Judge Pursuivant
Encyclopedia
Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant is a fictional character and a supporting character
in a series of stories by author Manly Wade Wellman
. Pursuivant is a retired judge
, author
, and occult
scholar who investigates mysterious supernatural
events.
Weird Tales
. Pursuivant is described as a man of great height and girth, with bulbous eyes and nose and a drooping blonde moustache. He lives in a small town five hours from Washington, D.C.
, and is wealthy enough to be attended by a manservant. He is intelligent and well-read in occult
matters. A biography of Pursuivant is presented in the short story "The Black Drama," which presents him as having been born in 1891, retired in 1919, had studied at Yale
and Oxford
, and was decorated while serving in U.S. intelligence during World War I
.
The name Pursuivant may be a reference to the Masonic master-of-arms called a Pursuivant
.
Until he passed it on to Wellman's later character, John Thunstone
, Judge Pursuivant possessed a sword-cane with a silver
blade said to have been forged by Saint Dunstan. The blade is inscribed with a text from Judges
chapter 5 in the Vulgate
, "Sic pereant omnes inimici tui" — "thus perish all your enemies". The sword-cane, which was especially potent against vampire
s, werewolves and other supernatural creatures, was passed on when Pursuivant's advanced age made him too weak to effectively wield it.
Although referred to in several stories, Judge Pursuivant only actually appeared in four short stories or novella
s by Wellman: "The Hairy Ones Shall Dance" (1938), "The Black Drama" (1938), "The Dreadful Rabbits" (1940), and "The Half Haunted" (1941) - all originally published in Weird Tales - and as a supporting character in Wellman's 1982 Silver John
novel The Hanging Stones. All Wellman's Judge Pursuivant short stories have been recently collected in Fearful Rock and Other Precarious Locales, Night Shade Books (2001).
Judge Pursuivant also appears as a supporting character in the story "Chastel", not collected in the above volume but in volume one of that series (Third Cry to Legba and other Invocations), originally published in The Year's Best Horror Stories VII (1979).
Supporting character
A supporting character is a character of a book, play, video game, movie, television or radio show or other form of storytelling usually used to give added dimension to a main character, by adding a relationship with this character...
in a series of stories by author Manly Wade Wellman
Manly Wade Wellman
Manly Wade Wellman was an American writer. He is best known for his fantasy and horror stories set in the Appalachian Mountains and for drawing on the native folklore of that region, but he wrote in a wide variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, detective...
. Pursuivant is a retired judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
scholar who investigates mysterious supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
events.
Fictional character biography
Pursuivant is more a mentor to and helper of characters who have become embroiled in occult adventures than a hero per se. He first appears in the short story "The Hairy Ones Shall Dance," first published in 1938 in the weird-fiction pulp magazinePulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
. Pursuivant is described as a man of great height and girth, with bulbous eyes and nose and a drooping blonde moustache. He lives in a small town five hours from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and is wealthy enough to be attended by a manservant. He is intelligent and well-read in occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
matters. A biography of Pursuivant is presented in the short story "The Black Drama," which presents him as having been born in 1891, retired in 1919, had studied at Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, and was decorated while serving in U.S. intelligence during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
The name Pursuivant may be a reference to the Masonic master-of-arms called a Pursuivant
Pursuivant
A pursuivant or, more correctly, pursuivant of arms, is a junior officer of arms. Most pursuivants are attached to official heraldic authorities, such as the College of Arms in London or the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh. In the mediaeval era, many great nobles employed their own officers of...
.
Until he passed it on to Wellman's later character, John Thunstone
John Thunstone
John Thunstone is a fictional character and the hero of a series of stories by author Manly Wade Wellman. Thunstone is a scholar and playboy who investigates mysterious supernatural events. He has the typical attributes of a heroic character being physically large and strong, intelligent,...
, Judge Pursuivant possessed a sword-cane with a silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
blade said to have been forged by Saint Dunstan. The blade is inscribed with a text from Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
chapter 5 in the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
, "Sic pereant omnes inimici tui" — "thus perish all your enemies". The sword-cane, which was especially potent against vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, werewolves and other supernatural creatures, was passed on when Pursuivant's advanced age made him too weak to effectively wield it.
Although referred to in several stories, Judge Pursuivant only actually appeared in four short stories or novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
s by Wellman: "The Hairy Ones Shall Dance" (1938), "The Black Drama" (1938), "The Dreadful Rabbits" (1940), and "The Half Haunted" (1941) - all originally published in Weird Tales - and as a supporting character in Wellman's 1982 Silver John
Silver John
Silver John is a fictional character from a series of fantasy stories by Manly Wade Wellman. Though fans refer to him as Silver John or as John the Balladeer, the stories call him simply John....
novel The Hanging Stones. All Wellman's Judge Pursuivant short stories have been recently collected in Fearful Rock and Other Precarious Locales, Night Shade Books (2001).
Judge Pursuivant also appears as a supporting character in the story "Chastel", not collected in the above volume but in volume one of that series (Third Cry to Legba and other Invocations), originally published in The Year's Best Horror Stories VII (1979).
External links
- Voice of the Mountains - fan site