The Shadow of the Vulture
Encyclopedia
"The Shadow of the Vulture" is a short story by Robert E. Howard
, first published in The Magic Carpet Magazine
, January 1934. The story introduces the character of Red Sonya of Rogatino, who later became the inspiration for the popular character Red Sonja
, archetype of the chainmail
-bikini
clad female warrior.
Unlike Howard's better-known fantasy work, "The Shadow of the Vulture" is historical fiction
, set in the 16th century. It uses the career of sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent
(also known as Sultan Suleiman I), the aftermath of the Battle of Mohács
(1526) and the later Siege of Vienna
of 1529 as a backdrop for imaginary characters and events.
, the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sends home the members of an Austrian diplomatic envoy whom he has kept imprisoned for nine months. He recognizes one of the members, however; a knight by the name of Gottfried von Kalmbach, who had seriously wounded him during the Battle of Mohács
. The sultan’s grand vizier
Ibrahim entrusts the widely-feared soldier, Mikhal Oglu, with hunting down von Kalmbach and retrieving his head.
Mikhal Oglu and his warriors raid the countryside between the Ottoman empire and Vienna in preparation for Suleiman’s attack on the city. They attack a small Danubian village, in which von Kalmbach had been sleeping off the previous night’s drinking. He fights his way free, and rides for Vienna, where the townspeople are preparing for the arrival of Suleiman.
The full Ottoman army arrives, and the siege begins. Von Kalmbach fights the encroaching Turkish soldiers atop the walls. He meets a belligerent, red-haired woman who fights alongside the men – ‘Red’ Sonya of Rogatino, revealed to be the sister of Suleiman’s favourite harem-girl, Roxelana. When one fight against a number of Turks proves to be overwhelming, she comes to von Kalmbach’s aid.
Later, there is a lull in the siege and the defenders content themselves with drinking wine in the city square. Red Sonya insults von Kalmbach, and an argument breaks out. Drunk and furious, von Kalmbach spurs the men into an impromptu attack on the Ottoman encampment outside the city. Coincidentally, the drunken raid thwarts a planned surprise attack planned by the sultan, to have been assisted by traitors within the walls of Vienna.
The sultan eventually concedes defeat, and the Ottoman army prepares to leave. Von Kalmbach, however, is drugged and kidnapped by the traitors in Vienna – an Armenian
merchant and his son, who had been in communication with the Sultan’s vizier and hoped to claim the knight’s head. Red Sonya comes to von Kalmbach’s aid yet again. She blackmails the Armenian into delivering a message to Mikhal Oglu, who was serving as vanguard for the capitulating Ottoman army. Oglu receives the message and, believing von Kalmbach to be alone and not too far away from his position, leaves the column with a small contingent. He is met, however, by an Austrian ambush.
In Istanbul, Suleiman is holding celebrations in honour of his ‘victory’ in central Europe. He receives a strange package in the mail, and Ibrahim opens it, hoping it to be the head of von Kalmbach. It turns out to be the severed head of Mikhal Oglu, and included is a belittling note from Red Sonya and von Kalmbach.
The story is set around the Battle of Mohács
and the later Siege of Vienna
(1529), with Suleiman the Magnificent's attack into Europe.
sultan. She has the eponymous red hair and a fiery temper to match. It was revealed in the narrative that she was sibling to the favourite of Sulemain himself, the Ruthenian
harem-girl Roxelana
, who ended up marrying him as sole legal wife.
Howard's Red Sonya had no connection to his Conan the Barbarian
character. It was Roy Thomas
and Barry Smith
in Marvel Comics
' Conan the Barbarian
title who transposed Red Sonya into the Hyborian Age
, changing the spelling of her name in the process.
Additionally, the 1985 film Red Sonja
, which took place in the Hyborian Age, is (as stated in the opening credits) "Based on the character created by Robert E. Howard", making this film another link between Red Sonja and the Hyborian Age.
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
, first published in The Magic Carpet Magazine
Oriental Stories
Oriental Stories, later retitled The Magic Carpet Magazine, was a pulp magazine of 1930-34, an offshoot of the famous Weird Tales....
, January 1934. The story introduces the character of Red Sonya of Rogatino, who later became the inspiration for the popular character Red Sonja
Red Sonja
Red Sonja, the She-Devil with a Sword, is a fictional character, a high fantasy sword and sorcery heroine created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith, and loosely based on Red Sonya of Rogatino in Robert E. Howard's 1934 short story "The Shadow of the Vulture"...
, archetype of the chainmail
Chainmail
Mail is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh.-History:Mail was a highly successful type of armour and was used by nearly every metalworking culture....
-bikini
Bikini
The bikini is typically a women's two-piece swimsuit. One part of the attire covers the breasts and the other part covers the crotch and part of or the entire buttocks, leaving an uncovered area between the two. Merriam–Webster describes the bikini as "a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit" or "a...
clad female warrior.
Unlike Howard's better-known fantasy work, "The Shadow of the Vulture" is historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
, set in the 16th century. It uses the career of sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
(also known as Sultan Suleiman I), the aftermath of the Battle of Mohács
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
(1526) and the later Siege of Vienna
Siege of Vienna
The Siege of Vienna in 1529 was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire, led by Suleiman the Magnificent, to capture the city of Vienna, Austria. The siege signalled the pinnacle of the Ottoman Empire's power, the maximum extent of Ottoman expansion in central Europe, and was the result of a...
of 1529 as a backdrop for imaginary characters and events.
