BARBARIAN MONTH

 

I don’t have much difficulty declaring October the greatest month in the calendar. That said, every year when it ends, there comes a cold morning in early November when I wake up to the sight of frost-tipped dead leaves floating on the smoke-tinged air, and accept that Halloween has ended, and Barbarian Month has come. It is time to put on early English Prog Rock and protometal, take some chilly walks through the woods and fields, and read Conan comics. These are the days of High adventure.

Barbarian month is not not an exact calendar month. It is a season with shifting borders in time, from late fall through the winter, but usually hitting it’s peak in the pre-Christmas time. At this time of year, all I feel like reading is Robert E. Howard’s sword and sorcery tales of Kull, Conan, and Bran Mak Morn, or digging up The Hobbit for a re-read. Or old issues of Savage Sword, hoping for a John Buscema ( inked by Alfredo Alcala if possible) or Tony DeZugina drawn story. Or I will revisit Norse Myths in the Eda, or Thor comics for some snowy, hammer-wielding Monster fights, and psychedelic 60’s viking longships on epic quests in deep space.

 

At the same time I’ll  be listening to a lot of Camel’s Moon Madness and Mirage,

Genesis’ Foxtrot,

and the family Christmas album, Tubular Bells.

Tubular Bells is a seasonal centerpiece in my family, dating back to the day long ago when my Dad, in college, woke up to it on the radio, and trudged through the snow on a viking quest to the radio station to find out what it was. I didn’t  grow up with The Excorcist, so I never found the opening piano piece the slightest bit creepy, but the whole album is a fantastic soundtrack to your reading or long drive.

I don’t  know what started this association for me of this season with this sort of mind set. Whether it was my Dad reading me Conan stories and the Hobbit when I was little, or the Christmas releases of the Lord of the Rings movies when I was in middle school, or any one of a number arbitrary week nights in Highschool that I spent Driving around the backwoods and mountains with Pat (he of the Spacestationwagon) listening to Camel and literally looking for haunted houses or (allegedly) breaking into abandoned churches on cold quests for spooky adventure. Ultimately, it doesn’t  matter when or how Barbarian month started, only that it’s  here again. If this sounds like a good way to face the cold approach of winter to you, I’d say don’t ask me for permission, grab your battle ax and helmet and make your way north. Find whatever music, books, or movies take you there. But if you’d like a brief suggested reading list, I’d highly recommend:

-Robert E. Howard’s Conan, Kull, and Bran Mac Morn stories

– The Hobbit. That’s  right, read it again.

-Norse Mythology by Neil Gaimen

– HEADLOPPER by Andrew MacLean, which is a brilliantly written and engaging adventure fantasy by way of Dexter’s Laboratory

-RUMBLE by John Arcudi and The incredible James Harren, Ancient warrior god resurrected in the body of a sword weilding scarecrow. It’s good stuff.

If you’re surfing Netflix I’d suggest Valhalla Rising by Nicolas Winding Refn or Centurion by Neil Marshall.

Go forth, brave warriors. And face the oncoming frost with the Immigrant song in your head and a good escape book or record under your arm.

By Crom.

-M