonland speaking with the Three Mercenary Captains trapped in an enchantment that keeps them chasing each other in a never ending circle. That felt straight out of Mallory, or rather any Chivalric Romance. It feels like Eddison made a Chivalric Romance mixed with the Norse Sagas, bereft of reference to Jesus Christ or saints or angels or the ever-present wilderness Hermit or Monk that features so much in Mallory, always there ready to aid a convalescing wandering knight fresh from a close-run battle. Though I haven't read or engaged with enough Norse Sagas, I am just taking that from some of what was covered in this video and other references I know of. Somewhat related is that the music used in this video was very well done and well suited and it reminded me of the videogame/visual novel (though theres not many visuals besides the landscape and scenary) Roadwarden, which uses similar music (some of which might be public domain though I'm not sure). Which is fitting because so much of Roadwarden is about traversing an untamed wilderness with a lot of emphasis on the difficulty and danger of that process. Thank you for this delightful video!

[@SherdsTube]

Very glad you found the channel - thanks for watching the video. I only read fragments of 'Le Morte d'Arthur' when I was at university, but I think you're absolutely right. Not so long ago, I picked up a copy of it - I hope to brave it soon. That palpable presence of a chivalric code without any of its Christian (or perhaps even religious) underpinnings is curious, isn't it? Do you think the book feels recognisably pagan beyond that central image of ouroboros itself, though? I wasn't left with that impression entirely. Very glad you enjoyed the music! Much of it is my own playing. I wasn't familiar with Roadwarden - thanks for bringing it to my attention! :)

[@rjmalcolm8066]

Amazing video Mr Sherd! Great to see some Aussie literature on the channel, keen to hear your thoughts on it. Speaking of, have you read anything by Patrick White?

[@SherdsTube]

Not yet! 'Voss' has been calling to me for a while, though. Thanks so much for the kind words! It's Sam, by the way ; )

[@thegenesis0]

is it weird that I want to live in your videos?

[@SherdsTube]

Haha, I love that! Life at 0.5x speed ;)

[@cthulhie]

How's the Stacy Hardy? :)

[@SherdsTube]

Yes, I'm actually reading that one right now. I'm enormously impressed by it so far. I've read about six or seven of the stories - they're very short (between 4-10 pages mostly), but strike me as being scrupulously crafted, so they feel both lean and rich. My favourite so far has been the opening story, 'The Pattern of Trees', which is narrated by the buried corpse of a murdered pathologist - she is able to chart the progress of her own decomposition in . . . well, 'forensic' detail, and is conscious of the rapidly declining likelihood of being discovered with each passing minute. It's a really unique story. Many of the have been excellent so far. I'm sure you'll hear more from me on it very soon.

[@watermelonman3000]

You should always be ready to forgive your twelve-year old self.

[@SherdsTube]

haha I'm learning to be better at that.

[@watermelonman3000]

@@SherdsTube Do you read David Bentley Hart? I feel like he'd be right up your alley. His writing is high calibre, but then you're a high calibre reader.