Plot
In IstanbulIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sends home the members of an Austrian diplomatic envoy whom he has kept imprisoned for nine months. He recognizes one of the members, however; a knight by the name of Gottfried von Kalmbach, who had seriously wounded him during the Battle of Mohács
Mohács
Mohács is a town in Baranya county, Hungary on the right bank of the Danube.-History:Two famous battles took place there:# Battle of Mohács, 1526# Battle of Mohács, 1687...
. The sultan’s grand vizier
Vizier
A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....
Ibrahim entrusts the widely-feared soldier, Mikhal Oglu, with hunting down von Kalmbach and retrieving his head.
Mikhal Oglu and his warriors raid the countryside between the Ottoman empire and Vienna in preparation for Suleiman’s attack on the city. They attack a small Danubian village, in which von Kalmbach had been sleeping off the previous night’s drinking. He fights his way free, and rides for Vienna, where the townspeople are preparing for the arrival of Suleiman.
The full Ottoman army arrives, and the siege begins. Von Kalmbach fights the encroaching Turkish soldiers atop the walls. He meets a belligerent, red-haired woman who fights alongside the men – ‘Red’ Sonya of Rogatino, revealed to be the sister of Suleiman’s favourite harem-girl, Roxelana. When one fight against a number of Turks proves to be overwhelming, she comes to von Kalmbach’s aid.
Later, there is a lull in the siege and the defenders content themselves with drinking wine in the city square. Red Sonya insults von Kalmbach, and an argument breaks out. Drunk and furious, von Kalmbach spurs the men into an impromptu attack on the Ottoman encampment outside the city. Coincidentally, the drunken raid thwarts a planned surprise attack planned by the sultan, to have been assisted by traitors within the walls of Vienna.
The sultan eventually concedes defeat, and the Ottoman army prepares to leave. Von Kalmbach, however, is drugged and kidnapped by the traitors in Vienna – an Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
merchant and his son, who had been in communication with the Sultan’s vizier and hoped to claim the knight’s head. Red Sonya comes to von Kalmbach’s aid yet again. She blackmails the Armenian into delivering a message to Mikhal Oglu, who was serving as vanguard for the capitulating Ottoman army. Oglu receives the message and, believing von Kalmbach to be alone and not too far away from his position, leaves the column with a small contingent. He is met, however, by an Austrian ambush.
In Istanbul, Suleiman is holding celebrations in honour of his ‘victory’ in central Europe. He receives a strange package in the mail, and Ibrahim opens it, hoping it to be the head of von Kalmbach. It turns out to be the severed head of Mikhal Oglu, and included is a belittling note from Red Sonya and von Kalmbach.
Setting
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács was fought on August 29, 1526 near Mohács, Hungary. In the battle, forces of the Kingdom of Hungary led by King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia were defeated by forces of the Ottoman Empire led by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent....
and the later Siege of Vienna
Siege of Vienna
The Siege of Vienna in 1529 was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire, led by Suleiman the Magnificent, to capture the city of Vienna, Austria. The siege signalled the pinnacle of the Ottoman Empire's power, the maximum extent of Ottoman expansion in central Europe, and was the result of a...
(1529), with Suleiman the Magnificent's attack into Europe.
Red Sonya/Red Sonja
In the story, Red Sonya is a gun-slinging warrior woman of Polish-Ukrainian origin with a grudge against the OttomanOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
sultan. She has the eponymous red hair and a fiery temper to match. It was revealed in the narrative that she was sibling to the favourite of Sulemain himself, the Ruthenian
Ruthenians
The name Ruthenian |Rus']]) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used. Initially, it was the ethnonym used for the East Slavic peoples who lived in Rus'. Later it was used predominantly for Ukrainians...
harem-girl Roxelana
Roxelana
Haseki Hürrem Sultan was the wife of Süleyman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire.-Names:Sixteenth-century sources are silent as to her maiden name, but much later traditions, for example Ukrainian folk traditions first recorded in the 19th century, give it as "Anastasia" , and Polish...
, who ended up marrying him as sole legal wife.
Howard's Red Sonya had no connection to his Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
character. It was Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
and Barry Smith
Barry Windsor-Smith
Barry Windsor-Smith, born Barry Smith is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best known work has been produced in the United States....
in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Conan the Barbarian
Conan (comics)
Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard was first adapted into comics published Marvel Comics beginning with the series Conan the Barbarian in 1970...
title who transposed Red Sonya into the Hyborian Age
Hyborian Age
The Hyborian Age is a fictional period within the artificial mythology created by Robert E. Howard, in which the sword and sorcery tales of Conan the Barbarian are set....
, changing the spelling of her name in the process.
Additionally, the 1985 film Red Sonja
Red Sonja
Red Sonja, the She-Devil with a Sword, is a fictional character, a high fantasy sword and sorcery heroine created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith, and loosely based on Red Sonya of Rogatino in Robert E. Howard's 1934 short story "The Shadow of the Vulture"...
, which took place in the Hyborian Age, is (as stated in the opening credits) "Based on the character created by Robert E. Howard", making this film another link between Red Sonja and the Hyborian Age.
External links
- The Works of Robert E. Howard - Publication history of The Shadow of the Vulture