| Bran Mak Morn | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Bran Mak Morn |
|
First Appearance |
Kings of the Night (1930) |
|
Original Publisher |
Weird Tales |
|
Created by |
Robert E. Howard |
Origin[]
Bran Mak Morn, King of the Picts, vows vengeance on Titus Sulla, a Roman governor, after witnessing the crucifixion of a fellow Pict. He seeks forbidden aid from the Worms of the Earth, a race of creatures who Bran Mak Morn's ancestors banished from their kingdom centuries ago. They were once men, but millennia of living underground caused them to become monstrous and semi-reptilian.
Searching for a contact with these creatures, Bran Mak Morn encounters a witch who lives in a secluded hut, shunned by her neighbors, who was born from a sexual encounter between one of the "Worms" and a human woman. The witch's price for helping him is "one night of love" which her human-half craves - as men in general are repelled by her reptilian traits. Bran Mak Morn, though also himself repelled, agrees to pay the price. In exchange, she tells him of a barrow where "The Black Stone", a religious artifact of great importance to the "Worms", is hidden.
Stealing the Black Stone is a highly risky enterprise - if caught by the "Worms", Bran Mak Morn would die in torment "as no man had died for a thousand years". Fortunately, the barrow is unguarded and he manages to carry out his theft by hiding the Stone at the bottom of a lake. To get it back, the "Worms" agree on delivering Sulla to him. This they proceed with, undermining and destroying a Roman fortress known as "Trajan's Tower" before snatching the Roman governor into their tunnels. Mak Morn intended, once Sulla was delivered, on challenging him to a duel to the death. However, Sulla's mind is damaged from his encounter with the horrific Worms of the Earth. Instead, Bran Mak Morn slays him in mercy rather than vengeance, realizing that some weapons are too foul to use, even against Rome.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- The Lost Race (1927) - related to Bran Mak Morn but the character does not appear in the story.
- Kings of the Night (1930)
- Worms of the Earth (1932)
- The Whisperer in Darkness (1931)
Notes[]
- Twice in Worms of the Earth Howard mentions the "black gods" of R'lyeh, a fictional city created by his friend and correspondent H. P. Lovecraft. Also mentioned is a water monster Dagon, which is a historical Philistine god mentioned in a fictional context in several stories by Lovecraft.
- Bran Mac Mufin, a character in Dave Sim's comic book series Cerebus, is an homage to and parody of Bran Mak Morn. His name is a play on words, referring to the pastry bran muffin and the McDonald's breakfast sandwich the McMuffin.
- In Kings of the Night, Bran Mak Morn is revealed to be a direct descendant of another Howard character, Brule the Spear-Slayer, companion of the Atlantean King Kull.