“Long, long ago I had thoughts of a belligerent dame who must have been her progenitor, and went so far as to begin a story which went something like this: “The noise of battle beating up around the walls of Arazon castle rang sweetly in the ears of Arazon’s warrior lady.” And I think it went no farther. [...] Back to her Jirel of Joiry no doubt traces her ancestry.” — C.L. Moore Echos of Valor II (1991)
I first read Catherine Moore's Jirel of Joiry stories many years ago in the 1982 Ace paperback edition of Jirel of Joiry (pictured below) and then wound up losing my copy during various moves throughout the years. I got Black God’s Kiss (Paizo Publishing, 2007) when it was released and managed to hang on to it. I decided to re-read these stories after seeing the announcement from New Edge Sword and Sorcery magazine about a new Jirel of Joiry story being published this year.
Black God’s Kiss collects six stories (one more than the earlier collection) about Jirel of Joiry, a red-headed warrior woman in an imaginary medieval France with warlords and sorcerers. They first appeared in Weird Tales magazine in the 1930s and in most of the stories she travels to other worlds. I liked the lush prose and the descriptions of Jirel and her fiery personality.
This collection includes an introduction by Suzy McKee Charnas. I think she does an excellent job of describing Jirel in these two quotes:
“This warrior isn’t “Lady Jirel of Joiry” because she’s married to the “Lord” but because she is a bold leader whom fighting men will follow. Living in a terrifying world hasn’t cowed her into abject, obedient dependency and pious superstition. Her response to threat is not to turn to her knight or her god but to confront the enemy, even if she has to brave unknown and dreadful forces to find an extreme enough weapon to win.”
“Only two things motivate her: Her fiercely aristocratic honor, and her bloodthirsty rage when she is challenged, thwarted, or even merely insulted.”
I also liked the atmosphere in all the stories and once again Suzy McKee Charnas provides a great description:
“In fact what the atmosphere of these stories most resembles is that of the early forms of European fairy tale, dark with menace and peopled by strangers of dubious identity and perilous intent.”
The Stories
Black God’s Kiss (5/5)
(Weird Tales, October 1934)
Jirel travels to another world seeking a weapon in order to get revenge on the man who conquered her kingdom, killed her men, and forced a kiss upon her. The ending has reviewers divided. While I found it surprising, I also thought that it added to the complexity of the character, something you don’t always see in sword & sorcery stories.
One final quote from Suzy McKee Charnas which touches on the complexity of this story:
“There’s a statement here about the struggle for supremacy between men and women even when — or especially when — great attraction draws them together. That’s an idea that male writers tend to handle in a very ham-fisted, or self-serving way if they touch it at all. Catherine Moore added as a sort of baseline to her stories of warlike conflict an emotional motivation that Jirel recognized in herself, too late, in 'Black God’s Kiss.' "
Black God’s Shadow (3/5)
(Weird Tales, December 1934)
In this sequel to “Black God’s Kiss,” Jirel returns to the other world from the previous story. I have mixed feelings about this one. While I liked how it continued from the previous story and I thought her motivations and the ending were interesting, I thought it took too long to get going. I found the parts where she wanders around too surreal and repetitive.
Jirel Meets Magic (4/5)
(Weird Tales, July 1935)
While hunting down a sorcerer, Jirel winds up traveling to another world. There she meets the sorceress Jarisme. I liked the description of the world she travels to, all the beings she meets, and her rivalry with Jarisme.
The Dark Land (4/5)
(Weird Tales, January 1936)
After being terribly wounded in battle, a powerful being brings Jirel to his world in order to make her his queen. This does not sit well with her. This time I enjoyed the surreal aspect of the story as well as the increase in conflict once a third character was introduced.
Hellsgarde (5/5)
(Weird Tales, April 1939)
Jirel enters a haunted castle in search of a treasure she needs as ransom in order to gain the release of twenty of her men. From start to finish this story is packed with a sinister and gothic atmosphere. Tied with “Black God’s Kiss” as my favorite.
Quest of the Starstone (3.5/5)
(Weird Tales, November 1937)
A crossover story in which Jirel meets Northwest Smith, another Moore character. This story, co-written with her husband Henry Kuttner, isn’t included in the earlier collection of stories Jirel of Joiry. It has a different vibe to it and Jirel plays second fiddle to Northwest Smith. I thought it was odd that Jirel was called "Joiry" as well as "Jirel" throughout the story.
Overall, this is great selection of tales from the early days of sword & sorcery. It was a pleasure re-reading them and while it's a shame C.L. Moore didn't write any more adventures of Jirel, I'm looking forward to the upcoming new story.
Further Reading and Listening
Some links to a blog post and some podcast episodes that I found really interesting.
Here’s a link to a post that includes a number of quotes from correspondence between C.L Moore and H.P. Lovecraft as well as others:
“Black God’s Kiss” (1934) by C. L. Moore – Deep Cuts in a Lovecraftian Vein
This is link to an interview with New Edge Sword and Sorcery Editor Oliver Brakenbury and Molly Tanzer, the author of the new Jirel story, from an episode of The Rogues in the House podcast:
A New Edge for Jirel. by Rogues in the House (spotify.com)
Here’s a link to So I’m Writing Novel podcast episode 41: "Sword and Sorcery & Feminism." Oliver Brakenbury interviews Nicole Emmelhainz about her essay on feminism and sword and sorcery. Jirel of Joiry is discussed:
There’s something Nicole Emmelhainz says that really stood out to me, especially after reading various interpretations of the forced kiss at the beginning of “Black God’s Kiss.” So, while I think that those interpretations are valid whether I agree with them or not, I think it's important to keep in mind what she says here:
“Key point to always emphasize when we’re talking about these older authors. We’re looking at them through the contemporary lens and ideas and theories that they obviously had no access to. So, I’m speculating on what I think they might have been doing. I don’t ever claim that they were deliberating doing these things, right, this is all through the lens of contemporary interpretation now.”
I’ll finish off with a link to a filk song. Filk music (the term got its start as a misspelling of folk music) is music sung or played at fan conventions and many of its songs honor science fiction and fantasy characters. This is a link to a Jirel of Joiry filk song from 1989 written by author Mercedes Lackey:
Jirel of Jorey (Magic, Moondust, & Melancholy) (youtube.com)
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