Bran Mak Morn: The Little People by Robert E. Howard

by Gary Romeo

“The Little People” was first published in Coven 13, January 1970. Robert E. Howard’s original typescript (with hand-written corrections) was reproduced in Bran Mak Morn: The Last King, Ballantine (Del Rey), 2005. This story was probably written around 1928. At least one page is missing and the story was originally untitled.

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There are some textual differences between the Coven 13 version and the pure-text Del Rey version. In the Del Rey book, there is a note saying: [A page appears to be missing from Howard’s typescript here.] The first edits in the Coven 13 version start here.

Del Rey: silent phantoms from

Coven 13: silent phantoms from the past.

Del Rey: she assented with no enthusiasm and returned my kiss in a rather perfunctory manner. Compulsory obedience was repugnant. I returned to my room and retired.

Coven 13: (all of this text was removed)

Del Rey: “Aye, though the whole spawn of Hell rise up from those caverns which honeycomb the moors.”

Coven 13: (The above sentence in the Del Rey version was moved to follow the sentence, “… I only wished to close with them.” in the Coven 13 version.)

Del Rey: Things

Coven 13: beings

These changes are not severe. But it does remind us, once again, that de Camp was NOT the only person to edit REH’s stories.

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“The Little People” references Arthur Machen’s “The Shining Pyramid.” Both “The Shining Pyramid” and “The Little People” have been incorporated into the Cthulhu Mythos. I read Machen’s story in the Chaosium Book edition shown above. “The Little People” appears in the Chaosium Book, Nameless Cults (it uses the text from Coven 13).

Machen’s story is rather old-fashioned but leads to a creepy enough conclusion. A man named Vaughan is visiting the city to see his studious intellectual friend named Dyson. Vaughan then invites Dyson to visit his home in the country, enticing him with a mystery about a missing girl, Annie Trevor, and his mysterious finding of flint arrowhead stones arranged in unique patterns. Vaughan believes they might be some sort of signal to thieves in the area. Vaughan owns an expensive Charles II punch-bowl.

Dyson travels to Vaughan’s home to investigate. In the area where the stones were found Dyson notices a limestone block with odd artwork. Vaughan suggests it’s a child’s drawing, but Dyson doesn’t think so. The next morning there is a new drawing on the block. Dyson believes a short adult, rather than a child, drew the image.

The missing girl comes up in conversation when the duo sees her father. Dyson asks if the authorities have heard anything. Vaughan replies, “Nothing whatever. The police are quite at fault.” (Meaning they have no clue. Remember what I said about the writing being old-fashioned!) They continue on to search the countryside for the shapes represented in the arrangements of the flint arrowheads referred to earlier. A bowl and a pyramid. Dyson finds the remains of a Roman amphitheater. The bowl. The next evening Dyson and Vaughan go out at night. Dyson has a theory about things now. They go to the “bowl” and hear noises including a female scream. Heat and light appear. They see “things made in the form of men but stunted like children hideously deformed, the faces with the almond eyes burning with evil and unspeakable lusts; the ghastly yellow of the mass of naked flesh and then as if by magic the place was empty, while the fire roared and crackled, and the flames shone abroad.” According to Dyson, this is the pyramid. A pyramid of fire. (Hmm… OK I guess.)

Dyson and Vaughan fail to save Annie Trevor but they solved the mystery of her disappearance. She was taken by “fairies” not cute friendly ones but “the little people.” “… prehistoric Turanian inhabitants of the country, who were cave dwellers … under four feet in height, accustomed to live in darkness, possessing stone instruments, and familiar with the Mongolian cast of features.”

Robert E. Howard’s “The Little People” begins with a man and his 17-year-old sister, Joan, arguing over the literary value of Machen’s short story. The man says: “This is a masterpiece of outré literature.” Joan replies: “I outgrew fairy tales when I was ten.”

He insists that myths have a basis in fact. He says that Machen’s “Little People” are known variously as Turanians, Picts, Mediterraneans, and Garlic-eaters. (This echoes G. F. Scott-Elliot’s textbook that I reproduced in the blogpost Men of the Shadows.) The brother and sister continue to argue. He starts “mansplaining” and brings up how their Celt ancestors conquered the Picts:

He then dares his sister to spend the night alone in a stone ruin near where they are staying. Being a REH female she doesn’t shrink from the dare. He then argues it is too dangerous and forbids her to do so. (It wouldn’t be much of a story if she complied, so, of course, she doesn’t.)

She sneaks out, he awakens in the night and finds her missing. He goes to the ruins, and she is being chased by men with “stunted bodies, gnarled limbs, snake-like beady eyes, and grotesque square faces.” He starts to fight them but is overpowered until a spectral Druid ancestor appears and scares the little people away.

REH rectifies Machen’s mistake. His hero saves the girl.

Unavoidable Aside:

Today marks the two year anniversary of this blog. I did a practice post in March 2021 but the first real post was on August 3, 2021. This is post 258, so I’m been averaging over two posts a week. I figure quite a few enjoy the blog as most (but not all) posts get around 200 or so views on initial release (and continue to get more as google starts listing me higher in searches) also the blog was nominated for a REH Foundation Award this year. (Trust me, a blog named spraguedecampfan has to have at least some merit to get that minimal nod of approval.) Please do likes, comments, and subscribe to the blog.